Beauty and The Beast (The Criterion Collection) [DVD]

I vascillated for a long time on picking up this disc. Its pricey and I asked myself, how often I would want to revisit this film, practically memorized by now, having viewed it countless times over the years. Yet something drew me to this edition, and the verdict is definitely a positive one. The restored version is lovely-all the incredible contrasts of soft greys, silver and stark blacks have been gloriously brought back to life. This what they mean by "in glorious black and white!" There is a clarity and richness here that gives the viewer an opportunity to notice subtlties that were obscured by the scratchy old print that was used on the VHS version. Gone are the distracting audio pops and clicks and most of the visual scratches, allowing the viewer to more readily fall into the dreamy trance of this timeless film. Cocteau was a poet and a visionary,and despite the technical limitations of film in the 1940's, he brought real magic to the screen, something that today's digital wizardry doesn't always deliver. This is a richly textured retelling of this famous fable, full of detail and nuance. It is decidely more Grimms than Disney, so I don't recommend showing it to small children. Charged with an undercurrent of eroticism and psychological symbols,it is really a fairy tale for adults. The disc is packed with extras. I haven't yet checked them all out, but the "Screening at the Majestic' is a nice documentary. I particularly enjoyed seeing Jean Marais, still very much alive and kicking, reminiscing at the very house that was used as the set for Beauty's family home. I started watching the film with the alternative Phillip Glass opera soundtrack and was amazed to find that the opera vocals are the exact original dialogue, and even more astounding, somehow he was able to sync the vocals precisely with the actors performance. Quite a feat for any composer. It's a bit eerie at first, but a great bonus that I will sit through and absorb someday. I'm looking forward to seeing the Alekan interview as well. Criterion generously fills the accompanying booklet with more gems; a translation of the original fable by Mme.le Prince de Beaumont is in there as well as a couple of fascinating essays, including Cocteau's own thoughts as to the meaning of his film. While all the extras are a great addition, this version is worth the price of admission just by virtue of the film itself. This is a complex allegorical fairytale, filled with symbols and dream imagery. And like all great fairy tales (and dreams) it is filled with ambiguities and contradictions. Perhaps this is why we can come back to it again and again over the years,finding something new in it each time. Every time the ending comes I am confused and beguiled. It always leaves me with a sense of wonder, curiosity and unanswered questions. What more could you want from a movie?

Beauty and the Beast is a magical, sublime film with universal themes of love, desire, fear and agony. Jean Cocteau created a magical film full of surreal environments. The characters are wonderful and the relationship between Belle and the Beast is glourious to look at. When you enter the Beast castle is like you are entering a wonderful dream. The special effects of the film are amazingly done and are even more spectacular when you consider that there were no computers at that time. The transformation of the Beast into the prince is magical but also dissapointing. The beast shows more human emotions that any of the human characters in the film which are selfish, greedy and spoiled (with the exception of Belle). With this transformation, we can't help but wonder if just the outside change or the inside too. We are like Belle thrilled to see the Beast as human but also a little bit dissapointed that the magic is gone. Cocteau created a wonderful masterpiece which themes still resounds today and the story still fills us with joy and magic. Video & Audio Criterion has done a great job with this film. Due to its age and inherent limitations there are some signs of softness, damage and transition issues. Still, the picture has never look better with corrected color, sharp contrast and great detail. This is easily the best presentation of the film. The uncompressed monoaural soundtrack is superb with added clarity and no damage. Even more impressive is the Philio Glass Opera score now remixed in 5.1 DTS-HD MA which sound absolutely terrific. Bonus Features: You have plenty of bonus material on this disc. First you have two great audio commentaries, one by Arthur Knight and the other by Sir Christopher Frayling. They discuss the making of the film, its legacy and importance in film history. Then you have a making-of documentary "Screening at the Majestic" which taks about how the film was made. Then you have an interview with the film's cinematographer Henri Alekan and also a 1964 interview with the film's make up artist Hagop Arakelian. You also have a restoration demonstration, a theatrical trailer, a restoration trailer and a gallery. A booklet is also included with essays by film scholars, Cocteau himself and Philip Glass. Closing Thoughts Beauty and the Beast is a classic that is still full of mistery and magic. This set features great video, superb audio and plenty of bonus features to enjoy which is why it comes Highly Recommended!!

