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Belle

Published: 2017-09-26

For one of my history classes I had to watch the film Belle. It was an interesting historical Drama as the fact that it is based on is not for certain. That is to say that no one has really done the research required to suss out the truth from what has been left behind. In fact the subject of this film, Dido Elizabeth Belle, was recently forgotten to history.

The film is set around Belle and her Cousin, Lady Elizabeth Murray coming out into society and the high profile Zong case.

A few of my thoughts

The plot was good, nothing really outstanding or horrible about it. But it did catch and hold my attention due to the story it was telling.

The elements of the cinemotography truly capatured the settings of the time.

As, Mark Kermode, of the Gardian says Belle, "is a finely wrought tale of a woman out of time, a film that plays eloquently upon the heartstrings as it interweaves familiar personal intrigue with stirring social history."

As far as themes go this film very much wrestles with the questions of Who has power? How do they have power? Is the power real? With all the juxtapositioning of the characters - by their wealth and titles it makes for one to really see how the color of one's skin can make the difference in the time period.

The History

What is assumed to be most correct is that Dido Elizabeth Belle [Lindsey] – was the illegitimate daughter of a Royal Navy captain, John Lindsay, and an African woman named Maria Belle. It is unknown if Belle was African, Indian, or of some mixed West Indies descent. The only reason she was an odditiy was the color of her skin. Dido Belle was raised at Kenwood House in north London by her great-uncle, Lord Mansfield, where she became companion to her half-cousin, Lady Elizabeth Murray. As lord chief justice, Mansfield heard several significant slavery cases, including the 1772 Somerset v Stewart case (which questioned whether slavery was supported by common law), and the Zong ship case, which hinged upon the deliberate drowning of human "cargo". The latter of these forms the backdrop of Sagay's narrative, providing an Amistad-like framework for the discussion of human rights versus property law, arcane legal argument circling absolute moral imperative.

It is thought that Dido Belle would have been a lawyer if she had been born a man. As some sources indicate that she was a secretary of sorts to Mansfield.

In looking at these facts the movie was very accurate. Thought the one thing the producers did add to spice up the plot was the Comming Out into society of the girls and the love triangles that followed. Nonetheless, it made for an interesting protraly of weath and social class in England at the time. For this was between revolutions - the American one would have ended and the French had not yet started.

In Conclusion

Belle is a thoughtful social comentary about the begining of the end of slavery in the English Empire as told thought the eyes of the most probable main influencers in the case.

Baby Driver

Published: 2017-09-15

The most recent movie I saw was Baby Driver. My thoughts walking out of the theater were I like it but not as much as I thought I would. It was a good movie that touched on important ideas in terms of bringing in deaf culture, woman's roles in crime, and how music can be an escape from the world. But it was lacking in that it the characters did total 180s and the plot was not as well written as I expected.

This movie starts out with Baby (Ansel Elgort) driving the get away car in a bank heist. They get away even with bullets flying and a wicked car chase scene. And then as the plot progressed it got weirder and weirder. I liked the unexpectedness of it but the "mix tapes" and the ending of Buddy (John Ham) thought me for a loop.

What I didn't like:

The Characters

Kevin Spacey's Doc

This was the character I had the most trouble accepting. He's a crime boss and that is pretty apparent from the begining through his dolling out of the money, to his story about blackmailing Baby, and his threating of Joe. Then right at the end he says, "I was in love once" and trys to help Baby and Deborha get away. That makes no sense to his character. Unless the nephew wasn't a nephew and actually a kid. There was that chip off the old block comment but it is a stretch.

Eiza Gonzalez's Darling

She had such an interesting character, I wish she would have been developed more. The audience does get a lot of second hand accounts of her throught Buddy but the audience doesn't really get to see her develop due to her demise. Afterall, in my opinion, wasn't Bonnie always more interesting than Clyde? It would have allowed for a much better exploration of the theme of women's roles in crime. Darling gives us but a glimps of it.

The Plot

I suppose I do not have a true problem with the plot except that it was all but forgetable except for the fact that John Ham can't die. I mean wouldn't it have been more original for Darling and Buddy to have escaped as the criminals who got away? Or at least have them appeare on the news later as an aside? I know they are supposed to be the Bonnie and Clyde couple in this but not all couples die most do. But not all. Examples can be found in this list from Rolling Stone.

What I liked:

The Characters

Ansel Elgort's Baby

John Ham's Buddy

CJ Jones'Joe

Sound Track

The References

Direct Quotes

• "You are so beautiful" comes from the Little Rascals
• "They grow up so freaking fast, don't they" comes from It's Complicated
• "You and I are a team." comes from Monsters Ink, this was the only quote to be called out in the movie.
• "How's that working our for you" comes from Fight Club

Other References

• Goodfellas - the Pizza joint that Baby starts working at
• The Music video for Blue Song by Mint Royale released back in 2002, shows this movie idea brought to life in a shorter form.
• Bonnie and Clyde - this was refernced at the end for Baby and Debohra's relationship but it also highlights Buddy and Darling's relationship.
• Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery -- this comes in the form of the masks the bank robbers where wearing.

In Conclusion

Baby Driver was a good movie with a cliched plot but delivered in terms of the central story arc. The character development was good but could have been better. I know rotten tomatoes has given the movie a 93 percent but I'm giving it a 80. Good movie but not one that I would watch all that often. If anyone wishes to get the movie it goes to DVD and Blue Ray October 10th.