La Belle Et La Bete [1946] [DVD]

Okay, first and foremost this is one fantastic movie and is quite rightly seen as a clasic. Surreal, beautifuly shot and needing none of today's digital effects, la belle et la bete will take you into Jean Cocteau's world deeper every time you see it. Here are my reviews of both the BFI and Criterion restored versions. I have viewed both so I hope this will help you in deciding which version to purchase.

Tbe BFI version contains the following: I give this a 3 star rating, Top marks for the film, but a very low score for the disappointing presentation of the film itself.

Picture Gallery
Film Notes And Biographies
Short Film Screening At The Majestic
Commentary By Christopher Frayling
Aspect Ratio: 1.33 Full Screen
Main Language: French
Subtitles: English

It also promises us a version of the film "taken from a new & restored print" A shame that this is seemingly not the case. I previously owned the above dvd and as another reviewer pointed out, the print is peppered with scratches, white flecks, holes and is so bad as to be distracting. A shame as the movie itself is wonderful.

But search for the R1 Criterion Restored Edition (search for Beauty and the Beast on this very site, rather than "La belle et la Bete")

The disc contains:

* Available Subtitles: English
* Available Audio Tracks: French (Dolby Digital 5.1), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
* Commentary by: writer/cultural historian Sir Christopher Frayling
* Commentary by: film historian Arthur Knight
* New high-definition transfer
* Original opera written for the film by renowned composer Philip Glass
* Screening at the Majestic, 1995 documentary featuring interviews with cast and crew
* Interview with cinematographer Henri Alekan
* Rare behind-the-scenes and publicity stills
* Original 1945 trailer narrated and directed by Cocteau
* A note about the film by Cocteau
* Film restoration demonstration
* 1995 restoration trailer
* A reprint of Mme. Leprince de Beaumont's original fable translated from the French
* Notes by Francis Steegmuller, from the definitive book Cocteau: A Biography
* New and improved English subtitle translation

Far more extras, with the Phillip Glass opera among one of the highlights. I wouldn't call myself an opera fan, but the extensive instrumental pieces that run throughout Glass' alternative score are beautiful and fit the movie perfectly, taking it to another level and giving you 2 different experiences of 1 fantastic movie.

Did I mention that the restoration is nothing short of beautiful? Criterion have made an admirable effort with it and it's near perfect.

If you have the BFI copy, sell it immediatly and buy the Criterion restored instead. A far superior dvd in every way.

The tale of Beauty and The Beast has been told in various forms for thousands of years. In cinema we have adaptations in King Kong(1933); Frankenstein(1931); Jekyl And Hyde(1932); The Phantom of the Opera(1925); The Hunchback of Notre Dame(1939); Creature From The Black Lagoon(1954) and more recently Edward Scissorhands(1990) and Shrek(2001). The tale will continue to spawn new adaptations but for me there is only one version, Jean Cocteau's `La Belle et La Bete'(1946).

La Belle et La Bete is adapted from the abridged version of the fairy tale by Madame Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont. The story is interpreted as a young woman's coming of age tale with sexual desire being regarded as beastly. Therefore any man feeling this desire would be beastly and only when she learns to regard sexual desire as natural does she find happiness and the beast is transformed into prince charming. The film has a stronger masculine quality with emphasis shifting away from Belle towards the beast's character. The film has also been interpreted in terms of the creative process of artist and muse, suffering for your art. Cocteau also includes many references to mythology (Pavilion Of Diana) pointing to the origins of the tale. The film also includes elements of the Cinderella fairy tale with the inclusion of the ugly sisters.

Jean Cocteau asks us, as an adult audience, at the start to suspend belief and see as a child, which was directed at critics whom he regarded as being too arty or intellectual, one notable being Jean-Paul Satre who had criticised Cocteau for his lack of political commitment. Cocteau replied that his only commitment was to himself and his art. (The suffering artist)

Josette Day and Jean Marais star as Beauty and the Beast respectively. Josette Day has exquisite statuesque presence, which gives her an unattainable cold quality, which is far removed from the original inquisitive naïve peasant girl of the original tale. Jean Marais gives an excellent poetic theatrical performance of the beast suffering for beauty. Jean would later act in another Cocteau masterpiece, `Orphee'(1950). Together for lack of a better word they are magical. The cinematography was by Henri Alekan (Roman Holiday; Wings Of Desire) but I believe Cocteau to be the real genius behind everything in this film: set design, lighting, structure, symbolism, multiple layers, a real auteur.

I cannot recommend this film more highly, it's in my top 10 films of all time and it's unlikely to ever leave. If you don't like this then seek help.

This film is truely magical and should be required viewing for anyone with a passing interest in cinema.

For a restored print the quality isn't that great but stick with it for a series of fantastic images and a magical tale. The image of human candalabras will stay with you for ever.

Also worth watching is the short film that visits the films locations 50 years on. I assumed it was all filmed in a studio so it just added to the magic to see that the house and castle grounds exist. And Jean Marais stil looks as handsome as ever!