Beauty and The Beast - Criterion Collection (Restored Edition)

For many people the days, the mention of "Beauty and the Beast" is something animated by Disney or a TV series from the 1990's but the story of "Beauty and the Beast" was born as a fairy tale back in the 1740's by Madame Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and then revised in 1757 by French novelist Jeanne Marie Le Prince de Beaumont.

But in 1946, director Jean Cocteau ("The Testament of Orpheus", "Orpheus", "Kes Enfants Terribles") would take the popular story and adapt it into a live action film known as "La belle et la bete" (Beauty and the Beast) featuring cinematography by Henri Alekan and music by Georges Auric.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

It's important to note that "Beauty and the Beast" was among the first DVD's released by the Criterion Collection back in 1998. Around 2003, several of their earlier titles received a re-release including a high-definition digital transfer and more special features.

For "Beauty and the Beast", with the celebration of 100 years in French Cinema, the Centre National de l'audiovisuel of Luxembourg in association with the CLT-UFA International began their restoration on "Beauty and the Beast". The restoration began with the original nitrate negative which suffered from age-related deterioration. The negative was cleaned and many of its sprocket holes repaired, so the negative would roll evenly through the gate at 24 frames per second. A wet-gate process was then used to fill in the scratches and removal of any fine dust. The restorers then made fine-grain positive elements that became the main source for the new restoration negative.

"Beauty and the Beast" is presented in 1:33:1 and the new digital transfer was created from the 35mm restoration duplicate negative on a high-definition Spirit Datacine. The MTI Digital Restoration System removed thousands of instances of dirt, debris and scratches.

The picture quality of "Beauty and the Beast" looks very good for a film that is over 60-years-old. Blacks are nice and deep and grays and white also look great. Granted, it's not a pristine transfer as their is dust and scratches that can be seen but for the most part, the restoration makes it much better looking than any previous release of the film. But most important about the film was its technical creativity. From its surreal and fantasy look, especially the use of slow motion, "Beauty and the Beast" manages to create the magical/fantasy world.

As for the audio, the audio is monaural and was created from an optical soundtrack print and restored at 24-bit using digital audio tools to reduce ticks, pops, hiss and other distortions. Audio is Dolby Digital 1.0 but I preferred to hear the track coming on all channels via a selection on my home theater receiver for a more pronounced soundscape for the film's audio.

Subtitles are in English.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

"Beauty and the Beast - THE CRITERION COLLECTION #6 comes with the following special features:

* Philip Glass Opera - Featuring a text introduction by Philip Glass, the viewer can also watch the entire film via an operatic version. Philip Glass is known for taking cinema and then building music and the actual words from the film which are sung via opera.
* Arthur Knight Commentary - Featuring the original 1991 audio commentary (from the Beauty and the Beast Criterion Collection LD) by film historian Arthur Knight. Knight talks about Cocteau, the difference between the screenplay and the fable, Cocteau's production diary and the use of slow motion in the film, the first screening and more.
* Sir Christopher Frayling Commentary - A second audio commentary featuring writer/cultural historian Sir Christopher Frayling recorded for the British Film Institute in 2001. Frayling goes into furth depth about the era, Cocteau vs. Disney, the pacing of the film and more.
* Screening at the Majestic - (26:48) A featurette about the making of "Beauty and the Beast" including interviews with director Henri Alekan, actress Mila Parely and actor Jean Marais. Also, revisiting the location of where the film was shot.
* Interview with Henri Alekan - (9:14) An interview with Director Henri Alekan to coincide with the restoration of "Beauty and the Beast" in 1995.
* Secrets Professionnels: Tete a Tete - (8:48) Excerpts from the French television show "Secret Professionnels: Tete a Tete" featuring the trade of Hagop Arakelian, makeup artist on "Beauty and the Beast". Aired back on March 12, 1964.
* Original Trailer - (4:01) Featuring the original theatrical trailer of "Beauty and the Beast".
* Restoration Trailer - (1:57) A movie trailer for the restored version of "Beauty and the Beast".
* Film Restoration - (4:05) A short featurette on the restoration of "Beauty and the Beast".
* Stills Gallery - Featuring stills by photographer G.R. Aldo, cinematographer for Orson Welle's "Othello", Luchino Visconti's "Senso" and Vittorio De Sica's "Umberto D." and "Indiscretion of an American Wife".
* 32-Page Booklet - Featuring "Once Upon a Time - French Poet Explains His Filming of a Fairy Tale" by Jean Cocteau", "Notes by Francis Steegmuller from Cocteau: A Biography" and the original story "Beauty and the Beast" by Mme. Leprince de Beaumont.

JUDGMENT CALL:

A masterpiece from Poet-Playwright Jean Cocteau, "Beauty and the Beast" (La belle et la bete) is definitely one of his most inspired films to help define French cinema at that time. Sure, we have seen Hollywood create a magical world and characters with "Wizard of Oz" in 1936 but "Beauty and the Beast" is like a painting on a canvas.

Each scene, especially in the magical castle and world of the beast is captured in such beauty with its cinematography especially when Belle enters the castle for the first time and the use of slow motion, to the visual/dark surroundings of the statues that move, the hands and arms extending out to hold a candle or a drink. Production and set design were just as beautiful. May it be the elaborate look of the home, from its curtains to its silver. The beast's palace is just brimming of upper class merchandise but a lonely, dark setting that he can't even enjoy.

This film is not a happy film like its Disney counterpart. I'm not quite sure if this film was adored by children back then but I can probably guess that children were more than likely scared of the film as the imagery shows a beast, with this raspy voice that will easy scare you or annoy you (ala the supercomputer in Jean-Luc Godard's "Alphaville"). But nevertheless, actor Jean Marais has done a good job playing the beast, while main actress, Josette Day as Belle, what a beautiful young maiden did a very good job and made us believe in her fear but her growing compassion towards the beast.

