DVD La belle et la bête
Run time: 112 min
Rating: 6.4
Genres: Fantasy | Romance
Director: Christophe Gans
Writers: Sandra Vo-Anh, Christophe Gans
Stars: Vincent Cassel, Léa Seydoux, André Dussollier
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Storyline An unexpected romance blooms after the the youngest daughter of a merchant who has fallen on hard times offers herself to the mysterious beast to which her father has become indebted. |
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Plot Keywords: beast, surrealism, healing power, healing, love | |
Details: Country: France, Germany Release Date: 12 February 2014 (France) |
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Box Office Budget: €33,000,000 (estimated) |
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4 comments
This is an almost perfect version of this well known story but my problem is that we do not feel the growing love of Belle for the beast too much. She's seeing in dreams who was the beast before, so we understand she can fall in love for who he was, but not too much for who he really is. If that makes sens. But all in all it's a very well made movie for all the family. The tone is a bit dark for little kids but always beautiful, as it's usually the case with Gans's movies. The use of CGI is obvious on the creatures, but it's done with good taste, IMO. It's a shame gans does not make more movies, I love his style. It's just that, after all this time waiting for a new movie of him, I wanted a little more substance.
The story "Beauty and the Beast" is a classic. However, there is no one definitive version. Instead, it's a folk tale that's been passed down for generations until a very popular version was written by a couple women well over two centuries ago. And, since then, other versions have also been written. I mention this because if you watch ANY version of the story, you must accept that they will be different. This version is very different from the two most famous versions, Disney's and "Belle et Bête" (1946) by Jean Cocteau…and that's okay with me.
This new French version is different from many other versions because it concentrates much more on the family's back story and how awful Belle's siblings are. This is a highly dysfunctional family and the father seems oblivious to the monsters he's helped to create. All are monsters, except for Belle. And eventually, you learn that the father isn't all that wonderful either. When he's lost in the forest in the cold, he seeks shelter in what looks like an abandoned castle. However, after eating like a pig from the sumptuous dining table, the guy begins stealing stuff from the place. He says it's because it's abandoned…but the food was warm and obviously the guy was just a thief. On the way out, he stops to pick a single rose for his sweet daughter–and that is when the beast appears and tells him of his punishment. He will be allowed to return home to put his things in order, but he MUST return to be the creature's prisoner. But, when Belle learns of this, she bolts to the castle–offering up herself instead. As for the rest of the tale, it's NOT what you'd expect. There is a story involving Belle's crappy brother and some money-lenders as well as the creature's back story. Unlike most versions, this one slowly reveals bits and pieces of this sad tale and exactly why he's been turned into a beast is quite strange. But again, since there is not one version of the story, such license is understandable.
So was this film worth seeing? Well, yes and no. It's far from the best version I've seen but it is worth your time. Major pluses are how beautiful the film is in many places as well as a few changes to the generally accepted story. I appreciate how Belle's father really DID deserve to be punished, whereas in other versions Beast just seems mean and unfair in punishing the old guy. But, what didn't thrill me was the amount of extra story. With all the subplots and back story, so much of the romance between Belle and Beast is missing–and her falling for him seems to make far less sense. Plus, while some will love all the CG, I think after a while it was just too much–such as the HUGE creatures that appear at the end and start stomping on everyone as well as the bizarre crazy-eyed puppy creatures! I prefer a simpler version that is a bit smaller in scope and less intense. Call me a romantic at heart, but a bit less would have delivered so much more.
By the way, the version I saw DID have English subtitles, but they were not very good in places. Once in particular, I would have misunderstood an important part of the film had I not understood what they were actually saying in French.
This movie blew me and my wife away. Yes it's all subtitled but with the director of Silent Hill behind the lens this movie just screams masterpiece. The story is different on a better level. The cinematography and everything else was visually beautiful and Oscar worthy. This movie does not disappoint if you love movies with an actual story and characters. Christophe Gans could very well be Frances "Peter Jackson" or "Steven Spielberg". There is definitely something special about his directing and vision that is terribly underrated. I hope this film catches someone's attention here in the states because we need to hand him over some book series to turn into epic American films like he did here. Wife loved it. I loved it. I'd give it more than ten stars because of the quality and directing. Bravo France. Bravo. From America to your people we throw roses at your Beauty and the Beast masterpiece. ~ S A Storyteller
This is a fairy tail, transfered on the screen with respect to it's original plot, pretty much as it should have been told two and a half centuries ago, when it was first put on paper (1756). Of course, given it's age and the nature of fairy tail stories, there are many variants from region to region and from century to century but the core of the story remained solid and this is what we see. I really had the impression that the story that i was looking at was told by someone who lived in the past and not my grandma. The realization is quite satisfying, the costumes and the colors are impressive but it's a bit too dark at some points. Maybe there should have been more day time scenes but i guess they wanted to stress out the dark side of the story. This was tiring. The music was all right but i really think that the producers could have done a better job here. More intensively ambient music could have make this motion much more interesting for a young audience. Overall, i think it's a beautiful picture to take your family to, especially if you have children -not too young though,it can get scary-.