Jean Cocteau's La Belle Et La Bete (1946) is a French romantic fantasy, and also an adaption of the Beauty and The Beast story from 1757. This film thrives to create a sense of magical enchantment, through its extraordinary set design and mystical cinematography. Before the film starts, there is an opening title talking about how children believe stories and what they are told, it then says "They believe a thousand other simple things. I ask of you a little of this childlike simplicity, and, to bring us luck, let me speak four truly magic words, childhood's open sesame: 'Once upon a time...'" (La Belle Et La Bete, 1946) The fact Cocteau chose to include this gives away his intention of attempting to put the viewers under a spell when watching, and in a way he is trying to banish any disbelief present and make the audience think and believe as if they're a child again.
For a film that is about a hideous looking beast (Jean Marais) that falls in love with Belle (Josette Day) as she enters his dark world, the cinematography does a spectacular job in displaying this. The dark and shadowy atmosphere with minimal lighting allows the viewer to see the set and props well, while easily being able to read the dark tone and unearthly mood that the film and the beast's territory holds within. During Belle's first visit to the Beast's home is when the metaphorical light enters the darkness of his life through the cinematography that is shown physically on screen. Belle's outfit blends in with the shadowy background, but her skin has strong lighting that is cast upon it. Not much can be seen due to the darkness, but despite this her presence glows and defies the glum and unilluminated rooms that surround her. Whether easily noticed or not, this itself shares a considerably level of magic visually. (See Fig. 2.)
Cocteau's style in this film is extravagantly experimental, with human parts contributing to the magic of the scene. Arms hold the candles in the hallways, pour drinks at the table, and sculptured busts look around with their eyes and move. Although these can be identified as real humans, once again going back to the opening lines of the film, the magic remains there and it makes the watcher willingly fall for the magic in front of their eyes. "Avant-garde morbidity saturates luxury into every frame as Roman sculptures (Diana and various related huntress/moon imagery), deceptive mirrors (showing those who gaze either their true forms or their true loves) and grotesque human furniture (disembodied arms grasping candlesticks and human-faced fireplace columns) outfit the Beast’s home." (Oller, J, 2015) The efforts to indulge the set with luxury and gloominess have been well executed, and the use of human furniture makes the magical themes in this movie excel to another level of sorcery.
When it comes to understanding the visuals and reading the magic in the film, it is left up to the viewer, and their imagination is tested to hold the responsibility of being strong enough to see the beauty of this film. It requires the audience to use their imagination instead of it being fully delivered on screen. "It's all the better for not relying on astonishing special effects but on the private thoughts of the watcher. Would some Hollywood films today do us that honour?" (Malcolm, D, 1999) This has to be appreciated as all of this is told to the audience at the beginning in the opening title. It prepares whoever is watching and lays some responsibility in their hands, as if to say they will benefit from using their imagination and thinking like a child. After watching the film the quote from the beginning makes more sense and its importance and relevance becomes increasingly stronger. This film is all about using imagination from the visualisation, as oppose to it being hand fed to the audience like it commonly would be. "It is from the visual rather than verbal that the film’s magic comes." (Bychawski, A, 2014)
Figure. 1. La Belle Et La Bete Movie Poster.
For a film that is about a hideous looking beast (Jean Marais) that falls in love with Belle (Josette Day) as she enters his dark world, the cinematography does a spectacular job in displaying this. The dark and shadowy atmosphere with minimal lighting allows the viewer to see the set and props well, while easily being able to read the dark tone and unearthly mood that the film and the beast's territory holds within. During Belle's first visit to the Beast's home is when the metaphorical light enters the darkness of his life through the cinematography that is shown physically on screen. Belle's outfit blends in with the shadowy background, but her skin has strong lighting that is cast upon it. Not much can be seen due to the darkness, but despite this her presence glows and defies the glum and unilluminated rooms that surround her. Whether easily noticed or not, this itself shares a considerably level of magic visually. (See Fig. 2.)
Figure. 2. Movie still.
When it comes to understanding the visuals and reading the magic in the film, it is left up to the viewer, and their imagination is tested to hold the responsibility of being strong enough to see the beauty of this film. It requires the audience to use their imagination instead of it being fully delivered on screen. "It's all the better for not relying on astonishing special effects but on the private thoughts of the watcher. Would some Hollywood films today do us that honour?" (Malcolm, D, 1999) This has to be appreciated as all of this is told to the audience at the beginning in the opening title. It prepares whoever is watching and lays some responsibility in their hands, as if to say they will benefit from using their imagination and thinking like a child. After watching the film the quote from the beginning makes more sense and its importance and relevance becomes increasingly stronger. This film is all about using imagination from the visualisation, as oppose to it being hand fed to the audience like it commonly would be. "It is from the visual rather than verbal that the film’s magic comes." (Bychawski, A, 2014)
Illustration List.
Figure. 1. Sweeney R, La Belle Et La Bete movie poster. http://streamline.filmstruck.com/2017/02/14/mad-love-beauty-and-the-beast-1946/ (Accessed on 03/11/17)
Figure. 2. Bychawski A, La Belle Et La Bete movie still. http://thequietus.com/articles/14307-la-belle-et-la-bette-assessed (Accessed on 03/11/17)
Bibliography.
Bychawski A. (2014) http://thequietus.com/articles/14307-la-belle-et-la-bette-assessed (Accessed on 02/11/17)
La Bella Et La Bete. (1946) Directed by Cocteau, J.
Malcom D. (1999) https://www.theguardian.com/film/1999/jul/01/1 (Accessed on 03/11/17)
Oller J. (2015)
Hey Frankie - I'm impressed by your reviews. They're intelligent, sensitive and you choose good quality sources to support your insights. In terms of formatting, it's a bit all over the place - go back and edit this review - select all the text and then use the little icon that is T with the little x beside it - this strips any text of its formatting - leaving you able to re-format everything from scratch.
ReplyDeletegood job - doesn't that look smarter and more 'academic' - yes indeed!
ReplyDeleteThanks for telling me, I didn't see how dodgy the was formatting until viewing the post!
ReplyDeleteExcellent review, Frankie :)
ReplyDelete