Beauty and the Beast of 1946 - Essay Example

Le Belle et bête (Beauty and the Beast) 1946 Introduction La Belle et la Bête (The Beauty and the Beast) is a 1946 movie written and directed by Jean Cocteau. The movie surrounds a genre that primarily focuses on fantasy and romance. Through the genres established in the movie, a range of themes comes to life as the dramatic life between a girl and a beast transforms into a love story. The movie covers a range of theme from hatred, love, betrayal, deception and beauty. Beauty is the outstanding theme in the movie as it unveils throughout the movie. ‘The Beauty and the Beast’ was first shown in the cinemas in the year 1946. This followed a traditional fairy tale written by Jeanne-Marie Leprince De Beaumont in the year 1757. In the movie, Josette Day played Belle and Jean Marais played the beast. Through the plot setting and the storyline within the film, one gets to appreciate the theme of beauty incorporated into several levels and setting of France during the production of the movie. The Theme: Beauty Beauty and the beast is a fairy tale that the story plot develops around belle’s father. Belle establishes herself as the protagonists of the movie after offering to remain captive on her father’s behalf. As the story continues, belle develops fond of the beast creating a turn of events in the plot. Other characters that help develop the story include the characters like Ludovic and belle’s two materialistic sisters. Avenant who is a handsome scoundrel is an antagonist character and help develops the romantic theme of the story. The outstanding feature in the film is the theme of the movie relative to the history of France during the time of the film production. The main theme that prevails through the story is relative to beauty. The story elaborates that the only beauty that matters is inner beauty. The theme is depicted through both the antagonist’s and the protagonist’s characters. Jean Cocteau elaborates on the superficial beauty through characters like Belle’s sisters and Ludovic who are similarly the supporting characters in the story. The ‘true’ beauty in the movie is captured through the antagonist characters that are Belle and the Beast. The story postulates that true beauty is that which is within and not what is seen outwardly. The movie Beauty and Beast attested to the atrocities and the mood of war. The movie was shot in black and white. Although the reason behind the movie being shot in black and white was the financial constraint, it managed to bring out the deprivation element that was evident following the end of the World War 2. The shooting of the movie was a few months after the surrender of Germany that saw the end of the war. To a certain perspective, Germany is relative to a misunderstood beast that has unseen inner-beauty. This is evident in that not all Germans were pro the war and some people could not wait to see the cessation of the war. Relative to the women, Beauty and the Beast illustrated a depiction of different classes of women that existed during the time. Belle’s sisters represented the wealthy and privileged in the immediate society (Badrinath & Augustine 55). The sisters confided to the idea of finding a princely man who would marry them off and provide the servants that would be subject to their needs. This instills a depiction of women in a similar light, during the time setting of the movie, women either were married off or tended to their families. Belle on the other hand is the representation of the women that tended to their families. This follows after the family loses wealth as her father’s ships are lost at sea plunging their family in a lower social class. Belle is forced to look after the fragile father who does not come to terms easily with huge loss he underwent from the wreck. In the movie, Belle is an independent woman and seeks to gain knowledge by reading and exploring her world. Belle’s modesty is evident from the way she carries herself and is not fixated to her outward beauty. Belle shows a sense of independence and to her marriage is not very important. This depicts the social setting of France. This depicts that among the French women at the time, there existed independent women who did not subject themselves to a married life in order to elevate their social status. Beauty and the beast remarkably touch on the World War 2 setting and bring out how different people were affected by the war. The first setting that is evident relative to the World War story plot is the women’s social standing during the warring times in France. The 1946 movie contrast with the 1991 movie by Disney, which is joyful and uplifting. The latter stipulates the moral decision-making, which is intended to influence the youth. The film brings out the social and the emotional challenges and stand of women. (Badrinath & Augustine 65). At some point of the story, the father gets information that one of the ships that were lost at sea made it back safely. The father then inquires from the daughters of what he could bring back from the ship as he leaves to check on the ships arrival. Belle’s sisters ask for jewels and dresses, whereas Belle asks for a rose that did not grow in the parts of the country. This part of the story is relative to the history of French at this point of time. After the war, the country among other countries was throng in poverty. This aspect speaks to a point that France had colonies in different parts of the world. The attributes of belle and her sister could be related to this subject to the citizen in France. The Ship represents the troops that made it back from the countries. The older sister demands denote the needs of the materialistic citizens required from their troops as they came back from their protectorates. They expected gold and valuable things that were in the countries. Belle’s need from the ship, which is a flower, is a representation of peace. The citizens in France who Belle represents expected that the troops that had come back were in one peace and similarly the places that they were similarly peaceful. Therefore, the writer and creator of the film sought to incorporate the element of peace as beauty. Belle represented the peaceful nature where as the sisters represented aggression and materialistic wealth which is subject to the wrong type of beauty. The story behind the shipwreck also establishes an element about France as a country and their moment of reparations. When the father gets the news that his ship are lost at sea, this is similar to the moment that Germany is wrecked as a country