Acting in "Belle" Movie Analysis Essay

Introduction

"Belle" is a movie inspired with Dido Elizabeth Belle's story. She was an illegal mulatto daughter of a Royal Navy. However, she was raised in the family of her aristocratic uncle (Lord Mansfield) where Belle got education and affluence. Belle's lineage provides her with some privileges, but her skin hinders her from fully participating in the traditions of her social standing. Although Belle's cousin chases suitor for marriage, she is left wondering if she will fall in love. After meeting vicar's son, they assist in shaping the role of Lord Mansfield as Lord Chief Justice in ending England's slavery. Belle's film review entails looking at the strengths and weaknesses of acting. Acting as an art does not only involve playing a role but also discovering the realms of an individual's imagination and asserting natural stage presence.

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In the film, one of the strengths of acting is having a natural stage presence. An actor like Dido Elizabeth makes the audience to feel comfortable. She is a well educated and strong woman as depicted on the way she acts. For instance, in the place where Dido befriends John Diviner in the case of Zang. At that point, she seems to be real as she convinces him to be his friend. In the end, she input makes Lord Mansfield in ruling in contrary to the traders. Lord Mansfield also has a stage presence which is evident on the way he makes a ruling on the Zang massacre.

Acting also makes an individual have the capability of embracing a role and making the audience feel comfortable with a person's characterization of the role. This strength is evident in "Belle" when John professed the love he had for Dido. The Dido and John knew that they were right for each other and is the reason Dido went ahead and broke off her engagement with Oliver. Another instance in which this strength can be manifested is when Dido assisted her uncle with correspondence, and after that John makes her know the Zong case, and she sneaks correspondence to him, and John believes that it will make an advancement in the cause of abolitions.

Acting enables one to apply imagination in bringing a complex character to life. For instance, the case of Elizabeth Mansfield. Although she considers etiquette and order as essential, she goes the extra mile in helping Elizabeth get a suitable match. Additionally, it was expected of her to be tribalistic, but in a real sense, she is caring towards all her nieces including Belle. In the film, Belle also finds it hard while configuring her position in the family as she finds it uncomfortbale to tolerate racism plagued in British society during that period.

Acting has the strength of convincing the audience that something is indeed true. In "Belle" the acting was generally perfect meaning that they were able to convince the audience that the film was based on a true story. The actors also played their different roles perfectly. For instance, Sam Reid who acted as John Diviner was so passionate while acting and showing his love for Belle. The relationship among the characters was convincing especially for Belle and Lord Mansfield. The film also takes intellectual (Diviner who was a lawyer) and naive (Belle) acting attitude in stopping slavery.

Although acting has its strengths, it also has several weaknesses. For instance, the movie's acting did not portray the actual savagery of the slave trade in the earlier centuries. This issue is evident in the "Zong Massacre" where slaves are thrown overboard from the slave's ship, and the owner files his insurance company for losses made during the massacre. In a real sense, a slave ship could not have drowned 142 slaves to get the insurance money. Additionally, when Belle worried that Mabel might be a slave in her uncle's house, Lord Mansfield assured her that Mabel is paid a proper wage meaning she was free from slavery. However, in this acting part, how a slave should be treated was not well portrayed.

The other weakness of acting is not being able to develop a character quickly. For example, James Ashford was not able to create a real character. Although he acted like an arrogant son of Lady and Lord Ashford, he did not depict the role efficiently. At some instance, his voice did not produce the arrogance needed in a scene. Additionally, he was not able to develop his character efficiently when he assaulted Belle.

Conclusion

In conclusion, "Belle" is a masterpiece film that recaptures and depicts how slavery was done in England. Although Belle was an illegitimate child since a black and white parent bore her, she was able to stop slavery in England with the help of his uncle and Diviner. The strength of acting includes having a natural stage presence, embracing a role effectively, convincing the audience, and the application of imagination in bringing a complex character to life. However, acting has several weaknesses like not portraying actual things, and not developing a character efficiently. Generally, acting is a good thing as it gives an insight into the human's behaviour.