Beauty and The Beast - Criterion Collection (Restored Edition)
by Jean Cocteau, Ren? Cl?ment
(Click here)
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Jean Marais, Josette Day, Michel Auclair, Mila Par?ly, Nane GermonDirector: Jean Cocteau, Ren? Cl?ment
Brand: MARAIS,JEAN
Cinematographer: Henri Alekan
Writer: Jean Cocteau
Editor: Claude Ib?ria
Producer: Andr? Paulv?
Writer: Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled)
Format: Black & White, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 93 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-02-11
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Criterion
DVD Reviews of Beauty and The Beast - Criterion Collection (Restored Edition)
DVD Review: Very Happy
Summary: 5 Stars
I was so happy, when I received my package, it was carefully bubble wrapped and in excellent condition. Thank you for such a quick delivery and great customer serviceDVD Review: The Disney version was WAAAAY better!
Summary: 1 Stars
I went to my video store last weekend to rent "Beauty and the Beast" because I like that song "Be Our Guest." I even asked them to place this on hold for me and I told them over and over again to make sure they had my name spelled correctly. That dumb video store is alwasy forgetting that theyve put movies on hold for me which I can't understand because I call them 19 times a day to make sure that its still on hold. Anyway, I get home and play the movie and I soon discover its not the Walt Disney version. Even worse it's in black and white and it's NOT EVEN IN ENGLISH!!!! I mean, C'MON!!! Everywhere you look nowadays there's some commie-lib foreigner invading our workplace and now they're invading our movies. Oh and get this! It's in French. UGGGH! What a lame pile of crud. Of course they had some English words on the bottom of the screen, but if it was important it would have been in English in the first place. I mean, the Bible's in English and if English was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for Hollyweird Or whatever they call Hollyweird in France. DVD Review: One of the Best movies EVER made: An absolute MUSE see
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie is pure magic, in the best sense of the word and one never tires of seeing it, as it is always fresh in its own space and time. I have seen it since childhood, at least 10 times, and there was not one time I did not enjoy it as much as if it were the first. This unique quality has guaranteed it a cult status amongst film aficionados.
From the point that Belle's father is lost in a storm and finds his way to the Beast's chateau, the movie takes off into a magic realm, where trees part to let guests through (as they do for the Prince Charming in Sleeping Beauty) and a hallway can be lit by magical hands holding candlesticks that never go off no matter how windy. Other magical hands can assist while eating at a beautiful dining table while mantlepiece statues become animated and look on mysteriously.
Belle's father has ventured there on his way back from a business trip and Belle had asked him to bring back a rose. Her mean and envious, snobby sisters have asked for more exotic presents, as they resemble Cinderella's sisters in their meanness to Belle, but in a way are also closely related to Moliere's "Precieuses Ridicules' : the women of his time that took refinement so seriously that they made a ridiculous spectacle of themselves. However it is this rose that will connect Belle to the Beast as her father incurrs the Beast's wrath when he takes the flower and he has to swear to come back, or send one of his daughters in his place. Even while the Beast is finishing the sentence we KNOW Belle will show up in his place.
The Beast in this movie is Jean Marais, and the Belle is Josette Day, both excellently directed by Jean Cocteau, the ultimate magician, I believe of all his works, whether literary or otherwise, this was the masterpiece. Cocteau creates a world historically set at the beginning of the 17th century in France, but more akin to the "Once upon a time" era of fairy tales and stories that children have always loved. The ability to ground the fantasy of the tale within the context of the eternal archetypes (as in Jung) is what makes the story so appealing and everlasting.
The Beauty inside the beast is what attracts Belle, and eventually makes her love him. She is naturally beautiful inside out and even when she is doing house chores she has the air of having just had a facial at a La Prairie Spa. One can understand her attraction for the beast, as no matter how ugly he looks, the Beast is impeccably dressed in velvet and diamond embroideries that look like early Yves Saint Laurent couture, not to mention that he dresses her magically also, while he carries her through a doorway, in a ravishing gown that would make any girl lose her mind with delight, and showers her with magnificent gifts such as diamond tears that pay all her father's debts and an exquisite necklace fit for a queen. Once Belle's love is declared to the dying Beast, which is a very dramatic scene, as the beast is dying of sadness over not seeing her (how fabulous a disease is that?? we don't even have a name for it) he can be born again in the guise of Belle's admirer, a role also played by Marais as a handsome but brainless young man. He only makes sense up to the point where he metamorphoses from the body of the Beast at the same instant, and in perfect synchronicity in time, that the young man has climbed into the forbidden pavillion of Diana, where all of the Beast's treasury is scattered, and where he has come with the ambition of killing the beast and stealing the treasure. Instead he is killed by an arrow from a statue of the goddess that has become magically animated. Belle then "remembers' vaguely that she knew and liked someone that "looked like him" which makes the Beast-turned-Jean-Marais give a radiant smile of self satisfaction and we know we've hit the finale on a high note.
It is a beautiful romance in the gorgeous setting of an enchanted castle and a happy ending that ends quite literally with the two lovers flying to the heavens, giving "Happily Ever After" a visual image that is as unforgettable as the film itself.
