La Belle et la Bête (Beauty and the Beast, 1945-46) is the film adaptation of the famous fairy tale, directed by Jean Cocteau.
A merchant, financially ruined, lives retired in the countryside with a son and three daughters, very different from each other. While the first two put on airs of great ladies and love luxury and worldliness, Belle is modest, has a great spirit of sacrifice and is very attached to her father. A commercial expedition seems to be able to improve the fortunes of the merchant, who however gets lost in the enchanted forest of a magical villa, apparently uninhabited. But when he picks a rose from a branch to bring it as a gift to Belle, a Beast with not very reassuring ways appears, threatening to kill him for having stolen his roses. Belle offers to sacrifice herself by going to live with the Beast.
A subtle reflection on the life of an artist. Original version of Philip Glass’s second opera based on Cocteau’s play, performed in conjunction with the film screening (with the original soundtrack entirely removed). Presented as a simple fairy tale, it soon becomes clear that the story takes on a broader and deeper dimension – the true nature of the creative process. Through an extraordinary alchemy of the spirit, the ordinary world is transformed into a magical world. The force of nature, at once creative and rough, represented respectively by Beauty and the Beast, finally manages to emerge and allows the world of imagination to take flight.
