Directed by Jean Cocteau / Screenplay by Jean Cocteau

Although there are traditional variants to be found as far afield as Germany’s The Frog Prince and Italy’s The Pig King, the fairytale we know best as Beauty and the Beast hails from France, where its most celebrated rendering was set down in 1756 by the folklorist Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont. This was the version which, two centuries later, became the basis for a classic of French cinema, and a keystone in the prolific career of the avant-garde artist, poet, playwright, novelist and filmmaker Jean Cocteau. La Belle et la Bête is a rich and rewarding picture, giving full rein to Cocteau’s surrealist flair and his pursuit of the human truths to be found in fantastical stories. It made a star of Jean Marais, another multi-media artist who was Cocteau’s muse and lover at the time. His handsome features submerged beneath make-up that took three hours to apply, Marais succeeded in imbuing the Beast not just with ferocity but with pathos, his rapport with the plucky heroine Belle (Josette Day) giving the film its heart. The two were reunited in Cocteau’s 1948 picture Les Parents Terribles, and Marais starred in several more besides including the renowned Orphée (1950), but it’s La Belle et la Bête for which they are best remembered. So influential was Cocteau’s film that it has become the benchmark for every subsequent retelling of Beauty and the Beast: most famously, Disney’s 1991 animated feature embraced the living furniture and enchanted candelabra introduced to the story by Cocteau, developing them into fully-fledged speaking roles and continuing the tradition of bringing fresh charm to an ancient tale.

Framed Dimensions: 330mm x 410mm

Acrylic on 300gsm Arches oil paper
Glazed, mounted and framed

Supplied with signed letter of authenticity from Barnaby.