One of the best French films in existence, La Belle et la Bête (Beauty and the Beast), begins in the home of a half-ruined merchant (Marcel André). The merchant, whose name is never mentioned, has four grown children. Three daughters and a son named Ludovic (Michel Auclair). His first two daughters, Adélaïde (Nane Germon) and Félicie (Mila Parély), are superficial, selfish and spoiled. They exploit the third daughter, Belle (Josette Day) as a servant and squander every cent their father makes on themselves so that they can be beautiful and sophisticated. Ludovic despises both Adélaïde and Félicie but is highly protective of Belle, particularly from the advances of his scoundrel friend Avenant (Jean Marais). One day the merchant leaves on a business trip. Before he goes he asks each of his daughters what he can bring them as a present. Adélaïde and Félicie naturally ask for lavish gifts while Belle asks for only a single rose. On his way home the merchant gets lost in the forest. He comes across a castle and enters to seek accommodations. No one appears to own the castle and the merchant sleeps well. The next morning the merchant sees a rose bush and, remembering his promise to Belle, he picks a single rose.
Out of the shadows steps the Beast (also played by Jean Marais) who demands retribution for the loss of his precious rose after he allowed the merchant to stay in his home. The merchant begs to see his family one last time and the Beast gives him a choice. Either he must return and stay in the Beast's castle forever or one of his daughters must take his place. As she feels she is the cause of her father's predicament, Belle sacrifices herself to the Beast. Upon arriving at the castle, Belle finds that the Beast, whose grotesqueness she cannot deny, does not want to kill her, but wants to marry her and lavish her with riches. He does not force her, but he will ask her every night to marry him, these times the only ones when he will appear to her. She vows never to say yes. As Belle resigns herself to her mortal fate and looks deeper into the Beast - whose grotesque exterior masks a kind but tortured soul her thoughts begin to change. Meanwhile, Belle's family, who learn of her situation, have their own thoughts of what to do, some working toward what they believe is Belle's best welfare, and others working toward their own benefit.
The original story by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont is essentially a story about two characters having dinner. Writer/Director Jean Cocteau manages to flesh out something with less than six-thousand words into a film of near perfection. It's a picture that does not age. Every time I watch the film I see something new. Purely poetic, fantastical and translucent. The film is not hindered by my inability to speak French. The Beast, in all his incarnations, is one of the most tragic heroes in literature. Jean Marais and Jean Cocteau give him an elegance that is absolutely mesmerizing. His appearance has an odd similarity to animal-human creatures from the Universal legacy. Cocteau decides to play up the Beast's eyes so that we are not only sympathetic to his plight but also empathetic. Jean Marais plays a total of three roles in the film but it is his interpretation of The Beast that is his best role and has only been matched by Robby Benson's. |
★★★★
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