POSTER Beauty and the Beast is a French romantic fantasy adaptation of the traditional fairy tale from Jeanne

Marie Le Prince de Beaumont. Beauty and the Beast was directed by Jean Cocteau in 1946 and its plot is straight forward. It tells a story about a Beast who is taking revenge from Belles father for picking a rose from his garden. The Beast is attracted to Belle, after she decides to die in her fathers place, and proposes marriage to her. The film is considered as one of the finest fantasy films of all time due to its story that has influenced the Disney film and cartoons perhaps for the astonishing special effects used before modern computer effects appeared as well as the make-up and the message it communicates to the audience that has to do with the Second World War.Even though many adaptations of the film have been made, the tone of Beauty and the Beast (1946) is unique. " Those familiar with the 1991 cartoon will recognise some of the elements of the story, but certainly not the tone" (Ebert, 1999) The story is kept simple which allows the viewer to enjoy the stunning sets and costumes. Cocteau successfully communicated the gloomy and mysterious feeling with the candles held by real arms (PICTURE1), the alive statues that follow the characters with their eyes (PICTURE2) and the doors that open with invisible hands. His ideas for sets were

influenced by Gustav Dore illustrations. Furthermore, the beast's make-up works amazingly, it looked real and convincing and this adds to the gloomy look of the film. Moreover, Cocteau managed to mix the gloomy feeling and romantic look which makes it emotional and memorable, for instance the relation between the Beast and Beauty that was perfectly expressed through the superb acting. "this is the closest anyone's come to capturing the essence of a fairy tale on film" (Pittillo, 2012)

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The use of special effects did not influence the naturalness of the film but made it more stylish and classy, although the special effects weren't very developed, obviously the film's main focus wasn't special effects, they were outstanding; for instance the quick transformation of the pearls strings into garlic strands (PICTURE3), Beauty's tears that turn into diamonds and especially the family friend who turned into a Beast and the Beast's body that becomes a Prince who looks like the family friend. The film succeeded to translate all of the fairy tales elements into a simple film which shares romantic and gloomy emotions; adding the clever special effects, makes it a very rich and emotional film . "Its enchantments are still endearing... the use of simple, primitive special effects,

the rich imagination" (Teller, 2012)

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Bibliography: Ebert, R (1999) Available at: http://rogerebert.suntimes.com; http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article? AID=/19991226/REVIEWS08/912260301/1023 [Accessed online on: 12/11/2012] Pittillo, M (2012) Available at: http://movies.msn.com; http://movies.msn.com/movies/movie-critic-reviews/beauty-and-the-beast.1/ [Accessed Online on: 12/11/2012]

Teller, M (2012) Available at: http://uk.imdb.com; http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0038348/reviews?start=40 [Accessed online on: 12/11/2012]

Illustrations: POSTER: http://uk.imdb.com/media/rm2797772544/tt0038348 PICTURE1: http://www.dvdjournal.com/reviews/b/beautyandthebeast_cc.shtml PICTURE2: http://www.burningsettlerscabin.com/?tag=vichy-regime PICTURE3: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gifake/5434100094/