La Belle et la Bte film review Hannah Milliner

Jean Cocteaus La Belle et la Bte started screening in 1946. The scenes in this film are at times very dark and unsettling. As the following quote suggests both this version and the Disney version have their own audiences and both have visually dark elements. Like the Disney, Cocteaus world is frightening but not in an overtly obvious way. Theres just something incredibly unsettling about the beasts castle (the human arm chandeliers for one) and I think in a way, this difference perfectly demonstrates who the different audiences are. While Disneys version was terrifying for children (and is still visually dark and impressive at times), Cocteaus version was made for adults. (Pithon. V, 2012) The quote makes some valuable points about the differences in audiences and yet some details are quite similar. The Disney Beauty and the Beast had a few designs similarities to its 1946 ancestor, the visual design of beast is one, and the use of personifying the furniture although done slightly differently some furniture like the chandeliers were moving at will. In the 1946 version the Chandielers are attachted to the wall using human arms which are able to move(fig. 1). In the disney version the candleabre was a character in its own right (fig. 2)

Fig.1 La Belle et la Bte 1946

Beauty and the beast 1991

Fig.2

The castle design in the 1946 version cold be said to boldly represent the character subconscious as described in the next quote Cocteau uses haunting images and bold Freudian symbols to suggest that emotions are at a boil in the subconscious of his characters. (R. Ebert, 1999) this is a possible explanation of the castle design, but it is also possible that the design especially the overuse of plants (fig 3) inside the rooms could suggest the entrapment of the Beast both physically and mentally. His beast like nature is constantly competing with his human nature. The statues are constantly watching the characters which for beast could signify a sense of paranoia of his visual appearance.

Fig 3 Belle et la Bte 1946 The Mirror plays a rather large part to the film as it allows a constant update and reminder of the Characters priority and situation, an example of this is when Beauty uses the mirror to see her father because she has refused marriage and the idea of leaving because she does not want to leave her father behind. Another example is when Beasts watches Beauty as without her he cannot break his curse. It can also be suggested that it brings forward a second meaning which Beauty brings up which is along the lines that people are monsters as well but are better at disguising it, the mirror is used to enhance this by reflecting one of Beautys sisters as a monkey. The following quote suggests that the artistic style of the film is a fusion of styles Cocteau reaches a new level of artistic fusion, combining mythical narrative, visual poetry, cinematic trickery and even his own child-like writing in the credit sequence R. Miesk, 1963) The magical mirror is the most obvious use of camera trickery as it appears a second film if overlaid over the original to give the vision.

Bibliography

Ebert, R 1999. Beauty and the beast http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-beauty-and-the-beast-1946 Miesk, R, 1963. Senses of cinema, Jean Cocteau. https://soma.sbcc.edu/users/DaVega/FILMST_113/Filmst113_ExFilm_Bios/Jean%20Cocteau_bio.pdf
Pithon. V, 2012 - Ginie Compares: Disneys Beauty and the Beast and Jean Cocteaus La Belle et la Bete

http://lavirginie.wordpress.com/2012/03/25/ginie-compares-disneys-beauty-and-the-beast-andjean-cocteaus-la-belle-et-la-bete/

Images Fig.1 La Belle et la Bte 1946 http://www.dvdjournal.com/reviews/b/beautyandthebeast_cc.shtml

Fig.2 Beauty and the beast 1991 http://bplusmovieblog.com/2012/09/15/my-favorite-disney-characters-50-1/

Fig 3 Belle et la Bte 1946 http://www.arizonalily.org/lilyrhiannon/gypsy/bellebete/index.shtml