Fascinating and visually creative for its time, "Beauty and the Beast" from the Criterion Collection (the 2003 re-release) is a wonderful celebration for Cocteau's film. Overall, "Beauty and the Beast" (Le Belle et La Bete) is definitely recommended!

There is a saying about some of the greatest filmmakers of all time... The have childlike tendencies... This movie may prove this saying correct. Jean Cocteau has made a movie more thrilling, and as much as fantastical as those of the great German silent era. He pulls from the depths of his soul, all that we are taught as children and hold so dear to the day we die, having passed it on to our children and theirs... that there is beauty, there are beasts, there is darkness but in that darkness lies a light that can never be lost. The light of beautiful days, we remember in our darkests.

La Belle at a Bete blows open the imagination of everyone who watches it. After first viewing this with my brother, we were so amazed. It opened those locked doors of my imagination and drove me wild with the passion to write beautiful pieces of works. It showed how painting with light is really done, producing some of the most visually succulent images... It also showed me how to be funny, as the two sisters, brother and Belles admirer provide a type of comic relief to this very heavy, emotionally charged film. It balances wonderfully... One of the greatest French films ever made. Every child and adult should share this experience toghether. Enjoy!

I can only agree with everyone that give this film five stars and then rave about it. It is unquestionably one of the most beautiful ideas ever committed to film. Almost nothing, in my mind, will ever come close. But now a question for the good folks at Amazon: How can I rate this film higher than five stars? It simply deserves more!

It was a little tiring to read the subtitles throughout the movie, but it is worth every bit of it! Not a movie for kids, but definitely entertaining for teens and adults of all ages. For being an earlier movie, the beast was kind of creepy in the beginning. Just his mannerisms alone caused the beast to be a little sad and haunting. To fully understand just what I mean you have to see the movie for yourself. The restored version is oh so fun to watch. I'm probably going to enjoy viewing it at least a hundred more times!

I was so happy, when I received my package, it was carefully bubble wrapped and in excellent condition. Thank you for such a quick delivery and great customer service

I went to my video store last weekend to rent "Beauty and the Beast" because I like that song "Be Our Guest." I even asked them to place this on hold for me and I told them over and over again to make sure they had my name spelled correctly. That dumb video store is alwasy forgetting that theyve put movies on hold for me which I can't understand because I call them 19 times a day to make sure that its still on hold. Anyway, I get home and play the movie and I soon discover its not the Walt Disney version. Even worse it's in black and white and it's NOT EVEN IN ENGLISH!!!! I mean, C'MON!!! Everywhere you look nowadays there's some commie-lib foreigner invading our workplace and now they're invading our movies. Oh and get this! It's in French. UGGGH! What a lame pile of crud. Of course they had some English words on the bottom of the screen, but if it was important it would have been in English in the first place. I mean, the Bible's in English and if English was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for Hollyweird Or whatever they call Hollyweird in France.

This movie is pure magic, in the best sense of the word and one never tires of seeing it, as it is always fresh in its own space and time. I have seen it since childhood, at least 10 times, and there was not one time I did not enjoy it as much as if it were the first. This unique quality has guaranteed it a cult status amongst film aficionados.
From the point that Belle's father is lost in a storm and finds his way to the Beast's chateau, the movie takes off into a magic realm, where trees part to let guests through (as they do for the Prince Charming in Sleeping Beauty) and a hallway can be lit by magical hands holding candlesticks that never go off no matter how windy. Other magical hands can assist while eating at a beautiful dining table while mantlepiece statues become animated and look on mysteriously.
Belle's father has ventured there on his way back from a business trip and Belle had asked him to bring back a rose. Her mean and envious, snobby sisters have asked for more exotic presents, as they resemble Cinderella's sisters in their meanness to Belle, but in a way are also closely related to Moliere's "Precieuses Ridicules' : the women of his time that took refinement so seriously that they made a ridiculous spectacle of themselves. However it is this rose that will connect Belle to the Beast as her father incurrs the Beast's wrath when he takes the flower and he has to swear to come back, or send one of his daughters in his place. Even while the Beast is finishing the sentence we KNOW Belle will show up in his place.
The Beast in this movie is Jean Marais, and the Belle is Josette Day, both excellently directed by Jean Cocteau, the ultimate magician, I believe of all his works, whether literary or otherwise, this was the masterpiece. Cocteau creates a world historically set at the beginning of the 17th century in France, but more akin to the "Once upon a time" era of fairy tales and stories that children have always loved. The ability to ground the fantasy of the tale within the context of the eternal archetypes (as in Jung) is what makes the story so appealing and everlasting.
The Beauty inside the beast is what attracts Belle, and eventually makes her love him. She is naturally beautiful inside out and even when she is doing house chores she has the air of having just had a facial at a La Prairie Spa. One can understand her attraction for the beast, as no matter how ugly he looks, the Beast is impeccably dressed in velvet and diamond embroideries that look like early Yves Saint Laurent couture, not to mention that he dresses her magically also, while he carries her through a doorway, in a ravishing gown that would make any girl lose her mind with delight, and showers her with magnificent gifts such as diamond tears that pay all her father's debts and an exquisite necklace fit for a queen. Once Belle's love is declared to the dying Beast, which is a very dramatic scene, as the beast is dying of sadness over not seeing her (how fabulous a disease is that?? we don't even have a name for it) he can be born again in the guise of Belle's admirer, a role also played by Marais as a handsome but brainless young man. He only makes sense up to the point where he metamorphoses from the body of the Beast at the same instant, and in perfect synchronicity in time, that the young man has climbed into the forbidden pavillion of Diana, where all of the Beast's treasury is scattered, and where he has come with the ambition of killing the beast and stealing the treasure. Instead he is killed by an arrow from a statue of the goddess that has become magically animated. Belle then "remembers' vaguely that she knew and liked someone that "looked like him" which makes the Beast-turned-Jean-Marais give a radiant smile of self satisfaction and we know we've hit the finale on a high note.
It is a beautiful romance in the gorgeous setting of an enchanted castle and a happy ending that ends quite literally with the two lovers flying to the heavens, giving "Happily Ever After" a visual image that is as unforgettable as the film itself.
The restauration job is excellent and the dvd is a pleasure to watch. The images clearer than in many movie reel versions I have seen

