"La belle et la bête" is an outstanding magical film, superb in plastic art, lighting use and artistic conception creation. In the 1940s, when there were no computer special effects, it was amazing that Jean Coque created the special effects of the mirror. The filming was very beautiful and colorful. In a sense, "La belle et la bête" is not only a movie, but a flawless work of art, which embodies the unique artistic expression of Jean Cocteau.
In "La belle et la bête", Cocteau tried to adapt the mythical fables. He incorporated personal appeals into the mythological text of the film, so that he could present the depth of expression under the general psychological drive. In the film, the boundary between inner and outer, beauty and ugliness is very blurred. The director extends deep fear under the poetic appearance, and while presenting the good and evil of fairy tales, he also discusses loneliness in depth. In the film, the Gothic castle is gorgeous and gloomy, filled with desolate poetry, and it is in keeping with the emptiness and loneliness of the beasts. The elongated shadows and passive light are all expressionist presentations, which emphasize the shaping of the characters' hearts. The scene when the heroine Bell's father strayed into the castle: The film used a lot of depth-of-field shots to show this scene from his father's point of view, which was quite horrifying. The audience followed Bell's father through an exploration and adventure. "Castle" is actually a metaphor for the inner world of the beast. Bell's father's expedition is a process of "appearance" to the beast, symbolizing that someone will walk into a dark, lonely and barren heart. But when Bell entered the castle, all the candles were on and the door opened from the inside. This is a symbol of waiting, waiting, and opening up. In the back, Gu Keduo used a lot of slow motion to show the process of Bell approaching, so that the audience can capture the emotions of the characters more delicately. When the camera follows Bell to observe the castle, the film still uses a depth-of-field lens to show Bell's curiosity and the expectation of the beast. The director used a unique image to show how men and women are coming and going in the ambiguous state of their first acquaintance, which is quite meaningful. When the beast and the beauty communicated face to face, the performance of using the depth of field to embody the character's psychology was abandoned by Gu Keduo. There is no superfluous scene, only the contrast between light and dark. The film "La belle et la bête" adapted from a fairy tale is presented in the form of an opera itself. When the characters are shown in the film, the characters’ facial expressions and emotions are often presented in the middle and close-range scenes .
