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7 reviews for Beauty and The Beast (The Criterion Collection) [DVD]
Mark J. Fowler –
French Fairy-Tale Masterpiece
Concocting elaborate fairy tales is something the French do exceedingly well, and in La Belle et La Bete Jean Cocteau adapts Madame Leprince de Beaumont’s classic tale into a film masterpiece.Cocteau opens the film with a short prologue in which he asks the audience to recall the time when we were children – and were able to believe in things we couldn’t see.Belle is the older sister in a family that has enjoyed prosperous times – in the past. The widowed father has now fallen on hard times. Many of his ships have been lost and when the last one finally comes to port, it won’t even pay the debts he already has. Belle has a younger brother and two wicked and greedy sisters who are determined to live as richly as possible – and they’ll lie and deceive to accomplish this.Father gets lost on his return from the bank where he discovers they’re bankrupt, and in a storm he takes refuge in the mysterious castle he finds. Inside the door, candlelabras light themselves and, even stranger, they’re held by human arms protruding from the wall. The arms hold the lighted candles and helpfully point the way. A mysterious dining room waits, heated by a large fireplace with sculpted faces with eyes that follow your movements.The story will be familiar enough to those who only know the cartoon version. Jean Marais takes on the role of both the Beast (with its 5 hour make-up job) and the Suitor Avenant, who wants to marry Belle, but would like the Beast’s treasure even more. He is good as Avenant, but he’s even better as the Beast, bringing an incredible vitality to the role under a hairy, fanged facade.Belle is not the singing bookworm of the Disney version, but rather the beautiful, virtuous woman who would sacrifice her own life for her father. Back at home Belle acts as a servant to her family, including the vain and bickering sisters – not because she’s an orphaned step-child as in Cinderella, but out of the goodness of her heart.Henri Alekan photographed the film in a scintillating black and white. About half the film was shot in beautiful locations in France and the rest on elaborate sets by Christian Berard. The spectacular costumes were designed at the house of Jeanne Lanvin, with Pierre Cardin supervising the men’s costumes.I have long held a special place for the tale, because in addition to it’s fantastical elements and wonderful story, the “moral of the story” is very moral indeed. Not just “don’t be greedy or bad” as in most other fairy tales, but emphatically “be good, and virtuous”. Without at least some of societies members willingness to be virtuous, society will crumble. “La Belle et La Bete” teaches that virtue has rewards in a most enchanting manner.Not recommended for little children – but if your child is old enough to be curious about matters of substance, they’re old enough for this film.
Also_was_There –
Timeless and More Relevant Than Ever – The Blu Ray disc is Superb!
Released in 1946, Jean Cocteau’s “La Belle et La Bete” was traditionally seen as his most audience-friendly film.Yet today, almost 30 years after the Disney animated release it remains more essential than ever. The two films must be discussed together but why? It is because the Disney film borrowed MUCH of its charm, not from the traditional story, but from the Cocteau version. The was NO Gaston, no talking candlesticks or other talking furniture or much of the “magic” in the original tale written in the 17th century: That was all derived from Cocteau’s version! There are differences, such as in Cocteau’s version “Gaston” is the character “Avenant” and Gaston’s groveling sidekick “LeFou” is in Cocteau named “Ludovic” and is Belle’s brother. None of the furniture talks, but much of it moves it its own magical way; Hands that pour wine in your glass or pull aside drapery, human heads made to look like statuary that can turn and follow Belle with their face and eyes.But differences DO matter; In the Disney version much of the story revolves around the falling petals of a magical rose. In Cocteau’s version, the original version, the rose is just a plot device to set the real story in motion. What will kill the Beast is the failure of the love and trust he places in Belle – if she fails to return.We also get much more set-up, such as Belle’s quarrelling, petty, avaricious sisters; They were replaced in the Disney film with the over-the-top arrogance and greed of Gaston and the fawning of LeFou.OK, so why more relevant now than ever? Both are fairy tales, not Homeric Epics after all. Because the original version, the one by Cocteau, places responsibility squarely for events and decisions on human characters to include the humanity that dwells within the Beast. Whereas the Disney version dumbs everything down to a kiddie movie with jolly songs and operatic bluster to gloss over the loss of sensitivity and depth. I love the original Disney version, but when I saw Cocteau’s version for the first time recently I was gob-smacked by how much more mature, delicate, and magical it is. The original film has been restored lovingly and will look superb on your Big Screen and Blu ray player if you have those, but is worthy even on Grandpa’s old B&W TV he keeps in the basement. Many people will not buy this as, “I already have the Disney version.” And they will continue to sleep-walk through their consumer-oriented lives. See it! And be transformed if you dare!
Kopf, Andrea –
Einfach wunderbar
William Morton –
We first watched this movie on TCM. It was obviously the inspiration for the Disneyâs Beauty and the Beast. This version directed toward an adult audience. It has an ethereal quality, to the point of even being spooky. It isnât a cute Disney movie. Itâs in black and white which adds to the eerie quality and makes the non mystical parts seem even more potent. Itâs a great yarn thatâs beautifully filmed, definitely worth the money if you need to be able to watch a good âescape from realityâ movie whenever you want.