I debated buying this because of the price, but decided to treat myself. It arrived in fantastic condition and with all the extras some other reviewers mention. I've watched it several times now, also with
& without the commentary. It's a very well made, beautiful movie. Honestly, I had a rather difficult time (esp when I first watched it) listening to such an ugly beast speaking beautiful French. (It has
English sub-titles). It doesn't strike me quite so odd anymore.
It's a rather fast paced movie, especially re: the relationship between Belle & the Beast. I would have preferred seeing some more interaction/ conversations between the two of them. Two of my favorite special effects are when Belle's dress changes into a beautiful gown, and her pearl necklace instantly changes when put in the hands of her evil-minded sister. I recommend this movie to anyone considering it.

This is the actual movie she wanted for Christmas. She has watched it numerous times although it is in French. She loves period films, b/w films and wanted this in French. SHe is very happy with this movie.

There's not much to complain of in this Criterion issue. You can watch the movie in French, with various subtitles, with commentary, with documentary backup. Either way, it is one of the great films of the world by a true visual artist.

Like everyone, I prefer Marais as the Beast to when he becomes the prince version. So might you.

I just watched my old VHS copy and ordered this immediately. I was amazed at how touched and emotional I became when watching this film which I have seen dozens of times. It works on so many levels and deepens with each viewing.

The photography is so beautiful that each frame could be literally framed and hung on a wall. My favorite scenes are Belle's tears turning to diamonds; her necklace turning into rope when she gives it to her sister, the disembodied candelabras and her turning into a princess as Le Bete carries her over the threshold of her room. The list is endless.

If you haven't seen this film, just buy it on the recommends. As someone wrote before me, if you don't love this film, check to see if you have a pulse.

This item arrived quickly and in good condition. I saw a few minutes of this movie on television and I had to order a copy. I usually don't like sub titles, but this movie is almost magical. I don't know why I haven't heard more about this movie.

Jean Cocteau was one of France's greatest poets, but he also made some magnficent films. He only helmed 5 films (maybe 6) as director, but everyone bore his unmistakeable stamp. This is one of his greatest films.

It simply retells a fairy tale that we are all familiar with. We know how it ends, we know how it begins, yet, everytime you see this film, it feels fresh, beautiful, and awe inspiring. It's shot in simple black and white film (stunningly so by Henri Alekan, who also shot the original Wings of Desire years later), has no overbearing songs, no cutesy "comic relief" elements, yet Cocteau manages to make this fairy tale seem like it was written yesterday. It is the work of a remarkable man/artist that can take something so well known and make it feel alive again. Cocteau does that here.

One of my favorite scenes is the ending. We all know how the film ends, but when the Beast turns into the man, Cocteau uses his simple camera trick of running the film backward, making it look like Jean Marais leaps up (when the reality is he fell down and Cocteau just reversed the projection). You know it's not realistic, yet it's so beautiful and feels more real than reality. Is that art? I believe it to be so.

This was one of Criterion's first DVD's, and they recently reissued it with a better restoration (thought the first DVD was quite good), and also included is Philip Glass's opera based on this film. I have the first DVD edition, and Glass's score as well. I would recommend all of Cocteau's films. They're all so beautiful.

Don't laugh my bros. I'm still the same guy who loves my blood and gore flicks. But sometimes you gotta shake things up a bit. This adult fairy tale glides with an enchanting splendor and overwhelming grace. No seriously.

The horrors of the real world can corrupt us. As adults we try to push away the spirit of our childhood and repress all the indelible figments of our imagination. Any rekindling of our past fantasies is deemed a weakness, which is sad.

You probably know this story, Beauty is held captive by The Beast. She recognizes a warm tenderness hidden beneath the monstrosity. The story progresses with a magical elegance and soothing vitality. Plus the camera work is phenomenal. The inanimate is given life--castle walls, statues, the forest. Quite a passionate tale.

This truly is a landmark feat in cinematic fantasy. Recommended for anyone willing to let there guard down.

This movie is beautiful from beginning to the end. By far one of my favourite movies of all time. The effects are superb. The costume, especially the Beast's are breathtaking. The sets and design of the movie are second to none. A true classic Movie Masterpiece!

Much better than most of today's films. Makes you think. Makes you enjoy symbolism. Very enjoyable.

If you want to know what these "Fairy Tales" were originally meant to impart, then this is the movie for you. Beyond that is the level of acting and directing that you wouldn't expect in a "dress-up" production. Everything is superb and that includes the emotions that you catch yourself reliving days later.

Words do not do this movie justice. Cocteau's "Beauty and the Beast" needs to be experienced for the event and adventure that it is, but for the beauty and tenderness, as well. It envelopes you like a cloud and long after it is over you are still feeling it. There are scenes between
Beauty and the Beast that are so tender that you ache. There are other scenes that are so ripe with sexual tension that you expect the Beast to come roaring out. There is blood, anger bordering on violence and fear on both sides. This is not your kiddie matinee. It is a well acted story that is wonderfully directed and shot and should be on everyone's list of "must-have" movies.

