Beauty and the Beast

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Horrorphile - November 2008

La Belle et la Bête (Beauty and the Beast)

November 27th 2008 06:12

Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont’s fairy-tale of the beauty and the beast is one of the more famous. French poet-artist-cum-filmmaker Jean Cocteau directed his first feature adapting the story to the screen as La Belle et la Bête (1946).

It’s a magnificent fable of love and identity set a couple of hundred years ago in rural France. A merchant (Marcel André) lives with his son Ludovic (Michel Auclair) and his three daughters. The two eldest, Félicie (Mila Parély) and Adélaïde (Nane Germon) are selfish and vain, and they exploit their sister Belle (Josette Day) as their servant.

Josette Day as Belle

One day the father becomes lost in the nearby forest and comes across a strange castle. He takes advantage of the garden and plucks a rose (something Belle had always wanted), but the castle’s owner suddenly appears and he’s none to happy. He’s half human-half animal (lion-esque) and he possesses magical powers.

Jean Marais as the beast

The furry fanged beast (Jean Marais) condemns the man to death unless he gives up one of his daughters. The man gives him his word and the beast gives him directions out of the forest. Later after he explains his ordeal to his family Belle sacrifices her freedom and goes to the castle. She becomes the beast’s prisoner. But the beast turns out to be more compassionate and genuine than Belle’s suitor, Avenant (Jean Marais). The beast is grotesque on the outside, but beautiful on the inside.

The beast wants Belle’s hand in marriage, but she steadfastly refuses. Avenant, along with Belle’s brother, find the castle with the intent of rescuing Belle and killing the beast, but, in perfect fairy-tale fashion there’s a twist of fate that turns everything upside down and inside out.

Beauty and the Beast Jean Marais and Josette Day

Avenant (Jean Marais) woes Belle

Jean Cocteau would go on to make one of the finest examples of surrealist drama with Orphée (1949), which was based on the myth of Orpheus who travels down into Hades to confront Death and ressurect his wife Eurydice. Beauty and the Beast isn’t as surreal as the latter work, but it does possess some truly sublime moments of ethereal beauty and magic realism. It’s all a phantasmogorical tale that delves deep into the heart of what it is to love and be loved, to reject and accept, regardless of what you look like.

Belle in the corridor of the beast's castle

Drenched in melancholy, yet it transcends its inherent sadness, and at film’s end takes flight into the misty ether of unconditional love, Beauty and the Beast is a cinematic creature that belies its theatrical trappings and embraces the visual artifice of film with wit and wonder.

The production design is classic, yet unique, the monochromatic cinematography is luminous and poetic. The special effects, including clever use of film in reverse, and smoke wafting out from the beast as he smolders in contempt, is novel, while the bestial facial prosthetic make-up is fantastic.

Beauty and the Beast Josette Day and Jean Marais

The beast loves to watch Belle dine

Jean Marais and Josette Day command the screen as the two leads. The subtleties and nuances of their performances give the film a richness that shines beyond the black and white veneer. The French dialogue adds a further exotic appeal.

Avenant and Belle strike a classic pose

Beauty and the Beast is a wondrous work of cinema, a classic fairy-tale told with a poet’s conviction and painterly eye; essential viewing for anyone who loves to escape into the fable realm of make-believe where virtue floats and conceit is defeated. If only more filmmakers approached cinema with the same sense of unbridled imagination as Jean Cocteau the world would be a better place (... perhaps Guillermo del Toro is not too far off).

A roar to the beast within us all; cry hard for true love, and pierce the mirror of narcissism, you’ll see your soul reflected back between the cracks … the pleasure of the perverse, spellbound by the black and white magic.

Here's an original trailer:

La Belle et la Bête DVD is courtesy of Madman Entertainment, many thanks!

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews

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Comments

6 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Damo

November 27th 2008 06:31

For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics

I seem to recall seeing this at the old Valhalla years ago.
Stylish BW filming makes all the difference.

Comment by Bryn

November 27th 2008 14:47

Horrorphile

Damo, you'd be right. Probably a 16mm print, but you might've been luckier and got a 35mm.
The beast mask is superb, I'm sure Rick Baker was entranced as a boy!

Comment by David O'Connell

November 29th 2008 06:27

Screen Fanatic

I've never seen this version Bryn, it looks amazing.
Jean Marais looks like he's got Ron Perlman licked too!!

Comment by Bryn

November 30th 2008 02:32

Horrorphile

David,
I love Ron, but he was wasn't angst enough.

Comment by Michaelie

December 6th 2008 01:33

Flick Wit

One of my favourite stories, ever. I very much like the look of this one, Bryn. The pic of Belle in the corridor is fantastic. I love that feeling of gothic grandeur.

Michaelie

Comment by Bryn

December 6th 2008 09:06

Horrorphile

Michaelie, Gaelic-Gothic it is, in a very lush and dreamy way.

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