“Beauty and the Beast” – a live action French film
Vincent Cassel as The Beast. Photo: Shout! Factory Films “Beauty and the Beast” – neither Cocteau nor Disney (a review) Despite their timeless appeal, fairy tales are not set in stone and can be recast from one generation to another. “Beauty and the Beast” has been one of our favorites, and cinematically no version holds a candle to Jean Cocteau’s “La Belle et la Bete” from 1946. Next year Disney will release a live-action version, but for now we have one by French director Christophe Gans which stars Léa Seydoux and Vincent Cassel. All three of these films take liberties with the original tale by Madame de Villeneuve, and so we should be careful about judging one storyline against another. I’m cognizant that the current film has been receiving mixed and largely negative reviews, but it’s a work with merit despite its shortcomings. I’ll mention both. It’s currently playing at Laemmle’s Monica Film Center in Santa Monica, and also at Edwards Westpark in Irvine. A storm at sea? This doesn’t bode well. Photo: Shout! Factory Films Let’s run through the prologue. Belle’s father, a prosperous merchant (André Dussollier, perhaps the most convincing member of the cast), loses three ships…
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