This movie never grows old to me, you will be enchanted by it. It also goes to show how a movie without $10 million worth of CGI effects can be a thousand times better.
Excellent movie, wonderful fairytale, enchanting story.

Everything arrived fine and packaged. It was a gift for my girlfriend since she was unable to find it up here so she really loved it. The price was a little heavy but twas the season.

I must say first and foremost this is a fantastic film for any age.
The special effects are awesome especially knowning it was made in
the forties after the war. It's a timeless story . My mother first introduced my daughter to this version quite a few years ago.
My daughter is a huge fan of "Beauty and The Beast" . I have been trying to find her the movies that have been made over the years.Ther are several obviously. This one by far seems to stick to the original story.
I had never seen the film in it's entierty until this last Christmas
when I gave it to my daughter. Now I know why my six year old ,at the time, was so enthralled with a foreighn film with subtitles.
It's a beautifully filmed masterpiece.I highly recommend it

If you ever, I mean, ever want to see Beauty and The Beast, forget disney completely, this version is the only one worth watching.

This movie is absolutely sublime. I fell in love with it the first time I saw it. Jean Marais, playing three roles, the beast/the prince/ Avenat (Beauty's suitor) is so amazing, you have to read the credits to realize that it is the same actor, his performance is almost pulling on Freud's personality theory. Josette Day, is in addition to being beautiful, plays Beauty perfectly. She is the one who navigates between the world of her family and the Beast's castle, well done.

I love that is in black and white, I think color would ruin the movie completely. It's a very subtle movie, full of metaphors that can only be discovered upon multiple viewings. The morality tale is there, as it is the most faithful to the author's vision, but it is build upon, that is goes beyond a simple fairy tale.

I wouldn't reccomend it for young children, let them think they know Beauty and the Beast. When they are old enough, they'll learn the truth.

Jean Cocteau's LA BELLE ET LA BETE remains one of the benchmark masterpieces in cinema history. Filled with fascinating camera tricks and exquisite performances, it's a magical movie for all ages.

Based on the immortal fairytale by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, the story plays out more or less in the way most people are familiar with. The selfless Belle (Josette Day) agrees to live in the castle of a hideous Beast (Jean Marais) after her father steals a white rose from his enchanted garden. The Beast's only request is to watch her nightly during dinner; Belle is given all the freedom she wishes, yet she may never step beyond the palace borders. When Belle is granted the chance to visit her sick father, the Beast gives her the key to his vault of riches as a token of his trust that she'll return. When her siblings discover the key, they steal it away for their own selfish ends. Belle returns just as the Beast is in his death throes, finally realising how much she loves him.

LA BELLE ET LA BETE should be compulsive viewing for any serious movie fan; lovers of fairytale cinema will adore it too. Josette Day is just like a porcelain doll come to life, impossibly beautiful with a mane of long blonde hair and costumed in some of the most ornate and beautiful gowns. Jean Marais handles the role of the Beast well (and also gets to play Belle's unwanted admirer Avenant). The film also features well-judged performances from Mila Parely, Nane Germon, Michel Auclair, and Marcel Andre.

Jean Cocteau's inspired vision was later the basis for the "Faerie Tale Theatre" version starring Susan Sarandon and Klaus Kinski; the 1990 animated Disney musical also adopted some of the thematic elements (particularly the 'Enchanted Objects'). They all pale beside the true classic...LA BELLE ET LA BETE.

THIS WAS THE FIRST FRENCH FILM OF COCTEAU I EVER SAW. THE PHOTOGRAPY IS SUBPURB, AND THE ACTING ALSO. THIS IS A CLASSIC.

The premise of this French fairy tale will be familiar to anyone who's seen the wildly successful and (on its own terms) worthy Disney feature, but this original version by director Jean Cocteau is a more subtle, bewitching and artful rendering of the story. Magic, menace, fantasy and wonder are created through make-up, lighting, and sheer ingenuity of conception. The result is a work of genius, a stunning and surreal masterpiece sure to captivate the child in us all.

What an incredible story and film. You almost do not even need the subtitles to follow the story, the acting is that good. Also, the cinematography is remarkable! The special features, which include interviews with surviving actors, and staff are interesting. There is also a short about the making of the film with the special effects used, which were trail blazing at the time.

About one half hour into Jean Cocteau's La Belle et la Bete (Beauty and the Beast), the Beast (King Kong by way of Gustave Dore) reassures his captive Belle (Josette Day) that "there is no master here but you." It strikes us as a strange bit of logic, given that she was forced to come to this place and does not stay of her own will. The Beast wishes only to meet every evening at seven, if only to gaze upon her as she eats. It's not as overtly kinky as watching her put on nylons or some other traditional fetish, but it works for the Beast so I won't judge.

At one point later in the film, Belle allows the Beast to drink from her hands. "It doesn't repulse you?" the Beast asks. "No, Beast, I like it," and we imagine so does he. She later comforts him by running a hand through his fur. "You stroke me as one does an animal." Belle does not understand. "But you are an animal." It's so easy to forget sometimes, and the Beast has Belle to remind him. When he awakens her in the middle of the night, disheveled and stinking of deer blood, he can barely look at her. "Forgive me...for being a beast" he says with embarrassment. Belle is enraged. "These words are not worthy of you. Aren't you ashamed?" It's as though she caught him masturbating to the Victoria's Secret catalog. She tosses a shawl in his direction. "Go clean yourself up and go to bed."

Then the Beast puts on a leather mask with a zipper where the mouth should be and Belle makes him lick the pointy heel of her 9-inch stiletto boot.

