Beauty and the Beast (1946)

 Jean Cocteau's "Beauty and the Beast"


I don't honestly think there's much to say about Jean Cocteau's 1946 adaptation of Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont's "Beauty and the Beast." Cocteau's adaptation was the first time the "Beauty and the Beast" story had ever been adapted into film. And it certainly wasn't the last, as it sparked many and frequent remakes over the years of film history. Cocteau's version, for my money, is the definitive version.

To tell the plot of "Beauty and the Beast" would be like telling the plot of "Romeo and Juliet" or "Alice in Wonderland." It is a plot that everyone is familiar with and have probably known since their early childhood. However, the plot of the film doesn't exactly drive the interest in this particular film for me. Rather, it's all about the magical visual style of Cocteau.

The film is like a dream. It's as if you float through it. Its visual metaphors that erect gorgeous imagery, the rhythmic pace of a fantastical dreamscape, the hypnotic sounds of music, and the poetically infused atmosphere all make the filmgoing experience something that seeps deep into your subconscious. Cocteau renders a magical dreamscape for the viewer to explore. It is breathtaking to say the least. 

Of course, there is some thematic substance to chew on in this film, like the 'don't judge a book by its cover' notions and themes regarding greed. However, those themes and ideas are only explored in a ancillary way. Once again, the fantastical nature of the film draws you in and while these themes permeate the picture, you're not exactly hyper-focused on them in any intellectual way. The film asks you to suspend your intellectualism. In fact, at the beginning of the film, Cocteau reveals meta-text asking us to have child-like sympathy for the fantastical elements of the film. He asks us to suspend our disbelief and thereby, to look at the film as a child would. Don't intellectualize, just absorb. Through this absorption is where we find the film. Not through overanalyzing or intellectualizing. Its through the subconscious.

  


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