La Belle et la Bête

The castle, the flowers, the garden, the forest, the places, the settings and the great Vincent Cassel acting. I loved them all, and finally the Closing credits was the biggest highlight which I watched over and over again and never get tired.

Story we heard them in childhood, first I thought why French production team is repeating the same story which we have heard 100 times in our childhood time.

I didn't plan to watch this movie.

But somehow I ended up watch a trailer of this movie, in few seconds I was hooked into the movie.

I always knew and heard, French people are perfectionist, what ever take, like Painting,Music,Cuisine even their kiss is famous all over the world.

Director Christophe Gans is no exception in this matter.

This movie will relax you from the fast forward life for 112 min. :- )

I enjoyed this French version of "Beauty and The Beast" for the most part. The cinematography and character designs are beautiful. I liked the fantasy atmosphere and sense of exploration in the first half of the film. I also liked the mystery of the Beast's origin.

I appreciate the fact that it is more accurate to the fairy tale than previous adaptations. That being said, the second half deviates from the original story in a few respects and I found it sluggish in some parts. I found the final action sequence a bit too fantastical and left unexplained except via Deus Ex Machina. However, it certainly looks impressive.

Ultimately, the film isn't perfect. The story has been done many times before and this rendition is sluggish at times. Never-the-less, I recommend watching the film for its stunning beauty alone.

I should have seen this before the latest Disney version of the tale. It came a couple of years ago, with a wonderful cast and visuals. French cinema is not a great vfx powerhouse. Unlike most of the famous Hollywood mythical and fairy tales originated from Europe, it's rare to see them converted to films in the similar fashion in its homeland. One of the reasons was the international market, to earn back everything they have spent for it, and more. When such projects do happen, sometimes the filmmakers tie up with Hollywood co-production to secure returns. Even if you take this film's worldwide box office, nothing overwhelming. But the challenge they had taken was truly appreciable.

That's not it, this is the most redesigned versions of them all I've seen so far. Because I haven't seen any other than Disney's, excluding the modern timeline adaptation like 'Beastly', 'I' et cetera. Yeah, even the Disney's live-action retained original from their animated version, but visually extraordinary. And in here, the story was same, thought told in a different way. The graphics too were very nice, I did not expect that. Despite it is being a fantasy and a children's tale, the contents were more serious. That reveals they were very keen to bring the adults to the screens than the kids. Yet nothing too seriously targeted the grownups like 'Tale of Tales'.

Everyone knows the basic storyline of this tale. A recently lost their fortune, a family of six siblings with their father relocates to a small farmhouse. No one other than the youngest daughter, Belle, was happy to be in such nature surrounded place. But one day when her father got into a big trouble, she takes his position and becomes a prisoner in an abandoned castle. Since then she begins to learn about the mystery man of the castle, particularly his past, reason to be ended like that. And following, a twist in the narration leading to the finale, everyone's fate will be revealed.

❝Remember... A life for a rose.❞

The film was two hours long and well filled with the scenes in it all over. It doesn't feel like we're watching a fantasy film. The colours, costumes, medieval story, misty mountain, all is the major reminder that you are watching a fairy-tale. Though you won't get anything magical from the story right away. Not until the third act. As for the story, from such vastly known tale, you can't expect any major surprise. As I said, some minor changes can be witnessed throughout. But such kind of scale the flick has in all the department, that too coming from Europe makes it a very special.

Definitely no to comparison with the Disney's. Both of them were fine products on their own way. But people would compare and pick one when they are based on the same source. That can't be stopped. Disney had created their own brand, aiming for kids. You can find the people who liked both the live-actions. I never knew the original tale, I mean from the original source/text. Those who are familiar with are saying, this is most closest one. But something I did not understand was the Beast was cute furry Beast, just like Disney's. I anticipated something tough physique, hard character, I mean Beast as a real Beastly.

Excluding that slight displeasure, I have had no other complaints with the film. I enjoyed it, yet there's another thing which is actually a question rather than a disagreement. The actors did their parts, though I felt the Beast character should have been played by a younger one. Vincent Cassel is a brilliant French actor and he did his best for it. Lea Seydoux as Beauty surely an excellent pick. The direction was good. Cautiously spent for everything in the film. So they have got a fine final product. Most of the people going for it, only keeping in mind Disney. You won't get that Disney's singing, dancing, overall appeal. One must clear off his mind from any great ideas and then only give it a try. Remember, it is not a very good film, but simply a good film.

7/10

I don't want to get you bored with long texts. My personal opinion is that 2 very good actors (Bella and Cassel) are wasted in a film with slow and uninteresting plot.

The same thing goes for the director. The special effects are great, the backgrounds and the places are awesome but it's just that.

PS. I saw it with French audio + subtitles so I may have missed a lot of important details. Sorry about that.

This is an almost perfect version of this well known story but my problem is that we do not feel the growing love of Belle for the beast too much. She's seeing in dreams who was the beast before, so we understand she can fall in love for who he was, but not too much for who he really is. If that makes sens. But all in all it's a very well made movie for all the family. The tone is a bit dark for little kids but always beautiful, as it's usually the case with Gans's movies. The use of CGI is obvious on the creatures, but it's done with good taste, IMO. It's a shame gans does not make more movies, I love his style. It's just that, after all this time waiting for a new movie of him, I wanted a little more substance.