1940's Hall of Fame II

I absolutely love the aesthetic style of Beauty and the Beast and think it's a shame that we couldn't have seen more of its most spectacular set pieces, particularly the interior of the Beast's castle. However considering the circumstances in which the film was made and the lack of resources available in France at the time, I'm surprised it managed to be as visually impressive as it was. This is a film that was made for the people of France who were suffering in the wake of World War II. Their cities were destroyed, food rationing would continue for years to come, and many were still terrified for their future.

The film starts with a message from Cocteau asking the audience to remember a time when they were children, when magic could be as real to them as anything else. The point was not to question what was presented on screen, but to allow oneself to get caught up in the fantasy. But that doesn't mean that the film is pure escapism. It contains a number of themes intended to appeal to adults, with a final moral message that man and beast are essentially the same. Due to an abundance of Freudian symbolism, it is possible to interpret the film as Belle's journey into adulthood and sexual awakening, however I believe the intended idea was that love can turn a beastly man into a good one, while greed can corrupt a good man into becoming beastly.

The prosthetics Jean Marrais wore as the Beast were a great accomplishment at the time, however they were incredibly restrictive and greatly limited his ability to express emotions. Marrais' vocal performance in those scenes had to be rerecorded during post production since he couldn't even speak clearly under the make-up. As such, the film relies on gestures, music, and visual imagery to convey the Beast's feelings. While not everyone is going to be a fan of this highly dramatic type of performance, I personally think it works well with the way the rest of the film is presented. Belle was also prone to exaggerated body language, but it was her graceful and effortless gliding down the castle's corridors that really stood out to me, as her movements (likely the result of her former years as a ballet dancer) really complemented the strange dreamlike qualities of the Beast's world.

While I haven't read the original story by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont, I've been lead to believe by others that this film is a much closer adaptation than many of the more recent and popular films. Whether or not that is actually true, it's certainly a unique and well-crafted film with an abundance of practical effects and visual trickery. The castle is eerily beautiful, and the costumes are beyond impressive. It likely won't be to everyone's taste, but I hope the experience will at least be appreciated to some degree.