The restauration job is excellent and the dvd is a pleasure to watch. The images clearer than in many movie reel versions I have seen
DVD Review: A lovely movie
Summary: 5 Stars
I debated buying this because of the price, but decided to treat myself. It arrived in fantastic condition and with all the extras some other reviewers mention. I've watched it several times now, also with
& without the commentary. It's a very well made, beautiful movie. Honestly, I had a rather difficult time (esp when I first watched it) listening to such an ugly beast speaking beautiful French. (It has
English sub-titles). It doesn't strike me quite so odd anymore.
It's a rather fast paced movie, especially re: the relationship between Belle & the Beast. I would have preferred seeing some more interaction/ conversations between the two of them. Two of my favorite special effects are when Belle's dress changes into a beautiful gown, and her pearl necklace instantly changes when put in the hands of her evil-minded sister. I recommend this movie to anyone considering it.
DVD Review: Daughter wanted this movie
Summary: 5 Stars
This is the actual movie she wanted for Christmas. She has watched it numerous times although it is in French. She loves period films, b/w films and wanted this in French. SHe is very happy with this movie.
Description of Beauty and The Beast - Criterion Collection (Restored Edition)
The true love of a beautiful woman restores a beast to the handsome young prince he was, before a spell was cast on him.Genre: Foreign Film - French
Rating: UN
Release Date: 11-FEB-2003
Media Type: DVD
This is definitely not the Disney version. While it remains faithful to the plot of the classic fairy tale by Leprince de Beaumont, Jean Cocteau's 1946 French romantic fantasy is the product of a sophisticated, mature sensibility in its tones and textures and, above all, in its surprising emotional power. With sparkling black-and-white imagery that, for once, is actually dreamlike rather than cute or kitschy, and with a Beast (Jean Marais) who is almost as glamorous with his silky blonde facial hair as he is clean shaven, the movie casts a seductive spell. It might actually be a little too rich and unsettling for kids. Even the costumes and the draperies are entrancingly ornate. Viewers intoxicated by this enveloping vision should consider moving on to Cocteau's even more aggressively other-worldly 1949 masterpiece Orpheus, in which Marais plays the doomed poet of ancient Greek legend, updated to a Parisian "punk" milieu of motorcycles and black leather. --David Chute
General DVDs
DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Bestsellers in General DVDs
Best in ShowWarner Brothers; Release date: 2001-05-15; DVD
Best price: $6.22
Price in other shops:
The Lives of OthersSony; Release date: 2007-08-21; DVD
Best price: $7.49
Price in other shops:
Pan's LabyrinthVERDU,MARIBEL; Release date: 2007-05-15; DVD
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops:
Chocolat (Miramax Collector's Series)Disney; Release date: 2001-08-07; DVD
Best price: $5.97
Price in other shops:
AmelieDisney; Release date: 2002-07-16; DVD
Best price: $9.98
Price in other shops:
Life Is BeautifulDisney; Release date: 1999-11-09; DVD
Best price: $4.58
Price in other shops:
![Gomorrah (Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray] Image](/images/Gomorrah-Criterion-Collection-Blu-ray-B002M36R14-X.jpg)
Gomorrah (Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]IMAGE ENT.; Release date: 2009-11-24; DVD
Best price: $23.48
Price in other shops:
Let The Right One InMAGNOLIA FILMS; Release date: 2009-03-10; DVD
Best price: $7.62
Price in other shops:
The Ultimate GiftUltimate; Release date: 2007-08-21; DVD
Best price: $6.98
Price in other shops:
Slumdog MillionaireTCFHE; Release date: 2009-03-31; DVD
Best price: $5.42
Price in other shops:
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
Amarcord (Criterion Collection)Image Entertainment; Release date: 2006-09-05; DVD
Best price: $21.00
Price in other shops:
Diabolique (Criterion Collection Spine #35)Image Entertainment; Release date: 1999-01-26; DVD
Best price: $17.99
Price in other shops:
The Rules of the Game - Criterion CollectionImage Entertainment; Release date: 2004-01-20; DVD
Best price: $24.84
Price in other shops:
Walkabout - Criterion CollectionROEG,NICHOLAS; Release date: 1998-05-06; DVD
Best price: $18.50
Price in other shops:
The Exterminating Angel - Criterion CollectionImage Entertainment; Release date: 2009-02-10; DVD
Best price: $24.42
Price in other shops:
Breathless - Criterion CollectionImage Entertainment; Release date: 2007-10-23; DVD
Best price: $26.13
Price in other shops:
Black Orpheus: The Criterion CollectionImage Entertainment; Release date: 1999-06-08; DVD
Best price: $18.67
Price in other shops:
Grand Illusion - Criterion CollectionGABIN,JEAN; Release date: 1999-11-23; DVD
Best price: $22.98
Price in other shops:
Orphic Trilogy - Criterion CollectionCOCTEAU,JEAN; Release date: 2000-06-27; DVD
Best price: $50.93
Price in other shops:
Children of Paradise - Criterion CollectionImage Entertainment; Release date: 2002-01-22; DVD
Best price: $24.88
Price in other shops: