La Belle et la Bete

Keith Harper Jr.
“La belle et la bête”
aka Beauty and the Beast
Released Dec. 23, 1947
French with English subtitles
Directed by Jean Cocteau

La Belle et la Bete is a 1946 French film directed by Jean Cocteau which was based on two different French fairytales, the narratives of which were combined and altered to be adapted into a finalized film version. The story of a beautiful young woman who is imprisoned by a Beast in order to ensure her father's safety, who takes pity on her hideous captor and ultimately ends up falling in love with him, is a story most know and cherish because of its animated Disney version. This film, however, is anything but Disney. It's dark and at times frightening, blending eerie effects with the mystical and supernatural. The film's surrealist and romantic tone created by Cocteau lend to holding La Belle et la Bete's place as an extremely fine work of art. This film is important to film theory because of its interesting genre, a blend of surrealism, romance, and fantasy which was rare at the time but is seen quite often in modern moviemaking.

According to http://www.film.u-net.com/Movies/Reviews/Belle_Bete.html Jean Cocteau has brought to life a visual masterpiece. From the intricate and convincing make-up of the Beast and the surreal splendour of the bewitched castle to the unadorned simplicity of Beauty and the brutal gaudiness of her sisters, every frame is a feast for the eyes. Light and darkness seem to caress the screen as the movie runs. The challenge of these surroundings is met by the cast (preventing this from being some arty-farty flick), each member of which fills and broadens their character (especially Jean Marais). The aura of amour drifts through every scene, underpinning the story and leading us to a triumphant conclusion which celebrates the victory of love over all obstacles (although it is intriguing that the transformation removes an essential element from the Beast). We believe in this fairy-tale and that is how it should be. This Article talks about how Cocteau brings darkness and convinceing make-up to his verison of beauty and the beast. The second article I read was at Filmsdefrance.com by Dennis Grunes. He looks at the film as symbolism of the freedom and liberation of France. He associates the Beast’s shame to the shame of France being occupied. He too notes the dramatics throughout the film: the slow motion, the fairy tale like foliage and the enchantments of the castle. At the end he feels the symbolic meaning is the freedom of France.

Both atricle make a great point when it comes to Cocteaus's verson. Armes makes a good point with the realism of the unreal. The story seems almost plausible while you’re watching it, even though it’s a surreal tale. I think as they stated in the first article Cocteau did a great job with the darknessand convinceing make-up. The aura of amora added to the intensity oof each scene.

I personally enjoyed the film alot. I always enjoyed the disney version. So seeing this version really kept my interest as we watched. I aslo enjoyed that this version was more darker and intese then the cartoon version. I think this is a must see for all beauty and the beast fans.