My original plan was to see this film and Cocteau’s “La belle et la bête” in direct comparison, both of which were shown at the Berlinale. I had scheduled for Cocteau’s version too but then ended up not seeing it. I don’t really feel as motivated to watch easily available old films at the Berlinale, especially when it’s not a silent film with live piano. But since I already had tickets for the newer film, I couldn’t let it go to waste.
La belle et la bête
France/Germany 2014, Christophe Gans, 112′
Belle’s father is an impoverished merchant with six children to take care of and but only one responsible child, Belle herself. The rest are troublemakers or comic relief. With some variations to the classical Beauty and the Beast tale, Belle starts living at the castle of the Beast after her father takes a rose from his garden, and slowly comes to love the Beast, ultimately saving him.
Death count: As many as there were in the group of thugs, plus a forest spirit.
I have never really understood why people are so into Léa Seydoux. I think she is pretty but she’s just not my type. Other than that, she also doesn’t strike me as a great actress and kind of reminds me of Mia Wasikowska in that respect. That is unfortunate, I think the film would have been quite different with, say, Virginie Ledoyen as the main character.
The film’s biggest appeal is definitely its looks. The scenes in and around the castle are of almost unparalleled beauty, with a clear nod to the Lord of the Rings franchise. Personally, I prefer its fairytale style over the Lord of the Rings, and that means something. It’s just so damn pretty. Belle’s dresses are similarly awesome and prettier than anything Tim Burton has ever designed. The story is fine (apart from the part with the princess) and can be described as lovely most of the time. The biggest problem probably lies with the source material itself – it’s all about Stockholm Syndrome after all. I felt a little uncomfortable when I realized that the women in the story more or less sell their body to men in order to get what they want (“I will dance with you if you let me see my family”, “If you give me a son, I will do as you ask and stop hunting”), which not only means that they are engaging in some sort of prostitution but that in this story, women are ultimately powerless apart from their beauty. That makes this film a little questionable to show to little children (but so does Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” for its glory to colonization ending).
In the end, I had a lot of fun watching the film and reveled in the pretty visuals and fun action effects. I just wouldn’t recommend the film, and I think that the money spent on the film would have been better somewhere else. Film-makers especially in French cinema need to stop rehashing old, out-dated stories over and over again.