Moral messages and happy endings
Live action version of Beauty and the Beast teaches children (and parents) never to judge a book by its cover
What a lark. Disney’s live action version of Beauty and the Beast has all the thrills and adventure of the animated original, plus some new and entirely hallucinogenic visuals. Bursting with colour and song, this is an over-the-top production that presents incisive social commentary all dressed up in the frilly crinoline of a children’s fairy tale.
Beauty and the Beast begins with a fantastic scene about a handsome but selfish young prince (Dan Stevens) being turned into a terrible beast by an enchantress. Magic transforms him and all who live in his castle.
Unless the prince learns to truly love another, the spell will never be lifted and he’ll never become human again. And time is running out.
Now we move to a nearby village to meet Belle (Emma Watson), an independent young woman who loves to read. In the little backwater where she lives, Belle is viewed as odd for her love of books, her lack of interest in the local pecking order and her disdain for Gaston, the macho town catch.
Gaston is vain, handsome and thicker than two short planks, and he’s determined to marry Belle. But she’s not interested. (Small pause here to note that both Luke Evans as the preening Gaston, and Josh Gad as his adoring sidekick LeFou, are brilliant.)
As the story unfolds, Belle’s widowed father (Kevin Kline) is imprisoned in the bewitched kingdom of the beast. Belle finds her father and rescues him, but now she’s at the mercy of the beast. Though frightened, she doesn’t cower in the face of his beastly behaviour.
Over time, Belle and the beast develop a friendship based on their mutual love of books.
All the enchanted objects in the castle — the bits of crockery and furniture, talking clocks and candelabra — work hard to nurture this friendship, hoping Belle is the one who will love the beast, and vice-versa, and break the spell upon all of them. They want to be human again.
Getting to true love and a happy ending involves dark and scary scenes of the villagers coming with pitchforks and torches. Led by the cruel Gaston, they hope to kill the beast.
Luckily, love and courage save the day.
Beauty and The Beast is a wonderful treat, even for those who have already sat through the animated version 14,000 times at the behest of their children. It’s still full of surprises. After 25 years, the songs remain fresh and clever, and the big musical productions are dazzling.
When the magical objects in the castle welcome Belle with a 12-course dinner, for example, their dance routines are worthy of Busby Berkeley. On mushrooms.
Much of Beauty and The Beast is about not judging a book by its cover, whether that cover is a tattered beggar, a local eccentric or an apparently ferocious beast. Lots of things turn out to be very different from what they appear: all that enchanted furniture, for example, proves to be Emma Thompson, Ian McKellen, Ewan McGregor, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Stanley Tucci and Audra McDonald.
In what you might call unusually xenophobic, homophobic and gynophobic times, Disney has made an effort here, and it shows.
Beauty and The Beast is energetic and hugely entertaining, both for children and the adults who accompany them.