and are looking for ways to repair as a country. Through the story, it is evident that he creator is trying to pass information about the true definition of beauty which is relative to the story of countries at the end of the war. The true beauty was in the fact that the father had all his daughters in good despite the material wealth being lost at sea. Similarly, the end of the war represented a beauty that all could behold. It is evident that through the course of war, all the countries that participated were greatly affected (Badrinath & Augustine 91). An element represented by the ’beauty’ theme of the movie is the mentality that several countries had about France at a country. This element postulates the mentality that other countries had about the participation of France as a country in the war. The beast represented beauty that is hidden within and many portrayed as bad because of its outward features. Ludovic represents an outward beauty that people tend to see and dictate the character of the person (Lanzoni 118). This element of the theme is symbolic as the representation can be depicted to elaborate on a mentality that prevailed during the warring times. The World War 2 ignition was subject to the bad mentality that the allied and the axis forces had on each other and as a result waged a war that saw atrocities take course. Beauty and the Beast represent a solution as it seeks to elaborate that beauty is relative to understanding each other at different levels before declaring enmity on each other. The aspect of collaborations similar to that during the World War is the alluding of Adelaide and Felicie and that of Adenant and Ludovic to kill the beast. The modern day Beauty and Beast echoes similar thematic ideology relative to how the real beauty is portrayed by the society. Through the production of the same movie by Disney Company in 1991, there are notable similarities incorporated. The 1991 animated Disney film portrays Belle as a humble girl that falls in love with a hideous beast. This illustrates that the movie similarly borrows the element of inner beauty form the original film. The Disney film portrays the beast as a good person who is stuck in the body of a hideous creature. This is evident as the last part of the story the beast transforms into a handsome prince who breaks from a spell that was cast upon him. An evident feature that prevails from the 1946 and the 1991 movie is the character of the beast before meeting Belle and after meeting her. The first encounter that the beasts meets Belle’s father who plucks a rose from the garden is different from that after he meets Belle. The beast lacks a sense of inner beauty in the first encounter with belle’s father. This is evident from the proposal he makes to the father of either being imprisoned within the garden by the beast of being killed. The story therefore postulates that beauty is an element that is within people and through love, evil is transformed to goodness. Through the movie, the theme of beauty is non-existent due to the mentality that is portrayed. The illumination of beauty in the movie is portrayed along a light that speaks in detail of the world and how people tend to inconvenient each other through misjudgment (Lanzoni 158). Jean Cocteau sought to establish a world that people are subject to the looks and lack of self-sufficiency. Through the story, the elaboration on how people tend to dictate their inward beauty through others is postulated. Based on the educational background story, everyone tend to have beauty and it is only through getting to understand him or her that the inner beauty is unveiled and revealed to the world. The adoption of the movie by Disney has facilitated elaboration of the importance of self-perception and irrelevance of the outer beauty. The movie postulates that beauty underlies in the character of a person and without the appreciative character, one is deemed as irrelevant within the society. The story directs to those people in the society that are limited to the outward signs and let other people dictate who they are by what they see on him rather than in him. It is through the antagonists in the movie that the protagonists are revealed. If it were not for Ludovic’s character, one would never understand the beauty that existed within the beast. Therefore, it is evident that the creator tries to postulate that without the evil people in the society, it would be impossible to understand who the ‘beautiful’ people are. A depiction of a balanced world where evil is the opposite of beauty is unveiled through the story and a close understanding upon watching the movie is that the element are interdependent. When Belle weeps over the beasts and tells him that she loves him, the beast is transformed to a handsome prince. This postulates a form of symbolism in which the evil nature of one is transformed into beauty through love and affection. Even though the beast is not evil, he represents an outward sign of evil and after experiencing love and affection, he becomes beautiful. This postulates that through showing inward beauty through being a good person and helpful people gets to develop a sense of love and beauty equal to the one portrayed. Conclusion La belle et La Bête (The beauty and the Beast) is a romantic movie that seeks to portray what real beauty is. The movie demonstrates the real beauty by elaborating on the superficial beauty. Through the theme of beauty in the movie, a setting that connects to the background story within the production of the movie becomes evident. The movie illustrates the atrocities that were realized relative to the World War .With French background, it is evident that the writer of the story seeks to calm down the lingering memories of the World War 2. Jean Cocteau awards the character and elements in the movie connection to the war that ended a few months before the release of the movie. The movie attests to the characters of women in France at the time. More importantly, the creator of the movie seeks to elaborate the prevailing moods of the countries that participated in the war through the story. Depiction of beauty is an inner self-satisfaction that is opposed to the conventional outward signs that the society tend to think. Through the movie, the society especially the younger generation can attain knowledge of what truly represents beauty. Work cited Badrinath, Janaki, and Augustine Devotta. Beauty and Beast. Vol. 5. Marito Corporation, 2013. Lanzoni, Rémi F. French Cinema: From Its Beginnings to the Present. New York: Continuum, 2008. Print. Read More