LA BELLE ET LA BÊTE
Jean Genius
released 30 July 1946 | PG | Blu-ray Director Jean Cocteau Cast Jean Marais, Josette day, Mila Parely, Marcel andre
We frequently talk about the romance of cinema, but nothing could be more magical than Jean Cocteau’s exquisitely crafted fairytale.
Cocteau was an artist before he became a filmmaker, and it’s so obvious in the way he transforms simple allegory into sexual, surrealist poetry. So many captivating elements can be attributed to him, from the Beast’s smoking paws after he slays an animal to Belle’s falling tears turning to diamonds. With only a small budget at his disposal, Cocteau heightened the magic via tricks and illusion. Extras hid behind walls and under tables, their hands poking out to convey enchanted candelabras; footage of candles being puffed out were played in reverse to create the impression that they were magically igniting. An early scene where Belle glides through the castle still makes you inhale sharply (actress Josette Day was actually on rollerskates).
Then there’s the heady relationship between Belle and her beau, something far too charged for young audiences. It lacks the saccharine drip of modern romance: Belle isn’t a damsel cringing or crying over the Beast, but coyly keeps her distance. It’s the Beast who’s in shreds, lapping water from her hands and burying his head into her bedsheets. Playing a creature designed to look like a melancholy lion, Jean Marais imbues his performance with such self-loathing that it’s agonising to watch.
Many loving adaptations have followed, including Disney’s 1991 animation and Bill Condon’s frothy 2017 remake. But Cocteau’s vision remains the most intoxicating, a rose of eternal bloom.
Extras Carried over from the old DVD: commentary with historian Christopher Frayling. New to this 4K restoration: two documentaries (49 minutes/23 minutes) featuring authors, film historians and academics. Plus: deleted scenes (six minutes); “Barbe Bleue”, an animated 1938 version of Bluebeard (13 minutes); trailers; gallery; booklet. Kimberley Ballard
Greta Garbo was reportedly so upset when the Beast transformed into a man that she cried out, “Give me back my beast!”