Beauty and the Beast (La Belle et la Bête)
© John Nesbit
In his day, often more criticized for his drug use and homosexual lifestyle than for his actual work, Cocteau took on the fairy tale project at the urging of his lover, Jean Marais, who plays both Avenant and the Beast in the film. Some people attempt to draw psychological interpretations of the film, partially based on Cocteau's sexuality or on the fact that Cocteau was beginning to have skin problems. Additionally, fairy tales are ripe for psychosexual interpretations, so critics can have a Freudian field day with Beauty and the Beast, scrutinizing the visuals for phallic and vaginal symbols. The story itself is very faithful to the original fairy tale crafted by Jean-Marie Leprince de Beaumont.
Cocteau begs the audience to suspend belief, introducing the film and preparing us for some of its conceits with a title card that begins:
"Children believe what we tell them, they have complete faith in us. They believe that a rose plucked from a garden can bring drama to a family. They believe that the hands of a human beast will smoke when he slays a victim, and that this beast will be ashamed when confronted by a young girl. They believe a thousand other simple things. . ."
A merchant (Marcel André) lives in a country mansion with his son Ludovic and his three daughters Felicie, Adelaide and Belle (Josette Day). Belle (Beauty in English) is the good and pure daughter who does all the housework, as opposed to the two self-centered sisters that only desire a life of leisure and marrying a rich duke. Ludovic's handsome friend Avenant (Jean Marais) wants to marry Belle, but she refuses to leave her father (providing lots of ammunition for Freudians).
Business isn't going well for the merchant, so he undertakes a desperate trip that promises riches. Returning after great disappointment, he wanders into a magical castle literally illuminated hand held candelabras and watched over with living statues and table hands that pour wine for the guests. As the merchant prepares to leave, he plucks a rose for Belle, which causes the host beast (Jean Marais in a mask incorporating elements of Wolfman and a Werewolf) to angrily appear to demand his death, unless he can supply one of his daughters to die in his place.
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