Okay, that last part didn't happen. It's not that kind of movie... or is it? Not on the face of it, perhaps, but sexual and overtly Freudian undertones float throughout La Belle et la Bete as icebergs in an ocean, occasionally protruding the surface like, well, protuberances. At heart, what we have is a love story between a beautiful woman and a monstrous part-lion, part-man creature. Belle, the Cinderella-esque sibling of two spoiled sisters, becomes hostage to the Beast after her father unwittingly steals a rose from him. It doesn't make much sense, and it's not supposed to: the picture is surrealist in its truest sense, governed by dream logic. Like her paramour Avenant, the Beast asks for her hand in marriage and he is likewise rejected (both Beast and Avenant are played by the same actor, Jean Marais). True to her Electra complex, Belle claims she cannot abandon her father - indeed, she only leaves him (to live with the Beast) when by doing so saves his life.

As directed by Cocteau, Belle's entrance to the Beast's magical abode is really a thing of beauty (some of the French director's techniques would be appropriated, most notably, by Spike Lee and David Lynch). Traditional natural laws do not apply - she roams the hallways as though swimming in water. Belle doesn't walk, she glides through this Freudian playground of dream symbols: human arms hold up candelabras, statues open and close their eyes, always watching. Like much of her new home, the bed is organic, a living thing. When she first lays eyes on it, the furry comforter peels back, inviting her in. It's both erotic and terrifying (like most everything having to do with the Beast). Belle faints, overcome.

Love doesn't bloom between Beauty and Beast so much as Stockholm Syndrome-level sympathy for one's own captor/gimp. "Love can turn a man into a beast," Belle says. "But love can also make an ugly one handsome." Quite literally, in the case of Belle's ferine co-star (as those familiar with the fairy tale will know), but I wonder how much Cocteau truly believes it. We tend to think we are separate from our bodies, as though the interior and exterior selves are independent. But they are not. We are our bodies, and when the Beast ceases to have his, shed like a snake his skin, he ceases to be himself.

Interesting footnote: Jean Marais plays three roles in La Belle et la Bete, including the handsome Prince that Belle ultimately flies off with. In life, he played the role of Jean Cocteau's long time male lover (the director was openly homosexual). Marais would go on to star in a number of Cocteau's future films, including L'Aigle a deux tetes and Les parents terribles.

"Don't be a coward; cling to life. You must fight death," Belle pleads with Beast. "Belle, if I were a man," he says, "perhaps I could do as you say. But the poor beasts who want to prove their love can only grovel on the ground and die."

This marvelous film, written and directed by Jean Cocteau, may seem to be a moody retelling of a fairy tale, but it moves much more deeply into the consequences of love, passion and trust. Please note that elements of the plot are discussed. Belle (Josette Day) and her two sisters and brother live with their father, a failing businessman who is about to be ruined. The two sisters are self-centered shrews and the brother is a wastrel. He has a friend, a tall, handsome and vapid fellow who keeps asking Belle to marry him. The father learns his last hope for a business rescue has failed. Returning home from the city, he finds himself in a mist-filled, shadowy forest. He pushes on and then it seems as if the trees are opening a path for him to a huge stone mansion. It appears empty, yet doors open for him. In the hallway he sees candelabra held by living arms. At a table set with food, hands pour wine for him. He drinks and sleeps. When he prepares to leave, still seeing no one, he finds roses growing along a path. He had promised his daughter, Belle, a rose and so he takes one...and immediately is faced with Beast (Jean Marais), covered with fur, menacing and ugly, with sharp teeth and dressed like a prince. Beast says that for taking his rose, the father must either die or send one of his three daughters to live with him. When he returns home, the father finds that his elder two daughters all have reasons not to volunteer. Only Belle says she will gladly go to save her father's life. And off she rides on a huge white horse back to the forest and into the magical home of Beast.

For most of the movie we witness the changing feelings of Belle toward Beast. He is truly a beast. He kills animals in the forest because it is his nature to kill, yet he is lonely to his soul. And Belle discovers he has a soul. In some way she doesn't understand, she is drawn to him. It's not too superficial to say that the Beast is discovering love and that Beauty is discovering a kind of passion which is almost love, not quite pity, and which remains pure because she is honest. They see each other at 7 each evening. He asks the same question as she dines, "Will you marry me?" She begins to look forward to her time with him. Sometimes they'll walk around the mansion's grounds and talk. In time she pleads to return to her home to see her father. Because he loves her, Beast agrees she may go for a week. He will even give her the golden key to all his treasure which will be hers if he dies...and he will die if she doesn't return. The selfishness of her sisters, the greed of her brother and the well-intentioned bravado of his friend all conspire to keep Belle at her father's home. Cocteau eventually gives us a true and tragic joining of two hearts...but also a fairy-tale ending, yet one where we feel sad even as Beauty finds her prince. The Beast has become so sad and complex a figure, so torn by his nature, that we hope there is enough of the Beast in the Prince to keep Beauty interested.

Cocteau has concocted out of a fairy tale a complex and thoughtful look at how the deepest feelings we have about each other can change us. He has created two worlds, the sunny and superficial world of Belle's family and the misty, dark world of Beast, where magic and true feelings can happen. The whole look of the movie is filled with odd and magical scenes...those arms holding the candles and pointing the way, statues and medallions where the faces and the eyes follow Belle, the moment when Belle, unconscious, is carried by Beast into her room and as they pass through the doorway Belle's country clothes are turned into a princesses gown with jewels and pearls, Belle gliding, floating through a hallway as she explores Beast's home. Even the forest, which seemed so threatening when we first entered it with Belle's father, has come to seem much more an expression of Beast's loneliness as well as his nature. All of this has been created by human hands and human ingenuity; there were no computers around to create the effects Cocteau wanted. Knowing this, for me, adds immensely to the magic of the movie. This is not only a wonderful film to own, it's worth watching carefully if you're into how films are made.

The newly restored Criterion edition is superb. If I owned the original Criterion release, I'd be inclined to upgrade.

