Film Review - La Belle et la Bete

Fig 1. La Belle et Bete Poster (1946)

Jean Cocteau’s 1946 version of this classic tale can be said to the blueprint of the many adaptations that were to come, including Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (1991), inspiring the way in which the magical elements of the story are portrayed. Showing enough smoke and mirrors to let the audient’s imagination add in their own thoughts and ideas.

At the start of the film a message from Cocteau appears talking about how children see the world and how they easily believe in the things that are about to happen are real, to which he asks the viewer “…a little of this childlike simplicity…” (Cocteau, 1946). This might be an odd thing to ask at the start of a film but Cocteau does this for a reason as Derek Malcom examples “The result was a film that dared to be naive, asking its audience to revert to childhood, the better to accept its practical magic.” (Malcolm,1999). There could also be the possibility that the film was designed to be a form of escapism and to remind the viewer of their innocence that they may have lost because of the Second World War which had just ended at the time of the film’s release.

Fig 2. Christian Berard's concept art (1946)


Fig 3. Beauty in the Beast's castle (1946)


To help capture the enchanting feel of the Beast’s castle Cocteau turned to fashion illustrator and design Christian Bérard to create the film’s concept art as well the outfits worn by the characters. Berarad’s images seemed to work perfectly with the black and white film showing only what was important while leaving the rest in darkness adding to the mystery that is the Beast’s home. Even the outfits help to add convey the magic of the film throw the black and white screen with the sweeping dresses to the small sparkling gem details.

All together Cocteau’s film helped to set in stone some of the starting points that would not only make it one of the most successful surreal styled movies of its time but it also “brought the avant garde into the highly commercial French cinema, inspiring a young generation of critics” (Miller, s.d.) making you think if there real is some kind of magic spell at work.

Illustrations
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Comments

  1. Jackie8:34 am, November 21, 2016

    Hi Rhia,

    Make sure you proofread before you post... you have 'manly adaptations' instead of 'many' :)
    Don't forget to italicise the quotes, and also the film names should be in italics too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rhia Crouch - BA (Hons) Computer Animation Arts, UCA Rochester1:13 pm, November 21, 2016

    Oops, thanks for pointing out my mistakes.

    This one was a little hard for me so I must have just put it up without thinking.

    ReplyDelete

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