I think there comes a time in most people's life when they take a moment to reflect and say, "What has Stevie Nicks brought to my existence?"
And when I encountered that moment of growth, I had two answers: hand-tinted sepia photography and Jean Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast. (La Belle et La Bête)
It's all because of Ms. Nicks' album, The Wild Heart. When I was thirteen and saw it in the KMart LP bins I was entranced. What interesting photographs! I'd like to learn to do that!
But it was several years before I bought it and saw the liner notes, thanking Jean Cocteau for his 1946 film.
Strangely, I ended up seeing BatB long before learning how to hand-paint photos, but the two events remain entwined for reasons beyond the Nicks connection. Both are appealing to anyone with an interest in photography and/or cinematography.
I have never seen BatB in the theatre, only on video. I now have my own video copy, taped off a movie channel, with an introduction by Martin Scorcese. In his lead-in, Mr. Scorcese says everything I want to say, but more eloquently, and I bet I could get away with just copying his words, but doncha just know one of you have this on tape and I'd be caught? Drats. Oh well, I'll leave plagiarism to the experts. Oops, they're called advisors now, right?
(Sorry, sorry, sorry - cheap shot. But how does that one advisor we all know and.. er.. know... manage to retain her position after first writing reviews on a non-existent product then stealing recipes from the Web and being caught on both counts? I'd be so deleted if I pulled that.)
What? You want me to get back to the topic and save the complaining for an editorial where people can NR me because they think it's wrong to publicly point out abuse if it means shaking a finger at a rogue advisor? Oh, okay. You're probably right.
So as I was saying, Scorcese commented favourably on a number of elements found in this rendition of BatB, and I'll address them later in this epinion, because as "heh" as I was towards Age of Innocence, I respect Scorcese and feel his observations are worth noting.
Once Upon a Time
Before these words appear on the screen, we see a slightly-jerky handwritten note from director Jean Cocteau asking us to suspend a little disbelief, to become innocent again, to hark the "Open Sesame" of childhood and put our minds fully to... Once Upon a Time.
The film stays reasonably close to the original tale by Mme. LePrince de Beaumont. We have a household of four grown children, three women and a man, and their father. Two of the young ladies are vain and selfish, and dramatically embarrassed that their father has suffered a reversal of fortune which has made them a laughingstock of court society.
The son is a slacker, a "rotter" to use his own words, pressing the buttons of Felicie (Mila Parély) and Adelaide (Nane Germon), his materialistic sisters. But he is quick to protect and defend the third. Ludovic (Michel Auclair) is not a bad sort, but he has run up an unfortunate debt that cannot be paid unless one of his father's ships comes in. When we first meet the family, there seems little hope of that.
Beauty (Josette Day) is of course the pleasant daughter, and the dutiful one. She resists marriage to Avenant (Jean Marais) in order to keep her father (Marcel Andre) company. There is a Cinderella scenario at work, too, for she scrubs floors and serves her sisters. She does this because she knows it must be done and cannot count on her sisters to do it.
Good news comes to the household - one of the father's ships has arrived! He will set out immediately to meet it. He asks his daughters what treasures he should bring back for them. It's jewels and riches for Adelaide and Felicie, of course. And what for Beauty?
"A rose. For we have none here." That's all she wants, a single rose.
But there is trouble with the ship, and the father cannot collect his wealth. He is turned away into the night and must ride through the foggy forest towards home. As he journeys, he becomes lost, and stumbles upon a castle. With a few moments he knows it to be an enchanted castle.
I will not spoil it for you with too much detail of what takes place, but will try to quickly wrap up the important details now so those who don't know this old story will be in step without hearing too much.
As the father makes to leave the castle, he spies a rose. Ah, at least he can bring back that much. He snaps the bud from the vine and turns. He is face to face with a beast, The Beast, who informs him that he might have taken anything from the castle, but not the rose. The father must die. Or, he may leave and in three days send a daughter to take his place.
Because it was Beauty who requested the rose, she insists on returning instead of her father, and when he protests she slips away while he sleeps. What will become of Beauty within those cold and magical stone walls? What of Avenant who wishes to marry her? How did the Beast become so beastly and can anything be done about it?
A Beauty is a Belle is a Beauty
You notice I keep calling her "Beauty" instead of the somewhat less awkward "Belle." (Or at least less awkward if you've seen the Disney version, which I recently did and may review here later.)
The original French is "Belle" which of course means "Beauty" in English, and the subtitles decided to play the literal and traditional route. I've never quite been used to it, I admit.
