 |
| Jean
Marais, Josette Day, Michel Auclair, Mila Parély, Nane
Germon, Marcel André |
|
 |
Anamorphic
widescreen |
|
Dolby Digital
5.1 |
|
DTS |
|
 |
Trailer(s) |
|
Featurette(s) |
|
Documentary |
|
Audio commentary
|
|
Deleted scenes
|
|
Concept art
/ storyboards |
|
Multi-angle
feature |
|
|
|
|
Belle (Josette Day): You must
fight your despair and live!
Beast (Jean Marais): I could have fought it if I were a man.
But I am a beast, and therefore I cannot.
A merchant's daughter sacrifices herself
to a beast in an enchanted castle to save her father's life.
 As
good as the Disney version of this story is, it basically transforms
a classic fairy tale into a fast-paced, universally accessible and
extremely modern Broadway musical. The animated Beast is quickly
domesticized by learning table manners and some ballroom dance steps,
and the enchanted castle is presented as a practical location full
of lively furniture rather than an uncharted, mysterious domain
ruled by the dark recesses of fears from the subconscious. None
of this is surprising, as Disney films have done their utmost to
steer clear of potentially disturbing dream imagery since the early
1940s (the terrifying forest scene from Snow White and the
Pleasure Island trip in Pinocchio apparently predating this
policy).
Cocteau's film does exactly the opposite by literalizing the minimal
plotting but rich subtext of the fairy tale in its most classic
form. Characters behave according to regular but frequently unexplained
rules (the Beast appears 'only every evening at seven o'clock'),
while locations are spaces are often implied rather than showed.
The appropriate mood is set by the opening scenes, shot in a realistic.
classically lit environment that feels like an actual location.
As soon as any of the characters passes through the magical forest
into the enchanted world of the Beast's castle, backgrounds become
far less specific, often even invisible, making the rooms more like
caverns without specific boundaries and the events within more like
dream logic. Anything can happen, and magical events are shot very
matter-of-factly, just as they would occur within a dream. It's
exactly this belief in the clarity and specificity of fairy tale
events that makes Cocteau's film such a masterful piece of cinema
with so many indelible shots and sequences. |
|
 |
 |
|
|
Beauty and the Beast was one
of the first releases in the Criterion Collection DVD catalogue,
but has now been reissued with additional extras and a stunning
new transfer. The first release - which has long since gone out
of print - had no region encoding, the new release is encoded for
Region 1. A Region 2 release is available in the UK from the BFI,
with an audio commentary track and a half-hour documentary on-board,
both of which have also been included on the new Criterion release,
which served as the basis for this review.
The fullscreen image is framed
at its original aspect ratio of approx. 1.33:1. Criterion's original
DVD release already boasted a solid visual presentation of the film.
(Visit this
site for a detailed side-by-side comparison of both versions.)
But the new release houses the result of a massive restoration effort
undertaken in Luxembourg, and is something of a miracle to behold.
What used to be mostly grey-on-grey is now truly the black-and-white
experience the film was meant to be, with deep, magnificent blacks,
terrific contrast and impeccable background detail. Scratches, blips
and dirt on the source print has also been reduced to a minum, though
in several cases the surviving film elements were too badly damaged
to be fully repaired. In several scenes, frames are plainly missing,
and some large gashes in the print are sill visible at times. Still,
the achievement here is something to be marveled at, and is certainly
the best the film will ever look.
The mono sound mix is faithfully represented in a Dolby Digital
1.0 presentation that has been similarly restored: cracks, pops,
hiss and other obtrusive noise has been painstakingly removed, resulting
in the cleanest soundtrack imaginable for this picture. Unfortunately,
the soundtrack's fidelity is very limited, with the orchestra sounding
tinny and heavily distorted whenever it plays at full force. The
same can hardly be said for the newly recorded Dolby Digital 5.1
presentation of the opera composed to play alongside the film by
Philip Glass. Its audio quality is impeccable, though one must have
a taste for Glass's minimalist compositions.
This new release from the Criterion
Collection includes all the supplements from the original release
apart from the article from American Cinematographer and the short
documentary, which might give collectors reason to hold on to their
old copy asa well.
Of the two audio commentary tracks on the new release, the
first is a repeat of the original one by film historian Arthur Knight,
whose informed and articulate if dry and overly studied remarks
relate mostly to the production itself and backgrounds of cast and
crew members. His comments are mostly fairly screen-specific and
there are occasional gaps. The second one is from writer and cultural
historian Sir Christopher Frayling, and it's taken from the 1999
Region 2 DVD release from the BFI. His commentary is also fairly
academic, though it's more accessible due to its faster pace and
its substantially better sound quality. His remarks deal mostly
with the story's themes and backgrounds, and the film's influence
on post-war international cinema, including many direct comparisons
to the Disney version.
The 1995 documentary Screening at the Majestic features some
contemporary interviews with surviving cast and crew, including
the late great Jean Marais and cinematographer Henri Alekan, who
is also the subject of his own 10-minute interview on the
disc. The documentary is a fairly superficial affair, dealing mostly
with nostalgic reminiscences of the actors, but the interview with
Alekan is a highly engrossing item that yields a great deal of insight
without being overly technical. An older interview, originally
produced for TV, offers some fairly superficial background on make-up
effects designer Hagop Arakelian. It was produced in 1964 and only
mentions Beauty and the Beast as an aside, but it's still
a nice supplement. There are also galleries of publicity stills
and rare behind-the-scenes photos, Cocteau’s original
theatrical trailer, the 1995 trailer for the restored
version, and a gorgeously designed booklet containing a reprint
of the original fable translated into English, essays and
notes by both Cocteau and his biographer, photos, technical notes
and more.  The
animated main menu screen subtly incorporates footage from the film
in its smoke-filled background. Navigation is clear, well-documented
and nicely designed.
Dan
Hassler-Forest
Reviewed:
March 10, 2003
Click
here for IMDB info on Beauty
and the Beast.
Click here
to return to the front page.
|
|
| |