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.

This is a fun movie made during the World War Two era. The early special effects, and beauty of the film are a treat. This is a live action film with actors.

The fairy tale of "Beauty and the Beast", as re-created by Jean Cocteau in cinema format, is a production with supreme finesse and vitality. Major aspects are in rarely balanced contrasting pairs. The overall dual setting of a nearly grimly real late Medieval France urban household -- with a bankrupt merchant father about to be totally stripped of posessions and dignity -- is in very effective contrast with "The Beast" [La Bete] residing in an "Otherworld" forest chateau -- reached by various surreal routes from the "Real World". Other main aspects of this movie are in similar pairs of real versus surreal and dark versus fair -- in complete harmony of the overall theme of "Beauty and the Beast". Dark versus fair shades are used for effective contrast as well as murky versus clear, rough versus slick and lower versus upper perspectives -- and all of that is just some of the visual effectiveness of the presentation. The actors and acting are in great finesse in their balanced movement, evocation, dialog and timing -- minor and major moods are done spot-on. Also -- without anything remotely like current special effects -- supreme usage is made of imaginative creative classical effects [circa 1946] -- such as isolated heads with exactly surreal smoothly tracking faces and eyes and mobile arms with gripping hands holding candelabras or various utensils. In a like manner trees, plants, doors and drapes are in animated movement in sync with the drama and persons [including "The Beast"]. I especially appreciate Josette Day as La Belle ["The Beauty"]. I am glad this Great Classic movie haunted my memory from a long ago school movie appreciation class. This Essential Art House variant is of great quality -- maybe with less non-movie frills than the Criterion variant -- but more modestly priced as well +++

At the beginning of "La Belle et la Bete" the wonderful film based on Marie Leprince de Beaumont's book of the same title, the director, Jean Cocteau asks the viewer to become as little children and engage in the willing suspension of disbelief. Fortunately, I believe in mystical and magical things, so I found Cocteau's instruction easy to follow and was rewarded with thrills of excitement. Criterion has performed it's usaual great service, restoring a masterpiece. The technical aspects--remastering of the 1946 black and white film appears to me to be very nearly perfect. But more importantly, "La Belle et la Bete" is truly a work of art. A documentary included with the DVD explains how Cocteau, in spite of wartime shortages, was able to create his fantasy using the paintings of Vermeer and the etchings of Gustave Dore as a point of inspiration. Many of the most spectacular scenes are animated Gothic wood block prints! In an age of dazzling special effects, it is wonderful to know that creative geniuses have existed and once upon a time movie-making was based on artistic genius, not just technological wizardry. Beauty and the Beast is my favorite fairy tale. In this version, Beauty is a convincingly good daughter and the beast is a convincingly bloody beast. Mornings after his nighly prowls little dead animals can be found in the courtyard. (He is unlike the cowardly lion in The Wizard of Oz). However, by the time the Beast is dying and Beauty rushes to his side, I am have come to care for him--if not love him. Jean Marais and Josette Day are very convincing. Cocteau's "La Belle et la Bete" is closer to the original European tale than many other dramatizations. The purpose of these "fairy" tales was to impart a distilled bit of wisdom from one generation to another. "La Belle et la Bete" teaches an eternal truth--one does not love someone because of their appearance. True love is unconditional. If it is not unconditional, it is not love. As my mother used to say, "You should not judge a book by it's cover" -- although many of us do.

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!

A very wonderful Romantic movie. But, Why No French Captions!!!??? This would be an excellent study for a French Class. I was going to return it because it seemed to advertise that it had French Captions! Very disappointed. But, it is a great movie and I will give a friend this copy.

