Jean Cocteau’s sublime adaptation of Mme. Leprince de Beaumont’s fairy-tale masterpiece. The story of the pure love of a beautiful girl melts the heart of a feral but gentle beast a landmark of motion picture fantasy.
This film has unforgettably romantic performances by Jean Marais and Josette Day. The spectacular visions of enchantment, desire, and death in BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (La Belle et la Bête) have become timeless icons of cinematic wonder.
Director
Jean Cocteau, René Clément
Cast
Jean Marais, Josette Day, Mila Parély
Rating
Year
2023
Country
France
Language
French
Main Trailer
Reviews
- "One of the great marvels of the medium, a film that you cannot miss if you hope to be literate in cinema -- or, indeed, if you seek acquaintance with the great works of modern times."
- Portland Oregonian - "The timeless fairy tale about a young woman who agrees to dwell with a mysterious monster, as interpreted in 1946 by one of cinema's most brilliant visual stylists and mythmakers."
- Christian Science Monitor - "Cocteau, a poet and surrealist, was not making a "children's film" but was adapting a classic French tale that he felt had a special message after the suffering of World War II: Anyone who has an unhappy childhood may grow up to be a Beast."
- Chicago Sun-Times - "Beautifully remastered and containing Cocteau's long-unseen special prologue and credits -- is as much a feat of feverish delight as it was in the dark days of Vichy and WWII."
- Chicago Tribune
Awards
- Prix Louis Delluc
Festivals
- Cannes Film Festival
- Melbourne Int'l Film Festival
- French Cinemapanorama Film Festival
- Festival du Film Francophone
- BFI London Film Festival
- New Zealand Int'l Film Festival
- Torino Film Festival