Film Review: La Belle et la Bête

(Fig 1: La Belle et la Bête Poster)

La Belle et la Bête is a french film in black and white directed by Jean Cocteau. It is an adaptation of a classic children's story by Mme and is well known as the Beauty and the Beast. As said by Michael Wilmington in his review, ''This is a poet-painter's film. In a glistening landscape that suggests Dutch paintings come to life.'' (Wilmington, 2002). On first sight this film looks incredibly stylized with its stunning production design.

(Fig. 2: La Belle et la Bête, Production Art)

(Fig 4, La Belle et la Bête, film still)

The film is highly influential from the original production art created for the sets as you can see in Figure 2. Cocteau had commended Beard on his influence upon the film as they worked together and from the concept and production art you can see a direct correlation to the costumes, lighting and the interior of the beast's castle. The film itself represents the artists visions when designing the sets with the gleaming white curtains and overall design of the house.

Produced in 1946 after World War Two this was hugely success with it's sense of escapism for the audience as this allowed the audience to break free from the reality of their tragedies and indulge themselves in a magical land. This was said in a written review by Frocktalk,“La Belle et La Bête is a soothing balm of a fairy tale, engendering hope in the promise of new beginnings and restoring faith in the compassionate spirit of humankind. It is a story about breaking free from imprisonment and breaking forth into freedom. It was a message that people needed to hear then''(Frochtalk, 2009). This can be seen in the film where Belle falls in love with the beast after being 'imprisoned' by him but this also gave her a chance of a new beginning with a better life. 

(Fig 5,La Belle et la Bête, Film still)

(fig 6, La Belle et la Bête, Film still)

To help this sense of escapism within his film, Cocteau wanted to produce something out of the ordinary. This is shown with statues that are living and breathing (Fig 5) and candles being held with prosthetic limbs (fig 6). It is clear that he had put a lot of thought into each element: set design, costumes, plot etc. Altogether this is a film with great designs and a very strong underlining meaning to the film that was highly thought about at the time of production.




Bibliography:

(Wilmington, 2002), La Belle et la Bête film review. URL: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2002-09-06/entertainment/0209060033_1_beast-josette-day-magical. (Accessed on 22.11.2013)

(Frocktalk, 2009) La Belle et la Bête film review. URL: http://frocktalk.com/?p=1520
(Accessed on 22.11.2013)


Illustration List:

Fig. 1: La Belle et la Bête Poster Art (1946), From: La Belle et la Bête, directed by: Jean Cocteau. [Poster] At: http://theredlist.fr/wiki-2-20-777-786-view-1940-1950-profile-1946-bbeauty-and-the-beast-la-belle-et-la-bete-b-j-cocteau-c-berard-l-carre-r-moulaert.html(Accessed on 22.11.2013)

Fig. 2: Drawing by Christian Beard (1946), For: La Belle et la Bête, directed by: Jean Cocteau [Drawing]. At: http://theredlist.fr/media/database/settings/cinema/1940-1950/beauty-and-the-beast/023-beauty-and-the-beast-theredlist.jpg (Accessed on 22.11.2013)

Fig. 4.  La Belle et la Bête film still (1946) From: La Belle et la Bête, directed by: Jean Cocteau. [Film Still] At: http://dudummesau.com/2011/09/11/klaus-kinski-call-me-beast/ (Accessed on 22.11.2013)

Fig 5,La Belle et la Bête, Film still (1946), From: La Belle et la Bete, directed by Jean Cocteau. [Film Still] At: http://www.gwarlingo.com/2012/jean-cocteau-beauty-and-the-beast/

Fig 6,La Belle et la Bête, Film still (1946), From: La Belle et la Bete, directed by Jean Cocteau. [Film Still] At: http://www.gwarlingo.com/2012/jean-cocteau-beauty-and-the-beast/