A Beast is a... who?
You'll notice that I didn't say who plays the Beast. It's not a big secret, but it was a surprise to me. So I leave it as a surprise to you. ("Surprise!")
Back up. Subtitles?
Okay, I was hoping to sneak that one past you. Me, I have a love-hate relationship with subtitles. Sometimes I like them and feel intellectually smug, other times I cop out for the dubbed version. (Fanny and Alexander and Like Water for Chocolate spring to mind.) In my defense, it's because if I like a movie I'll let it run in the background while doing other things. Okay? I just don't want you all thinking I'm more of a bumpkin than I am.
Yes, this film is subtitled, but it's one example where I don't mind. Part of the reason is that the physical acting is broad enough to convey the intent of the dialogue without having to hear it spelled out.
The rest of the reason is because so much of the movie is quiet. Shhhh. Vewwy quiet. We're talking about an era when filmmakers didn't fill all the empty spots with soundtrack.
The film itself is in French, and if you've had even a smidge of high school French you'll probably enjoy sounding out the words after the characters, who all speak in commendably clear voices. You may even start thinking you have a pretty decent French accent. If so, you must immediately stand up and start beating your head against the wall until you drive such impudent thoughts from your head. Unless you are French, your accent is terrible. Accept it. It may sound 99.9% perfect when analyzed by sophisticated accent-measuring instruments, but there will be some fatal enunciation on a word which will make you the laughingstock of the Left Bank. C'mon, I think we've all seen National Lampoon's European Vacation. I shouldn't have to explain this.
But having some knowledge of French is a benefit, for the subtitles often give a much shorter and more simplified version of what is said on screen. Not enough to detract, but even me with my pitiful français scrapings knew they were being stingy with us.
One more tiny thought on the subtitles and then I'll drop it. Whenever a character said something which translated to "Do you," we saw "D'you." Interesting.
Back up again. Are you saying there isn't a soundtrack?
Nope, I didn't say that, I just said this is a quiet film. I wouldn't mind it being a little quieter, even, as the music isn't very inspired. Kind of "40s sweeping epic" style without quite reaching that exact mark. I think it's the horns. Less horns would have been good. But overall you don't notice the music much, unless you're in your recliner taking notes for an epinion. It's probably at its loudest during the opening credits, really.
Moments and Thoughts
In the end I had three pages of notes, mostly little things which caught my eye.
You know how women talk in old movies (1930s and 1940s)? All of the women have that emphatic accentless accent which reminds me of Jennifer Jason Leigh's character in The Hudsucker Proxy. I guess it's a variation of "Mid American Standard" or whatever the linguists call it. I was amused to encounter the French version here. I think it's because actors were not many generations removed from stagework being their usual venue.
When Adelaide and Felicie are borne away by the chair-bearers, I noticed that if you are using two chair-bearers (as opposed to four, with one grabbing each pole), and if your chair has a window (as theirs did), then you spend your trip looking at the moving tush of a man. I'm not trying to be vulgar! Maybe they didn't think twice about it way back when; maybe it was no more interesting than a horse's behind. But it's something I never thought about before. You know some of those chaste medieval ladies did their share of anatomical contemplation.
The ages of the "children" were not disclosed, but I didn't consider any of them to be as young as the usual fairy tale counterparts. I would not have been surprised to learn that Josette Day was in her early thirties. (Of course I had to stop typing and look this up. She was 32. See? I told you!) A different time in filmmaking, to be sure. You might assume that Beauty was the youngest of the sisters, but she calls one "little sister," and I don't think it was just an affectionate term. (For what it's worth, Mila Parély was 29 and Nane Germon was 37 when they made BatB. Time for these girls to leave home and stop worrying about Daddy's ship!)
For a primer on ethereal forestry, here's your guide. There has been a great deal said about the effects used in this film, and I'll be saying more in a bit, but the fog-stretched forest is a fine moment of scenery. Makes me say, "Oh yes, I believe, I have always known."
And although you can give some of the credit to it being a black and white film over fifty years in age, the simplicity of the scenes and special effects is one of its proudest features.
When the bodiless hand trembles slightly while pouring out, it's more real and scary than a half million dollars' worth of slick, seamless CGI. (Which I also like, but in its own place.) The living statues and masonry may be obviously played by humans, but this works to make it especially unsettling. As if our minds logic it out that we know human eyes can watch us, and we discern that the bric-a-brac has obviously human eyes, therefore we can be fully convinced that the bric-a-brac is definitely watching us.
