Beauty and the Beast

Film Info

Frankreich 2014 Regie: Christophe Gans

Aktuell ist kein Angebot vorhanden

Beauty and the Beast

Synopsis

1810. After losing his fortune at sea, a ruined merchant is forced to retire to the countryside with his six children. Among them is Belle, his youngest daughter, who is full of joy and grace.
On an arduous journey, the Merchant discovers the magical realm of the Beast, who sentences him to death for stealing a rose.
Belle, who blames herself for her family’s terrible misfortune, decides to sacrifice her life in place of her father’s. However, it isn’t death that awaits Belle in the Beast’s castle, but rather a peculiar life of magic, joy and melancholy.
Each evening, Belle joins the Beast for dinner. They gradually come to know and trust each other, like two strangers that everything conspires to keep apart. Even as Belle fights off his advances, she tries to unravel the riddles of the Beast and his domain.
At night, fragments of the Beast’s past come to her in dreams. From the tragic story they tell, she learns that this wild and solitary creature was once a handsome prince. Armed with only her courage and her open heart, Belle triumphs over danger. She succeeds in releasing the Beast from the evil spell, and discovers true love.

Cast & Crew

Regie

Christophe Gans
Produzent

Richard Grandpierre
Drehbuch

Sandra Vo-Anh, Christophe Gans
Kamera

Christophe Beaucarne
Hauptdarsteller/in

Andre Dussolier, Léa Seydoux, Vincent Cassel
Schnitt

Sébastien Prangère
Musik

Pierre Adenot
Szenenbild

Jerôme Seydoux
Kostüm

Pierre-Yves Gayraud

Statement Regisseur

I’d say that I wasn’t looking to do a remake of the Cocteau version, but rather a new adaptation of the fairytale. When I pitched BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, Jérôme Seydoux blurted out: “Do you realize what you’re getting yourself into?
They’ll never let you forget Cocteau…” To which I answered: “Of course there’ll always be people to say that Cocteau was better!”’ (Laughter).
There are French films for which a remake is unthinkable. CHILDREN OF PARADISE, for example, is a closed, finished, completed work. On the contrary, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST is rife with innuendo, blank spaces, areas that Cocteau deliberately left out. When I was studying the Madame de Villeneuve fairytale, I made a note every time I found an aspect Cocteau had left untapped.
The Merchant barely interest him at all: he is only used to introduce the Beast. Likewise, the personality of the two sisters and the origins of the Prince’s curse are of little interest to him. There is only one line in the entire film to explain the curse: (“My parents didn’t believe in fairies, and they were punished for it.”) Cocteau leaves many doors open, and I went through them with my version.