We first watched this movie on TCM. It was obviously the inspiration for the Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. This version directed toward an adult audience. It has an ethereal quality, to the point of even being spooky. It isn’t a cute Disney movie. It’s in black and white which adds to the eerie quality and makes the non mystical parts seem even more potent. It’s a great yarn that’s beautifully filmed, definitely worth the money if you need to be able to watch a good “escape from reality” movie whenever you want.

Magnifique. Une restauration HD à la hauteur de la merveilleuse poésie de Jean Cocteau, et dans les bonus un long documentaire très intéressant.

Kinder glauben, was wir ihnen erzählen. Sie vertrauen uns blind. Sie glauben, dass eine Rose, die man aus dem Garten pflückt, eine Familie in Streit stürzen kann. Sie glauben, dass die Hände eines Unmenschen rauchen, wenn er sein Opfer tötet, und dass ihn dies beschämen wird, wenn ein junges Mädchen bei ihm einzieht. Sie glauben tausend andere einfache Dinge. Ich bitte Sie um ein wenig dieses kindlichen Verständnisses und, um uns Glück zu bringen, lassen Sie mich vier wahrhaft magische Worte sprechen, das „Sesam, öffne dich“ der Kindheit: Es war einmal …Mit diesen Zeilen beginnt der französische Märchenfilm "La Belle et la Bete" von Jean Cocteau aus dem Jahr 1946. Cocteau, der sich nie als Filmemacher sah, sondern als Dichter, wurde mit einem riesigen Erfolg an den Kinokassen belohnt. Mehr als 4,2 Millionen Franzosen gingen bei der Premiere des Films ins Kino. Der Stoff wurde danach noch mehrfach verfilmt. Disneys Zeichentrickfilm war mit 451 Millionen Dollar Umsatz ebenfalls extrem erfolgreich. Sie eenthielt auch viele visuelle Anspielungen auf Cocteaus Version, allen voran die Idee der lebenden Möbel. 2017 realsierten die Disney Studios mit Regisseur Bill Condon eine Realverfilmung, die sogar die magische Umsatz-Schallmauer von einer Milliarde Dollar durchbrach. Die beiden hier erwähnten Disney Produktionen sind nicht so surreal gestaltet wie Cocteaus Klassiker. Mit Josette Day als Belle und Jean Marais als Biest ist er eine Adaption der 1757 erschienenen Geschichte „Die Schöne und das Biest“ von Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, die ursprünglich in einer Märchensammlung veröffentlicht wurde. Die Handlung von Cocteaus Film dreht sich um Belles Vater, der zum Tode verurteilt wird, weil er eine Rose aus dem Garten des Biestes gepflückt hat. Belle bietet an, anstelle ihres Vaters zum Biest zurückzukehren. Das Biest verliebt sich in sie und macht ihr jeden Abend einen Heiratsantrag, den sie jedoch ablehnt. Schließlich fühlt sich Belle aber immer mehr zum Biest hingezogen, das sie auf die Probe stellt, indem es sie zu ihrer Familie zurückkehren lässt und ihr sagt, dass er vor Kummer sterben wird, wenn sie nicht innerhalb einer Woche zu ihm zurückkehrt. Die Schöne und das Biest gilt heute als Klassiker des französischen Kinos. Während Belle (Josette Day) zu Hause den Boden schrubbt, wird sie von Avenant (Jean Marais), dem Freund ihres Bruders Ludovic (Michel Auclair) unterbrochen. Er meint, sie verdiene Besseres und schlägt ihr eine Heirat vor. Belle weist Avenant zurück, da sie zu Hause bleiben und sich um ihren Vater (Marcel Andre) kümmern möchte, der seit dem Verlust seiner Schiffe und des damit verbundenen Familienvermögens sehr gelitten hat. Belles Vater kommt nach Hause und verkündet, er sei zu großem Reichtum gekommen, den er am nächsten Tag abholen werde, zusammen mit Geschenken für seine Töchter Belle und ihre zänkischen Schwestern Adelaide (Nane Germon) und Felicie (Mila Pareli). Belles schelmenhafter Bruder Ludovic, der glaubt, bald reich zu sein, unterschreibt einen Vertrag mit einem Geldverleiher, der ihm das Recht einräumt, Ludovics Vater zu verklagen, falls dieser nicht zahlen kann. Belles Schwestern wünschen sich einen Affen und einen Papagei, Belle hingegen nur eine Rose. Doch am nächsten Tag muss Belles Vater bei seiner Ankunft feststellen, dass sein Vermögen zur Begleichung seiner Schulden beschlagnahmt wurde und er wieder völlig mittellos ist. Da er kein Geld für eine Unterkunft hat, ist er gezwungen, nachts durch einen Wald nach Hause zurückzukehren. Er verirrt sich und findet sich schließlich vor einem großen Schloss wieder, dessen Tore und Türen sich wie von Zauberhand öffnen. Beim Betreten des Schlosses führt ihn ein verzauberter Kandelaber zu einem reich gedeckten Tisch, wo er einschläft. Von einem lauten Brüllen geweckt, irrt er über das Schlossgelände. Er erinnert sich, dass Belle sich eine Rose gewünscht hat, pflückt eine vom Baum und lässt so das Biest erscheinen. Das Biest droht, ihn wegen Diebstahls zu töten, schlägt aber vor, dass eine seiner Töchter seinen Platz einnehmen kann. Es bietet ihm sein Pferd Magnificent an, um ihn durch den Wald zu seinem Haus zu führen. Belles Vater erklärt seiner Familie und Avenant die Situation. Belle willigt ein, anstelle ihres Vaters zu reiten und reitet auf Magnificent zum Schloss. Als Belle dem Biest begegnet, fällt sie angesichts seines monströsen Aussehens in Ohnmacht und wird in ihr Zimmer im Schloss getragen. Dort erwacht sie und findet einen Zauberspiegel vor, der ihr alles zeigt. Das Biest lädt Belle zum Abendessen ein und erklärt ihr, dass sie ihm gleichgestellt sei und dass er ihr jeden Tag einen Heiratsantrag machen werde. Belle gewöhnt sich an das Biest und gewinnt es lieb, doch sie weigert sich weiterhin, es zu heiraten. Mithilfe des Zauberspiegels sieht sie, dass ihr Vater todkrank geworden ist. Belle bittet ihn inständig, ihre Familie besuchen zu dürfen, und das Biest erlaubt ihr widerwillig, eine Woche zu verreisen. Er schenkt Belle zwei magische Gegenstände: einen Handschuh, mit dem sie sich überall hinbewegen kann, und einen goldenen Schlüssel, der Dianas Pavillon öffnet, die Quelle des wahren Reichtums des Biestes. Er erklärt Belle, dass er ihr diese kostbaren Dinge gibt, um ihr sein Vertrauen zu zeigen, und dass er vor Kummer sterben wird, sollte sie am Ende der Woche nicht zurückkehren.... Dem Dichter Cocteau gelang ein sehr poetischer und verträumter Film mit viel Magie. Auch die Kulissen sind ausdrucksstark; viele der Außenaufnahmen wurden für seltene Architekturszenen in Raray gedreht, einem der schönsten Schlösser und Parks Frankreichs. Und auch die Kostüme von Christian Bérard und Escoffier sind exquisit, glitzernd und fantasievoll. Präsentiert wird eine magische Fantasiewelt voller Trickaufnahmen und verblüffender Efffekte. Um Jean Marais in das Biest zu verwandelt, benötigten die Maskenbildner jedesmal mehrere Stunden.

Another wonderful Cocteau film (Orphee being another), a retelling of the Beauty and the Beast story without any modern tricks, relying on atmosphere and dialogue to drive the story. The black and white filming adds to the eeriness, and the moving statues are nicely spooky and a simple low tech way. One of my favourite films of all time, though it will not be to everyone's taste (in French with subtitles, old, black and white...).

La pelicula es hermosa!