The first third of La Belle et La Bete ma seem a little too long and a little too slow, but the film still has the power to cast its spell over an audience. At times, perhaps from a modern viewer's perspective, you find yourself admiring the technique a little more than its soul, and Jean Marais' performance as the Beast strangely pales compared to his two-faced suitor, but then he was never exactly a great actor. Yet the complexity that Cocteau manages to bring to the film is still surprising, with neither the brother nor suitor descending to the easy caricature of the two ugly sisters: the former knows he and his sisters are wastrels, but that doesn't make him less of a liability, while the latter is almost in denial of his own nature. But ultimately it's the magical design that seduces, a fairytale kingdom smack in the middle of a believable world, but neither necessarily a benign one.

Criterion's restored 2-disc DVD is quite superb, boasting an excellent transfer and a selection of very good extras. Recommended.

As an average American who has no knowledge of film techniques or criticism and who is a little intimidated by foreign films I was a bit hesitant to watch this version of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. After a few minutes of viewing I forgot the movie was in French (English subtitles), forgot it was made over fifty years ago and forgot in was in black and white. The movie is absolutely stunning to look at. The actor's portrayals are amazing. And the sets and "special effects" are miraculous for a movie filmed in the 1940's. I admit I am a lover of fairy/folk tales and the story of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST is a particular favorite of mine. I urge all other lovers of "once upon a time" stories to watch this gem.

To call Jean Cocteau's "Beauty and the Beast" one of the most enchanting films ever made hardly begins to hint at its charm and creativity. While there are no catchy songs in this version, there still is enough wonder on the screen to please both children and adults.

A merchant (Marcel André) invites death upon himself when he plucks a rose from the magical estate of a Beast (Jean Marais). The Beast agrees to spare his life in exchange for one of the merchant's three daughters. The most faithful of the daughters, Belle (Josette Day), goes to stay with the Beast and is initially taken aback by her new companion. However, she soon discovers that the Beast's outward appearance does not truly reflect his inner self.

The world Cocteau creates in "Beauty and the Beast" is truly amazing. One would think that statues and candelabras that come to life would not be convincing outside the animated realm or without the use of ample special effects. Yet, Cocteau manages to create an utterly believable live fairy-tale by using the simplest of filmmaking techniques. Not once do any of the scenes within the Beast's chateau feel false or silly. One actually believes that there is magic at work in the fantasy realm being depicted. While the Disney version of "Beauty and the Beast" (1991) is a treasure in itself, rest assured that this version is just as worthy of a viewing.

The tale of Beauty and The Beast has been told in various forms for thousands of years. In cinema we have adaptations in King Kong(1933); Frankenstein(1931); Jekyl And Hyde(1932); The Phantom of the Opera(1925); The Hunchback of Notre Dame(1939); Creature From The Black Lagoon(1954) and more recently Edward Scissorhands(1990) and Shrek(2001). The tale will continue to spawn new adaptations but for me there is only one version, Jean Cocteau's `La Belle et La Bete'(1946).

La Belle et La Bete is adapted from the abridged version of the fairy tale by Madame Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont. The story is interpreted as a young woman's coming of age tale with sexual desire being regarded as beastly. Therefore any man feeling this desire would be beastly and only when she learns to regard sexual desire as natural does she find happiness and the beast is transformed into prince charming. The film has a stronger masculine quality with emphasis shifting away from Belle towards the beast's character. The film has also been interpreted in terms of the creative process of artist and muse, suffering for your art. Cocteau also includes many references to mythology (ex: Pavilion Of Diana) pointing to the origins of the tale. Cocteau's version includes elements of the Cinderella fairy tale with the inclusion of the ugly sisters.

Jean Cocteau asks us, as an adult audience, at the start to suspend belief and see as a child, which was directed at critics whom he regarded as being too arty or intellectual, one notable being Jean-Paul Satre who had criticised Cocteau for his lack of political commitment. Cocteau replied that his only commitment was to himself and his art. (The suffering artist)

Josette Day and Jean Marais star as Beauty and the Beast respectively. Josette Day has exquisite statuesque presence, which gives her an unattainable cold quality, which is far removed from the original inquisitive naïve peasant girl of the original tale. Jean Marais gives an excellent poetic theatrical performance of the beast suffering for beauty. Jean would later act in another Cocteau masterpiece, `Orphee'(1950). Together for lack of a better word they are magical. The cinematography was by Henri Alekan (Roman Holiday; Wings Of Desire) but I believe Cocteau to be the real genius behind everything in this film: set design, lighting, structure, symbolism, multiple layers, a real auteur.

I cannot recommend this film more highly, it's in my top 10 films of all time and it's unlikely to ever leave. If you don't like this then seek help.

Although I have owned the Cocteau "Beauty and the Beast" on tape for a number of years, I was hesitant to buy the Criterion Collection restored version on DVD because I had read that there was a new sound track: an opera by Philip Glass. What was not clear to me was that the new sound track is only one of the options; another is the original sound track, much cleaner than on the tape version.

Many DVDs of restored classics include examples of the restoration; this one doesn't. I played the Criterion DVD, then my VHS version, and I was amazed at the difference; the DVD makes the film look as if it were made yesterday; the tape version has all the scratches, pops, and muffled dialogue that are more or less typical of tapes made from deteriorated films. The subtitles on the DVD are easier to read than the ones on the tape (the DVD uses a different type font), there are two different commentaries included among the options, and the Philip Glass opera version is there as well. There is a print bonus as well: a booklet that includes the text of the original fairy tale, Cocteau's comments on filming it, and a critic's comments on the film.

The opening credits alone are worth the price of the DVD: Cocteau himself, writing on a blackboard (the tape version only displays text against a background).

