Since this film is in the French language, it wasn't like watching an English film that I can just look at the actors and know what's going on. There were English subtitles at the bottom and I had to constantly pay attention to make sure I wouldn't miss anything. But I think it was good to read the subtitles rather than the film being voiced over- to me, it's more annoying and distracting seeing their mouths move but not in time with the sound...lol The film was not all talk, talk, talk so that was a plus to be able to focus on the set & costume design, and most of all- the acting. The acting was there- it was on. There was the over emphasized dramatic movements, such as one would see in any old films from that era. But there were small subtle movements from certain cast members that was not indicative of American actors. I remember a certain point in the film that the Beast is caught by Belle, standing right outside her door. It's as if he's snooping and wants to go in to spy on her. She immediately becomes angry with him and yells at him to leave. To me, that was so not the "damsel in distress" card. I gained new appreciation for her character after that. She is almost ahead of her time: headstrong, honest and loyal, but had this deep certainty of who she believed this Beast was after some time, and almost trying to show him who he was, but from her eyes. The Beast was as I would expect. Dark, animalistic, brooding, at war within himself. He is both man and beast and is always fighting both sides of himself. Unlike the Disney version, there wasn't really any back story to the Prince before he became a beast. But perhaps that added to his mysterious aura, not knowing he if would turn beastly and violent, or take Belle's hand gently in his gloved one and walk with her in his enchanted garden along the castle grounds. I noticed one other similarity that I assume Disney gleaned inspiration from the 1946 version- the one human aspect of "La Bete" was his eyes. They were big and clear, piercing and fierce....but completely human. I see some of this reflect in certain "Phantom of the Opera" versions. The Phantom must act and show emotion with either a half or full mask on his face. The Beast must act with all the fx makeup and the lavish costume. Cocteau made certain to always capture the eyes of the Beast when he was speaking with Belle or watching her from afar. This is the one window which the viewer can see into his real human soul. It gives the viewer hope that there really is a man deep down inside, and that with the arrival of Belle, he is starting to discover that man after he has been buried for so many years.
Let's get down to the special effects. Wow! Such a small word for how spectacular and innovative this film was with their effects. I don't want to give away all the secrets of what made this film so wonderful, so I will touch on some of the fx that I really liked.
*When Belle first arrives at the Beast's castle, she walks in the door, but once she gets inside everything turns into slow motion. She shuts the door and turns, then starts to run down the main hall with her long cloak billowing about her. At the same time, there is absolutely NO sound. I think that perhaps the director wanted you to feel what Belle felt. Here she is, leaving her ill father and going to the lair of a beast- a creature who she was afraid would attack and devour her whole! As she runs it seems as though time stands still and I guess when time stands still, so does sound. It was very effective.
*During the beginning when Belle's father arrives at the Beast's mysterious castle in the woods, he enters the dining room and seats himself at a table where there is food and wine laid out. When he reaches out for the pitcher of wine, a hand comes up out of the table, grabs the pitcher, and proceeds to pour it into the goblet.
*The same scene with the mysterious hand that pours drink into Belle's father's goblet, he is seated at the table after having dinner- he grows sleepy and falls asleep in the chair at the table. The crackling fire blazes, lulling him into an even deeper sleep. At one point, the audience gets to see the gorgeous and ornate fireplace, that has statues on either side. But one of the statues suddenly opens its eyes and looks over to the sleeping man at the table. Then smoke starts to come out of the statue's nose- very creative way of turning the statue-man into the chimney's flue! These actors which have to play a statue or part of the house are so talented because there has to be such stillness, especially when all they can move are their eyes or even a slight move of their head.
*One of my other favorite parts is when Belle arrives at the castle and is shown running down the main hall in slow motion- but it's what happens after that I love even more. She enters another door and the camera speed goes back to normal. There is a long, long hall that is full of open windows and white curtains billowing out from the howling wind outside. As Belle starts to walk, she isn't really walking- she is floating down the long wide corridor. It's like she was on one of those moving walkways at the airport...lol Totally effective though, it was as almost as if she was a ghost floating down a hall.
