Release date (India):
|
November 14, 2014
|
Director:
|
Christophe Gans
|
Cast:
Language:
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Lea Seydoux, Vincent
Cassel, André
Dussollier
English (French film dubbed
in English)
|
The
French fairytale Beauty and The Beast is a brooding, emotionally wrenching story bearing the message
that true beauty lies within. Poignant and tender for children, profound and
layered for adults, there’s a reason why it has survived so many hundreds of
years. This latest version is shorn of the emotion and depth of the
original, but is so violent and so intentionally disturbing that you have to wonder
who it is aimed at – adults, children, or neither?
It has to be said though that Christophe Gans’ retelling of this
classic is visually spectacular in every frame. From the gowns worn by the
women, especially the protagonist Belle, to the Beast’s magnificent magical
palace, the mysterious surrounding grounds, the initial introduction to the
Beast himself particularly when he is in flight, those stone giants in battle,
and the vast snow-laden French countryside, everything about La Belle Et La Bete (the French title) is
rich and lavish and impressive.
As it happens, the spectacle dwarfs all else in the story
including the lovely lesson that made it memorable enough to travel to us down
the centuries. The two lead actors are unable to summon up any chemistry
between them, and not because he is buried in his animal costume through much
of the film. The lack of sparks between them has more to do with the fact that
there’s nothing in the script to explain why this considerate and beautiful
woman would fall in love with this awful man whose ugly visage is irrelevant in
the face of his harshness towards her.
In the original fairytale, as Belle gets to know the Beast over
a period of time, they become good friends. In this film, they hardly talk. Instead,
he showers her with pretty clothes and jewellery, doesn’t spend much time with
her, is mean to her almost all the time that they are together, frightens the
hell out of her, and one day almost rapes her. He also yells at her at one
point that she has no choice but to fall for him in time. So when she does
ultimately declare her love for him, I found myself thinking of Stockholm
Syndrome rather than matters of the heart.
As in the classic fairytale, the film too is about a widowed merchant
who loses his ships at sea and is impoverished overnight. The man has three
daughters – two selfish girls and the kind, generous, thoughtful Belle (Lea
Seydoux). One day, when their father gets news that one of his ships has been
found, he takes off to town to reclaim his lost wealth. Buoyed at the thought
of being affluent again, the elder girls ask their father to return with
clothes and cosmetics for them, but Belle only wants a rose. Alas, the merchant’s
ship is seized by the authorities. While on his way home, he chances upon a
palace filled with food, jewels and other treasure. With no one in sight, the
merchant gathers gifts for his daughters but is attacked by the owner – a
fearsome half-man-half-animal (Vincent Cassel) – when he picks a flower from
the garden for Belle. He is released on the promise that he will come back.
When Belle hears of this, she goes to the palace in her father’s place and
thence begins the romance that is at the heart of this story.
Possibly in a bid to add more conflict and drama to the raw
material at hand, Gans and co-writer Sandra Vo-Anh have given Belle three
brothers and the Beast a back story that unfolds on screen in Belle’s dreams.
Not enough thought has been devoted to the screenplay though, leaving questions
unanswered and loose ends hanging. For instance, when Belle enters the palace,
we see swarms of small, saucer-eyed, dog-like creatures lurking about everywhere. They will end up being Belle’s best friends one day, says the
voiceover. But that friendship never happens. It’s also hard not to wonder
whether Belle falls in love with the actual Beast before her eyes or becomes
open to the idea of falling in love with the hairy fella because her dreams reveal
that he was once a handsome prince. If it’s the latter, then the entire point
of the Beauty and The Beast saga is
lost, is it not? Pffft!
The film’s reliable leads deserve better. Cassel is a Cesar
Award-winning French actor whose acting muscle Hollywood audiences witnessed
when he played the artistic director of the ballet troupe in Black Swan. Almost 20 years his junior, Lea Seydoux is also an award-winning
French star who has made several Hollywood appearances but would be best
known to film buffs worldwide for her role in the Palm d’Or-winning French film Blue Is The Warmest Colour. The massive
age gap between them serves no particular purpose in this story. With limited writing
to rely on, Cassel strides about the film in flashback, being so aggressive that you
wonder why Belle is attracted even to the chap in her dreams; and Seydoux shows
us none of the depth she is capable of, being reduced here instead to a beauty
with marble-like smooth skin and an awesome bosom.
The atmospherics in Beauty and The Beast are amazing, as are the sets and costume design. After
a while though, the grandeur ceases to please. Extravagant images are of little
use if they leave you cold, confused and disappointed.
Rating (out of five): *1/2
CBFC Rating (India):
|
U/A
|
Running time:
MPAA Rating (US):
|
114 minutes
Not released yet in the US
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Release date in France:
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February 12, 2014
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