This restored version is magnificent. I was
amazed at the difference between this and my
old vhs unrestored version. Cocteau's film
remains one of the most visually mesmerizing ever made.
I do however agree with Greta Garbo's comment
regarding the true to the original story ending,
"Give me back my Beast."

La Belle et la Bête (Jean Cocteau, 1946)

You know the story, of course. Belle (Josette Day), the neglected and beautiful younger sister of two wastrel women, once noble but now in somewhat dire straits, goes to the castle of the Beast (Jean Marais) to pay a blood debt invoked by her father. The Beast, however, doesn't kill the girl, but ends up falling in love with her. Then the kiss, and the handsome prince revealed, and all that. You've seen the Disney version.

Don't let that fool you. Disney, as you probably know, oversimplifies everything, and when you put a fairy tale in the hands of a wonderful director like Jean Cocteau, you're going to get a much finer film. And while this is certainly not a perfect film, it does put paid to the puling mediocrity (with the catchy tunes) Disney cranked out.

Day plays a wonderfully nuanced Belle. She's far from the goody-two-shoes Disney portrays Belle as, a woman whose servitude to her two sisters has hardened her. As well it should have. She is honest, somewhat tactless, and a much harder heroine to mindlessly identify with. Her father sees her as a paragon of goodness, but really, if your two other daughters were like these two, who wouldn't? Marais as the Beast, however, is a bit more problematic. I grant you, a lot of the reason for this is that the film's makeup artist made the Beast look more like a teddy bear than The Wolf Man's Lon Chaney. Now, you and I both know the Beast is supposed to be a tragic figure, but really, making his fangs uneven and carefully coiffing his hairdo? The argument could be made that it went with his wonderfully stylized costuming, but were that the case, why couldn't he just kidnap a dentist and have some work done on that left fang? His delivery is somewhat stilted most of the time, but I'm willing to put that down to the difficulty of enunciating through what must have been pounds of makeup.

The film's ninety-three minutes also gives us less time than we really need to see the developing relationship between Belle and the Beast. With all the fairy tale's subplots needing to grab screen time as well (and Cocteau is almost lavishly faithful to the intricacy of the fairy tale), the centerpiece of the story gets oddly short shrift. Belle goes from abrupt dismissal to wanting to be the Beast's friend in a matter of frames. As the film goes on, things get a little smoother, but those first encounters between the two of them do jar.

The reason to watch this film, though, as with any Cocteau film, is the wonderful stylization in the sets. The Beast's castle is a wonder of disembodied arms as servants, busts that swivel their heads to follow characters' movements, magic mirrors, and the like. Cocteau wants to use the frame of the story to deliver a visual feast, and he delivers. The juxtaposition of the sunny town where Belle's family lives, which is your basic peasant town, and the Beast's sumptuous, but dark, castle is wonderfully done. Cocteau began his artistic life as a painter, and it shows in his set design.

La Belle et la Bête ends up being more a visual feast than a compelling story, but it's still worth watching after all these years. Fun and enjoyable. ***

I find it repulsive that this movie has been released with an added soundtrack which the director did not intend for the film. It's not Cocteau's film anymore. The film has been altered without his approval. GREAT FILM, lousy choice by Criterion. 1 star for a bad version of a good film.

One of the great masterpieces of cinema and one of my all time favorite films. Jean Cocteau's version of Beauty and the Beast is by far the ultimate version of this classic fairy tale fable, bar none. Rarely is pure enchantment captured on celluloid magnificently; Wizard of Oz, The Red Shoes, Snow White and Babe are among enduring examples of great cinematic enchantment, but Cocteau's version rules supreme above all others.
Where to start? The magical castle filled with living statues, object d'art and magic mirrors that watch over Beauty? (The famous arms as candlabra protruding from the entrance hall walls is a famous image repeated as recently as in the musical version of Phantom of the Opera, itself of course another version of Beauty and the Beast.) Or the impossibly handsome and charming Jean Marais in triplet as Beauty's suitor, the Prince, and the Beast? Perhaps the shimmering, gorgeous black and white photography, blessedly rescued, finally, in this restored DVD version? (For years Cocteau's film was only available via videos and rare televison viewings with wretched prints.) Or the addition of Philip Glass' new score? All of these things add up to make Beauty and the Beast one of the best films ever, but at the center of course is the master of the enchanted castle, the Beast himself. Looking like a cross between a bear and a cat, draped in elaborate costuming over the Beast outfit, still Marais manages to move with grace and lithe movements, balletic even, and is able to convey the Beast's tortured emotions and inner conflicts with his eyes, voice and gestures. Brilliantly conceived by Cocteau, modeled (as was the look of the entire film) after the great 19th century French illustrator Gustave Dore's rendering of the fable, Jean Marais is pure poetry as the Beast, who is one of the great romantic, tragic figures in art, a rose bearing, tortured, Byronesque being, conflicted between his impossible love for Beauty and his own innate savagery ("I am a monster--yet my heart is good," he laments to Beauty, a heartbreaking line delivered in a way that stops you in your tracks).
With this DVD restored version, one of the miracles among movies has been brought back to gorgeous life for new generations to treasure. Beauty and the Beast finally are united when the dying Beast turns into the handsome Prince. Upon seeing the film Greta Garbo is supposedly said to have cried "I want my Beast back!"
Indeed--as would we all.

The folks at Criterion never fail to amaze me, I for one am exceedingly grateful for this high quality re-release of a much loved masterpiece. Jean Cocteau's La Belle et La Bette is a virtually perfect movie, visually spellbinding and deeply satisfying from both an emotional and psychological perspective. While Cocteau's special effects may seem familiar to us now, bear in mind that they were stunningly original when he created this film. Which brings me to my thought, however modest.

