Film Screening: La Belle et la Bête (1946)
Speakers: Cécile Tresfels
French poet and filmmaker Jean Cocteau 1946 adaptation of the traditional fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, written by Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont and published in 1757 as part of a fairy tale anthology. The plot of Cocteau's film revolves around Belle's father who is sentenced to death for picking a rose from Beast's garden. Belle offers to go back to the Beast in her father's place. Beast falls in love with her and proposes marriage on a nightly basis which she refuses… “La Belle” and “la Bête” are wonderfully interpreted by Josette Day and Jean Marais, who gracefully bring to life this both sublime and monstrous love story. Cocteuau's truly enchanting movie, where the beauty of the set designs evoking the illustrations and engravings of Gustave Doré and the paintings of Jan Vermeer, echoes the magical music score composed by George Auric.