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FRANCE · 2014
Beauty and the Beast
Synopsis
Forced to face the cruel side of life, a devastated, bankrupt merchant chances upon the enchanted castle of a hideous creature, the mere sight of it chills the bone to the marrow. There, a fate worse than death awaits the poor father-of-six, who, after plucking a sweet-scented rose from the repulsive master's verdant garden, must do the impossible: permit his compassionate daughter, Belle, to take his place and pay for the sins of her parent. Now, an impenetrable mystery shrouds the haunted mansion, and, as repugnance gradually turns into affection, only true love could break the spell.
Cinema Atlas Connection
Bill Condon faced an impossible task: remaking a fairy tale that had already been made perfectly, by Jean Cocteau in 1946. Rather than compete, he made a film about the Cocteau film. The living household objects — the candelabra, the clock — are direct quotations from Cocteau's surrealist production design, where human arms emerge from castle walls to hold light. Condon cited this in 2017 interviews repeatedly, treating Cocteau's vision as material to preserve rather than revise. La Belle et la Bête is available on Criterion Channel.
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