*There is an interesting aspect about the Beast. At certain points of the film, he has wisps of smoke that come off of him, around his neck area and hands. Not sure what the director was going for regarding that, the only thing I can assume is that the Beast is enchanted, ever since he was turned into a creature- its just a small effect that will make the Beast come off even more mysterious.
*At the very end when the Beast turns into the Prince, it appears to me that they filmed it backwards. I have seen this same sort of effect done in the Francis Ford Coppola film, "Bram Stoker's Dracula"- if they film it backwards, it comes off eerie or "off." The Beast is on the ground, Belle thinks he is dead and all of a sudden, he is the transformed prince and rises up swiftly and very agile, until he is standing up. Very cool effect!
*In the beginning when Belle's father first walks into the castle, there are what looks to be statues of arms each holding a candelabra. But as he walks forward, each arm extends out and the candle is magically lit. It's almost as if the arms are guiding/lighting the way, showing him where to go. As soon as I saw this effect, I immediately thought of Joel Schumacher's 2004 film of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, "The Phantom of the Opera." Mr. Schumacher or someone on that set had to have seen the 1946 B&B! When the Phantom coaxes Christine through the magical mirror and they start down a long corridor, there are the same arms holding candelabras- and each time they take a step forward, the arms move out to the side and each candle magically is lit. When I saw this film in the theater back in 2004, I thought that effect was so cool- but at least now I know where they gleaned inspiration from. :-)
*A little over halfway through the film, the Beast finds Belle very sad. She tells him her father is dying and she desperately wants to go see him. The Beast tells her that she must promise to return in 1 weeks time, otherwise he himself will die from a broken heart. Belle agrees. The Beast then gives her one of his gloves and he tells her that when she puts this on, it will transport her to wherever she desires to go. So after the Beast leaves, she lays down on her bed, puts the glove on, and wishes to go back to her father's house. She instantly disappears from the bed and the next scene she is almost "coming out of the wall" at her father's house! That's the best way I can describe that effect, that one gets me because those are effects you see in modern cinema and they "CG" everything. Back in the day, they would have done all effects by hand. Pretty impressive.
*As I was telling my husband about this film, which now he says he HAS to see- I recalled another effect I really liked. When Belle sees the Beast for the first time, she faints. He picks her up and carries her to her room. As they walk through the doorway, you see first her feet that go from her more plain shoes/attire to very fancy...and as he keeps going through the doorway, her dress and hair change as well! Still scratching my head, trying to figure out how they flipping did that back in the day!
I'm sure that I'm forgetting some things, but I have given away too much of the movie already!
Rent it, buy it, or if you have Hulu Plus, WATCH THIS FILM. If you can look past the fact it is in French and will have to read the subtitles, this film will amaze and mystify you. Plus, it is a beloved fairy tale- "Beauty and the Beast" is timeless, and any version I have ever seen always has something interpreted a bit different. This story, like so many other fables or fairy tales, they never get old........
Let's get down to the special effects. Wow! Such a small word for how spectacular and innovative this film was with their effects. I don't want to give away all the secrets of what made this film so wonderful, so I will touch on some of the fx that I really liked.
*When Belle first arrives at the Beast's castle, she walks in the door, but once she gets inside everything turns into slow motion. She shuts the door and turns, then starts to run down the main hall with her long cloak billowing about her. At the same time, there is absolutely NO sound. I think that perhaps the director wanted you to feel what Belle felt. Here she is, leaving her ill father and going to the lair of a beast- a creature who she was afraid would attack and devour her whole! As she runs it seems as though time stands still and I guess when time stands still, so does sound. It was very effective.
*During the beginning when Belle's father arrives at the Beast's mysterious castle in the woods, he enters the dining room and seats himself at a table where there is food and wine laid out. When he reaches out for the pitcher of wine, a hand comes up out of the table, grabs the pitcher, and proceeds to pour it into the goblet.
