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| BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (1946) | |
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Beauty
and the Beast is based on Madame de Beaumont's fairy tale with the same
name, and Cocteau's adaptation is strikingly alike the original with a few
exceptions. The story begins with Cocteau explaining himself in the
beginning of the film with a small statement in regards to children and
their naiveté and then the film opens as most fairy tales do with,
"Once upon a time..." The father is raising one son,
Ludovic, and three daughters, Felicie, Adelaide, and Belle (translated to
Beauty) by himself. Felicie and Adelaide are the malicious daughters
that openly expresses their greed, sloth, and envy as they hurt Belle.
The son brings the family to the brink of poverty as he loses the family's
furniture and valuables in a gambling debt. On the way home from
attempting to settle the debt, the father gets lost in a storm and he
finds what seems to be a deserted magical castle. In the morning
when the father gets ready to leave the castle he finds a rose and
remembers that Belle's wish was to receive a rose, however, the Beast
appears and expresses his dislike for theft of the rose and tells him that
he must pay with his life or the life of a daughter. When Belle
finds out she caused her father this anguish she voluntarily gives herself
to the Beast. Beauty and the Beast is a fairy tale that teaches
lessons as stories should, and there are several lessons worth learning in
this magnificent adaptation by Cocteau. The special effects in the
film enhance the magic as Cocteau presents his vision of Madame de
Beaumont's fairy tale. Overall, the supreme realism which is
observed in the Beast's humanity is a major factor in the films influence
of a brilliant cinematic experience.
As Jean Cocteau stated in his essay of his own film, Beauty and the Beast, "I have tried to give you something of what led me into an experience that I shall not repeat, because true experience must be unique. I can only compare it once again to the casting forth of a seed, which falls on favorable or unfavorable ground, blowing where it will." Hence, Beauty and the Beast is truly a unique cinematic experience. |
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France |
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| REVIEWED | |
| 2/8/2004 | |
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The Internet Movie Database. |