The Beast's white horse, The Magnificent, has a terrifically spry back kick. It's the stuff dancing ponies are made of.
I can't spell Zeffirelli off the top of my head, but through his work (Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet) I came to appreciate how lovely natural sunlight can be for lighting. It comes out wonderfully here, too. If the majority of outdoor scenes weren't actually filmed outside (especially those in the village), then I'll be twice as impressed. In those days it wasn't uncommon for everything in a film to be a built set. Yet I never had that clear sense of fakery which comes with "outdoor" scenes from other movies of this time period.
(minor spoilers for next three paragraphs)
La la la la la la la la la... okay, I think it's safe to talk, the people who don't want to know have skipped ahead. I love the way Beauty passes out when she first sees the Beast. I would not have thought of that. (Of course her reaction was genuine and not calculated.) I would have frozen, or run, or started screaming. If I'm ever in a situation where all three of those options are equally hopeless, I'm going to pretend to faint.
And what is it with proposals starting the first night they are together? In the end, this pushiness doesn't even make sense. Was the Beast really that overcome with passion? I know I'll be pelted with rocks for this, but if I had to say which BatB movie was the most "relationship romantic" as opposed to "romantic in spirit," I'd go with the Disney version. The endless proposing would have worked better if the Beast had to marry to break the spell. Otherwise it was just making his feelings towards her seem a teensy insincere. (Please don't hurt me, I'm sure it's just chocolate-deprived delusions. I'll straighten up as soon as I get some hot cocoa.)
And don't you think, even though he's the same actor as... you know who..., that the Prince looks like a younger, saucier version of Dr. Smith from TV's Lost in Space?
(minor spoilers over)
Everyone praises black and white photography for its tones (except me, I'm even more enamored of its cheap processing), and we're not lacking for them here. Why Monsieur Cocteau, how do you get your eyeballs so white?
And on the matter of appearances, how about Rapunzel's, er, Beauty's hair? From one scene to the next it grows longer and more stunning. Move over Nynaeve with your wrist-width braids, our Beauty has coils to rival forearms. I was desperately jealous. I've been growing my hair for fifteen years and all I have is a long haystack with split ends. (Kind of like little pitchforks - I guess it's themey.)
The winning entry for "most tender yet disturbed scene" goes to the following snippet of dialogue: Belle: "Drink from my hands." Bête: "You don't mind?" Belle: "I like it."
Scorcese Says
Because of Martin Scorcese appreciative introduction, I learned that Jean Cocteau was a poet and a man of similar occupations, and he sought a sort of poetry in his cinematography. The floating, double exposure, and reverse motion scenes are revolutionary, haunting, and outright beautiful, although at first the floating has a slight danger of being overkill. But as I already said, the crudeness doesn't come out Plan 9 from Outer Space, but as a stripped down ballet.
Scorcese also mentions that BatB was a low-budget film plagued with problems which included accidents and the director's ill-health. Apparently Cocteau published a book about the making, called "Diary of a Film." This is exactly the sort of movie where you might be inspired to learn about how it came about. I've put it on my "To Read" list after Terry Gilliam's "Losing the Light." It is in print, and retails for about $8 at Amazon.
Final Thoughts
It had been several years since I'd seen this Beauty and the Beast, and to be honest the only reason I dug it out was because I'm thinking on writing an epinion on the Disney version and I thought it could be fun to do both. But as I started watching, I remembered that I actually liked this film. Sure, I sought it for the shallow reason that my once favourite songstress praised it, but then I did start watching James Bond movies because of Duran Duran and look how well that turned out.
Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast is not something I can watch more than every few years, but when I do see it the enjoyment all comes back to me. I remember that it isn't too subtitled or too black and white or too artsy. It's just a fairy tale, quietly spoken, prettily framed.
Sites Related to Jean Cocteau's Beauty and the Beast
(I am not affiliated with these sites - they are included only for those interested in learning more)
http://www.cinematographer.com/magazine/sept97/beast/pg1.htm (I sheepishly gave up reading after two paragraphs, includes one still photo)
http://www.netcomuk.co.uk/~lenin/jean_cocteau_batb.html (shows movie poster)
http://www.wcsu.ctstateu.edu/~MCCARNEY/fva/La_Belle_et_la_Bete_780.htmls
http://www.filmunlimited.co.uk/Century_Of_Films/Story/0,4135,62195,00.html
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