Mise-en-scene Film Review La Belle et la Bete

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La Belle et la bte (Beauty and the Beast) is a French black and white film from 1946, directed and written by Jean Cocteau. The Film is based on the original version of the story written by Madame Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, an 18th century French governess. In 1946, France was just beginning to recover from the terrible experience of World War II, and the horrors of occupation by the Nazis. La Belle et la Bete was made, on the one hand to try and boost the French cinema industry and on the other hand, to help the French audience forget the trauma of the war for a while by reliving their childhood love of classic fairy tales and getting lost in the fantasy world created by Cocteau. Plot: A wealthy man becomes poorer when all the ships that he owns are lost at sea. The man has one lazy son and three daughters, two of whom are vain and selfish, while the third daughter, Belle, is kind and loving. When the ship owner gets a message that a ship has been recovered, he leaves home to reclaim some of his riches. The selfish daughters want him to bring back expensive gifts for them, while

a single rose is all that Belle requests. But, when the father gets to the port, he discovers that his creditors have taken his ship. On his journey home, he loses his way in the forest but comes across a castle. He rests there for the night, seemingly being looked after by the castle itself, which seems alive. Before leaving in the morning, he sees a rose in the garden, which he picks for Belle. A fierce and terrifying Beast materialises, wanting to kill the man for taking the rose. The Beast strikes a bargain with the father, to spare his life if he will send one of his daughters to the castle. The man arrives home, where Belle offers to take her fathers place. Belle is petrified and promptly faints when she sees the Beast. Thereafter, the Beast proposes marriage to her every night, and each night she rejects him. Back at the family home, Belles two greedy sisters are plotting to steal from the wealthy Beast, while Belle now has another admirer who schemes to have her for himself after killing the Beast. Within the film there is a format that is often used more so in horror films, of a poor frightened soul wandering into the woods and getting lost, only to meet a terrifying monster, wolf, hungry animal or in this case, the mighty Beast. The difference in this story is that it is in fact the other way round as the Beast is the poor lost soul, who hates himself for the way he looks but underneath it all he is a kind hearted creature.
- Like The Big Bad Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood, Madame de Beaumont's original story was very much in-keeping with the European flavour of gypsy-drenched lupine demonising. No matter how the story plays out or how you choose to interpret it, it is basically a werewolf tale dressed romantically and deceptively in sheep's clothing. - C. McEneany, 2012

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The Beasts castle is a magical living place with human arms coming out of the walls holding the candelabras, female statues whose eyes follow Belles every move as well as blowing smoke from their mouths and hands and serving food as the table. It is as if the palace itself is looking after Belle, as a nanny would look after a young

child, seeing to their every need. The castle is made to look misty and dreamy using camera tricks; this evokes the feeling of a fantasy world, while the country scenes of Belles home are depicted as clear and real looking.
- The castle is at once an enchanted palace and a stifling prison. With designer Christian Berard, Cocteau transforms the architectural space into living, breathing form. - M. Miller, 2002

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The basic message behind La Belle et la Bte is that, just because someone looks ugly, nasty and beast-like, it does not necessarily mean that they are a horrible person on the inside. In the same way, a person who is handsome or beautiful may actually turn out to be a mean, unpleasant and not very nice at all. It is a love story; the story of the lonely misunderstood, kind and caring Beast falling in love with the beautiful Belle but fights against it due to the way he looks. But beauty is on the inside.
- Beauty and the Beast speaks to fundamental human desires: to be loved for who we are, and also to conquer our true nature. Whether you believe that man is born good and learns to be bad, or vice versa, most of us struggle in the day to day to do the right thing. Beast represents that common conflict, and though his outward appearance suggests the more primitive side is losing, his treatment of Belle proves otherwise. - J. Rich, 2011

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Illustrations Figure 1: http://www.cinemotions.com/affiche-La-Belle-et-la-bete-tt3611 Figure 2: http://grouchoreviews.com/reviews/4118 Figure 3: http://www.burningsettlerscabin.com/?tag=freud Figure 4: http://cinematrices.wordpress.com/category/directors/c/jean-cocteau/

Bibliography McEneany, 2012, Available at: http://www.avforums.com/movies/index.php?page=profile&reviewerid=3 Review: http://www.avforums.com/movies/Beauty-and-the-Beastreview_10817/movie.html [Accessed online 29th November 2012] Miller, 2002, Available at: http://www.villagevoice.com/authors/michael-miller/ Review: http://www.villagevoice.com/2002-08-13/film/simple-twists-of-fate/1/ [Accessed online 29th November 2012] Rich, 2011, Available at: http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/bio.php?ID=177&reviewID=49349 Review: http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/49349/beauty-and-the-beast/ [Accessed online 29th November 2012]