Sometimes stories do not improve in the retelling. To see what I mean, track down Disney's handling of the classic fable, and see how his mouse-eared crew of sanitation engineers removed the dread, sex, and drama from it. Then track down the Shelley Duvall Faerie Tale Theatre version starring Susan Sarandon and Klaus Kinski, and see how - even with a tiny budget - superb acting and art direction give the story its dark passion and truth. Then watch Cocteau's film, the original, the version that has never been equaled, much less surpassed. The difference is astounding.

Despite the primitive filmmaking techniques, this movie draws you into its ominous world where the stakes are life or death and self-sacrifice has a very special meaning. I question the addition of a score by Phillip Glass, I love his work elsewhere but don't believe it belongs here. But this is a minor quibble. How lucky we are to live in an age where obscure gems like this are so readily accessible. Cocteau was quite a guy, writer, poet, painter, filmmaker - a complete artist. The complexity and depth of his daring vision are visible in every frame.

To be frank, the reason I wished to see "Beauty and the Beast" was because I had read somewhere that one of my absolute favorite films, "Carnival of Souls," was supposed to have the look of a Bergman and the feel of a Cocteau. Being somewhat familiar with Bergman ("The Seventh Seal," "Hour of the Wolf," "The Virgin Spring"), I found his works mesmerising; being able to draw me in and keep me spellbound for the entire running time. Cocteau, on the other hand, I had, embarassingly enough, never heard of before. I looked him up, and the main film that kept appearing was "Beauty and the Beast." I thought that any film that inspired "Carnival of Souls," especially the majestic and spellbinding feel to it, would be worth viewing. It turns out that I was correct. The movie's story is familiar enough to those of us who had viewed the animated version as kids; but this version has an entirely different feel to it. The visuals are surreal and rather chilling; arms jutting out of the wall to light the hallway, as well as the haunting visage of the beast itself, are but two examples. Shots of the foggy forest are extraordinarily atmospheric, bringing about an almost gothic feel to the film. There are certainly numerous gothic elements in the film, though I would be reluctant to classify "Beauty and the Beast," as a gothic film. What it really is, is an atmospheric, and at times haunting, fantasy; a timeless film which, despite some relentlessly despairing moments, tugs at your heart strings and, like a Bergman, keeps you spellbound the entire time.

Belle's father (Marcel André) has to go to town for business. He asks Belle (Josette Day) what she would like him to bring her. A Rose as there are no roses at home. On his way back from the city he must go through a mysterious forest in the evening. He stumbles upon an enchanted abode. There he is offered food and drink. On his exit the next morning he pilfers a prize rose to fulfill his daughters wish. Now he is confronted by the home owner La Bête (Jean Marais). For his indiscretion he is given the choice of giving up his life or that of his daughter. He returns home to tell the tale.

The story first written by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont is adapted by Jean Cocteau to film, also directed by Jean Cocteau.

I could explain the great visual effects and dialog chooses. But it is much better described by the voice over track on the Criterion version. You will be enchanted by this version an will come to make this your favorite.

when my dvd arrived and I discovered it was in french I almost sent it back.
I am so glad I watched instead.
The costumes were elaborate and the movie being french did not matter.
I feel I've been enlightened to a foreign culture.

Jean Cocteau's magical and exquisitely lyrical interpretation of the fairy tale. Beauty's (Josette Day) father accidentally picks a rose from the garden of the Beast (Jean Marais) and must die, but Beauty insists on going in his place. The Beast then falls hopelessly in love with her.

All the elements of a fairy tale are here: magical things (a mirror, key, glove), enchanted settings, evil sisters, and the message of a good heart being more important than looks. Yet the Beast is hardly ugly, just discomforting - which just adds to his allure. Cocteau was a unique filmmaker, working in a semi-surreal setting all his own. This is a marvelous movie, from the script to the costumes to the music (by George Auric).

This Criterion Collection edition is excellent, with a superb print of the movie and lots of interesting add-ons - including an original opera by Philip Glass. Definitely worth checking out.

A masterpiece. Jean Cocteau has created one of the most arresting films in recent history, in the form of La Belle et La Bette. The story is familiar but the way it was executed is not. The hand-held candalabras, the magical horse, the moving faces in the Beast's house, the white curtains are all proof to Cocteau's genius as a film maker.

A film for all to behold and for student film-makers to emulate. In this day and age of loud special effects, turn off the light and ignite just one candle whilst watching this DVD.

Timeless and mesmerizing...

Wow. Effing Wow. The animated version of Beauty and the Beast is without a doubt my favorite animated film of all time, so when I learned criterion had released the original live action version, I had to have it. and I wasn't disappointed at all. despite the fact that Cocteau's Ending doesn't quite have the epic feeling Disney's does, the overall content is fantastic, and it's beautifully restored by criterion. Anyone with an interest in film and fantasy should most definitely check it out.

PS. The dvd has some AMAZING special features, such as the cinematographer visiting the ACTUAL beauty and the beast set, over 50 years after shooting the film there. He walks through the house and the yards, reminiscing, and it's so so good.

I saw |Criterion's supern nw DVD of 'La Belle et La Bete' when my flu was at its worst, so it's perhaps not surprising that I found the first third seemed much longer and slower than I remembered or that it took longer for the film to cast its spell over me. At times - and this is perhaps from a modern viewer's perspective - you find yourself admiring the technique a little more than its soul, and Marais' performance as the Beast strangely pales compared to his two-faced suitor, but then he was never exactly a great actor. Yet the complexity that Cocteau manages to bring to the film is still surprising, with neither the brother nor suitor descending to the easy caricature of the two ugly sisters: the former knows he and his sisters are wastrels, but that doesn't make him less of a liability, while the latter is almost in denial of his own nature. But ultimately it's the magical design that seduces, a fairytale kingdom smack in the middle of a believable world, but neither necessarily a benign one.