La Belle et la Bete (1946)

Beauty and the Beast (French: La Belle et la Bête – also the UK title) is a 1946 French romantic fantasy film directed by French poet and filmmaker Jean Cocteau. Starring Josette Day as Belle and Jean Marais as the Beast, it is an adaptation of the 1757 story Beauty and the Beast, written by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont and published as part of a fairy tale anthology.

The plot of Cocteau's film revolves around Belle's father who is sentenced to death for picking a rose from the Beast's garden. Belle offers to go back to the Beast in her father's place. Beast falls in love with her and proposes marriage on a nightly basis which she refuses. Belle eventually becomes more drawn to Beast, who tests her by letting her return home to her family and telling her that if she doesn't return to him within a week, he will die of grief. ~ Wikipedia

Children believe what we tell them.  They have complete faith in us.  They believe that a rose plucked from a garden can plunge a family into conflict.  They believe that the hands of a human beast will smoke when he slays a victim and this will cause the beast shame, when a young maiden takes up residence in his home.  They believe a thousand other simple things.  I ask of you a little of this childlike simplicity, and, to bring us luck, let me speak four magic little words, childhood’s “open sesame”.  “Once upon a time…” ~ Jean Cocteau

 This film is just exquisite.   Because of the small budget after WWII the “special effects” were very minimal but still leave a fascinating impact.  One example of the lack of budget is a scene filled with sheets hanging out to dry.  These hundreds of sheets were “donated” by surrounding communities for this one-shot. An example of the fantasy aspect of the film is the candlesticks on the walls are held by real hands and the statues throughout the Beast’s palace have seeing eyes. 

One of my favorite parts of the film is Belle’s introduction to the palace and the magic that inhabits it; not only does she find this eerie but faints upon first sight of the hideousness of the Beast, who then carries her to her room and while crossing the threshold her simple dress turns into an elegant gown.  Lastly,  not only is it fun to read the book and see this movie but is also interesting to compare Jean Cocteau’s version to that of Disney’s as they stole so much from it.

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