*The same scene with the mysterious hand that pours drink into Belle's father's goblet, he is seated at the table after having dinner- he grows sleepy and falls asleep in the chair at the table. The crackling fire blazes, lulling him into an even deeper sleep. At one point, the audience gets to see the gorgeous and ornate fireplace, that has statues on either side. But one of the statues suddenly opens its eyes and looks over to the sleeping man at the table. Then smoke starts to come out of the statue's nose- very creative way of turning the statue-man into the chimney's flue! These actors which have to play a statue or part of the house are so talented because there has to be such stillness, especially when all they can move are their eyes or even a slight move of their head.
*One of my other favorite parts is when Belle arrives at the castle and is shown running down the main hall in slow motion- but it's what happens after that I love even more. She enters another door and the camera speed goes back to normal. There is a long, long hall that is full of open windows and white curtains billowing out from the howling wind outside. As Belle starts to walk, she isn't really walking- she is floating down the long wide corridor. It's like she was on one of those moving walkways at the airport...lol Totally effective though, it was as almost as if she was a ghost floating down a hall.
*There is an interesting aspect about the Beast. At certain points of the film, he has wisps of smoke that come off of him, around his neck area and hands. Not sure what the director was going for regarding that, the only thing I can assume is that the Beast is enchanted, ever since he was turned into a creature- its just a small effect that will make the Beast come off even more mysterious.
*At the very end when the Beast turns into the Prince, it appears to me that they filmed it backwards. I have seen this same sort of effect done in the Francis Ford Coppola film, "Bram Stoker's Dracula"- if they film it backwards, it comes off eerie or "off." The Beast is on the ground, Belle thinks he is dead and all of a sudden, he is the transformed prince and rises up swiftly and very agile, until he is standing up. Very cool effect!
*In the beginning when Belle's father first walks into the castle, there are what looks to be statues of arms each holding a candelabra. But as he walks forward, each arm extends out and the candle is magically lit. It's almost as if the arms are guiding/lighting the way, showing him where to go. As soon as I saw this effect, I immediately thought of Joel Schumacher's 2004 film of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, "The Phantom of the Opera." Mr. Schumacher or someone on that set had to have seen the 1946 B&B! When the Phantom coaxes Christine through the magical mirror and they start down a long corridor, there are the same arms holding candelabras- and each time they take a step forward, the arms move out to the side and each candle magically is lit. When I saw this film in the theater back in 2004, I thought that effect was so cool- but at least now I know where they gleaned inspiration from. :-)
*A little over halfway through the film, the Beast finds Belle very sad. She tells him her father is dying and she desperately wants to go see him. The Beast tells her that she must promise to return in 1 weeks time, otherwise he himself will die from a broken heart. Belle agrees. The Beast then gives her one of his gloves and he tells her that when she puts this on, it will transport her to wherever she desires to go. So after the Beast leaves, she lays down on her bed, puts the glove on, and wishes to go back to her father's house. She instantly disappears from the bed and the next scene she is almost "coming out of the wall" at her father's house! That's the best way I can describe that effect, that one gets me because those are effects you see in modern cinema and they "CG" everything. Back in the day, they would have done all effects by hand. Pretty impressive.
*As I was telling my husband about this film, which now he says he HAS to see- I recalled another effect I really liked. When Belle sees the Beast for the first time, she faints. He picks her up and carries her to her room. As they walk through the doorway, you see first her feet that go from her more plain shoes/attire to very fancy...and as he keeps going through the doorway, her dress and hair change as well! Still scratching my head, trying to figure out how they flipping did that back in the day!
I'm sure that I'm forgetting some things, but I have given away too much of the movie already!
Rent it, buy it, or if you have Hulu Plus, WATCH THIS FILM. If you can look past the fact it is in French and will have to read the subtitles, this film will amaze and mystify you. Plus, it is a beloved fairy tale- "Beauty and the Beast" is timeless, and any version I have ever seen always has something interpreted a bit different. This story, like so many other fables or fairy tales, they never get old........
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