![Beauty and The Beast (The Criterion Collection) [DVD]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw== "Beauty and The Beast (The Criterion Collection) [DVD]")
![Beauty and The Beast (The Criterion Collection) [DVD]](https://i2.wp.com/m.media-amazon.com/images/I/8119DbATC2L._SL1500_.jpg?w=600&resize=600,0&ssl=1 "Beauty and The Beast (The Criterion Collection) [DVD]")
Mark J. Fowler –
French Fairy-Tale Masterpiece
Concocting elaborate fairy tales is something the French do exceedingly well, and in La Belle et La Bete Jean Cocteau adapts Madame Leprince de Beaumont’s classic tale into a film masterpiece.Cocteau opens the film with a short prologue in which he asks the audience to recall the time when we were children – and were able to believe in things we couldn’t see.Belle is the older sister in a family that has enjoyed prosperous times – in the past. The widowed father has now fallen on hard times. Many of his ships have been lost and when the last one finally comes to port, it won’t even pay the debts he already has. Belle has a younger brother and two wicked and greedy sisters who are determined to live as richly as possible – and they’ll lie and deceive to accomplish this.Father gets lost on his return from the bank where he discovers they’re bankrupt, and in a storm he takes refuge in the mysterious castle he finds. Inside the door, candlelabras light themselves and, even stranger, they’re held by human arms protruding from the wall. The arms hold the lighted candles and helpfully point the way. A mysterious dining room waits, heated by a large fireplace with sculpted faces with eyes that follow your movements.The story will be familiar enough to those who only know the cartoon version. Jean Marais takes on the role of both the Beast (with its 5 hour make-up job) and the Suitor Avenant, who wants to marry Belle, but would like the Beast’s treasure even more. He is good as Avenant, but he’s even better as the Beast, bringing an incredible vitality to the role under a hairy, fanged facade.Belle is not the singing bookworm of the Disney version, but rather the beautiful, virtuous woman who would sacrifice her own life for her father. Back at home Belle acts as a servant to her family, including the vain and bickering sisters – not because she’s an orphaned step-child as in Cinderella, but out of the goodness of her heart.Henri Alekan photographed the film in a scintillating black and white. About half the film was shot in beautiful locations in France and the rest on elaborate sets by Christian Berard. The spectacular costumes were designed at the house of Jeanne Lanvin, with Pierre Cardin supervising the men’s costumes.I have long held a special place for the tale, because in addition to it’s fantastical elements and wonderful story, the “moral of the story” is very moral indeed. Not just “don’t be greedy or bad” as in most other fairy tales, but emphatically “be good, and virtuous”. Without at least some of societies members willingness to be virtuous, society will crumble. “La Belle et La Bete” teaches that virtue has rewards in a most enchanting manner.Not recommended for little children – but if your child is old enough to be curious about matters of substance, they’re old enough for this film.
Also_was_There –
Timeless and More Relevant Than Ever – The Blu Ray disc is Superb!
Released in 1946, Jean Cocteau’s “La Belle et La Bete” was traditionally seen as his most audience-friendly film.Yet today, almost 30 years after the Disney animated release it remains more essential than ever. The two films must be discussed together but why? It is because the Disney film borrowed MUCH of its charm, not from the traditional story, but from the Cocteau version. The was NO Gaston, no talking candlesticks or other talking furniture or much of the “magic” in the original tale written in the 17th century: That was all derived from Cocteau’s version! There are differences, such as in Cocteau’s version “Gaston” is the character “Avenant” and Gaston’s groveling sidekick “LeFou” is in Cocteau named “Ludovic” and is Belle’s brother. None of the furniture talks, but much of it moves it its own magical way; Hands that pour wine in your glass or pull aside drapery, human heads made to look like statuary that can turn and follow Belle with their face and eyes.But differences DO matter; In the Disney version much of the story revolves around the falling petals of a magical rose. In Cocteau’s version, the original version, the rose is just a plot device to set the real story in motion. What will kill the Beast is the failure of the love and trust he places in Belle – if she fails to return.We also get much more set-up, such as Belle’s quarrelling, petty, avaricious sisters; They were replaced in the Disney film with the over-the-top arrogance and greed of Gaston and the fawning of LeFou.OK, so why more relevant now than ever? Both are fairy tales, not Homeric Epics after all. Because the original version, the one by Cocteau, places responsibility squarely for events and decisions on human characters to include the humanity that dwells within the Beast. Whereas the Disney version dumbs everything down to a kiddie movie with jolly songs and operatic bluster to gloss over the loss of sensitivity and depth. I love the original Disney version, but when I saw Cocteau’s version for the first time recently I was gob-smacked by how much more mature, delicate, and magical it is. The original film has been restored lovingly and will look superb on your Big Screen and Blu ray player if you have those, but is worthy even on Grandpa’s old B&W TV he keeps in the basement. Many people will not buy this as, “I already have the Disney version.” And they will continue to sleep-walk through their consumer-oriented lives. See it! And be transformed if you dare!
Kopf, Andrea –
Einfach wunderbar
William Morton –
We first watched this movie on TCM. It was obviously the inspiration for the Disneyâs Beauty and the Beast. This version directed toward an adult audience. It has an ethereal quality, to the point of even being spooky. It isnât a cute Disney movie. Itâs in black and white which adds to the eerie quality and makes the non mystical parts seem even more potent. Itâs a great yarn thatâs beautifully filmed, definitely worth the money if you need to be able to watch a good âescape from realityâ movie whenever you want.
Gloria –
Magnifique. Une restauration HD à la hauteur de la merveilleuse poésie de Jean Cocteau, et dans les bonus un long documentaire très intéressant.
monica pitman –
Excellent
Fer Lara –
La pelicula es hermosa!