Deep in the heart of a forest, in an enchanted castle lives a frightening and disfigured beast. When a weary traveller gets lost and comes across the Beast’s rose bushes, he plucks one to take home to his beautiful daughter Belle. This tiny gesture of love enrages the Beast, but he gives the traveller one chance to live: if one of his daughters will take his place as payment for stealing the rose, then he will be allowed to live. If not, he must come back and face his death.
Beauty and the Beast is my all-time favourite fairy tale, and so when I came across this film at work, I simply had to sit down and watch it. This black-and-white fantasy from Jean Cocteau was an absolutely dazzling surreal interpretation of Madame Le Prince de Beaumont’s tale of love and beauty.
Belle is the most beautiful young woman in the village, but she spends her time scrubbing floors and waiting on her two vain and selfish sisters, Felicity and Adelaide. While her brother Ludovic teases and taunts their sisters, Belle receives a proposal of marriage from Ludovic’s best friend Avenant. Although complimented and fond of Avenant, Belle refuses his proposal, as hers is a poor family and she cannot leave her beloved father. Whilst travelling in the woods, Belle’s father becomes horribly lost and finds himself at the door of an enchanted castle. After satisfying his thirst and regaining some of his strength, he plucks a rose from one of the bushes in the castle garden to bring back to his daughter Belle. But, as soon as he does, a frightening and disfigured beast appears and warns him that the penalty for stealing his roses is death. As the traveller pleads, the Beast gives him one chance to live: if one of his daughters will come to the castle to take his place, then he can go home. Upon his return, he tells his children his story and Belle, feeling guilty that this was all her fault, sneaks out to take her father’s place at the castle. As she spends more time there, she comes to see a great loneliness in the Beast and begins to see that beauty is not something that can be seen on the outside.
Just a little bit of history on the most wonderful and powerful fairy tale of all time: Beauty and the Beast was originally written by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, but it’s the abridged version that is more commonly known; done by Jeanne-Marie Le Prince de Beaumont. Jean Cocteau’s Beauty and the Beast or La Belle et la Bete is a surreal interpretation of Madame Le Prince de Beaumont’s abridged version.
Filmed in black-in-white in 1946, this wonderful film looks at the classic tale with a slight darkness that is, at the same time, both melancholy and macabre. All through the enchanted castle are hands protruding from the walls and voices that come from nowhere, a little startling, but successfully explaining the magic of the place.
The costumes were simply beautiful, even in black and white. Sparkling jewels and flowing gowns befitting royalty; every girl’s dream.
Another thing I really liked about this film was how the music played an equal or sometimes even greater part than the actors. For long stretches in the film there is just powerful music that drowns out all other sounds and, at the same time, continues to tell the story. Very artistic.
Starring Jean Marais, Josette Day, Mila Parely, Nane Germon, Michel Auclair, and Raoul Marco, Beauty and the Beast (La Belle et la Bete) was a beautifully crafted film filled with passion, romance, suspense, and drama. A true beauty.
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