Except for the art design of the 2017 Disney version (in fact, I think the Disney version's art is not up to standard, it is a waste of money), and although there is a suspicion of stitching monsters, but obviously richer plot clues, this version seems to have a very obvious history. Insinuation of intent. Maybe it's because I don't know enough about French culture, or maybe it's because the director has only scratched his head in this regard. It's hard for me to tell whether the whole story points to or alludes to a certain historical event or kind of event, or whether it conveys a certain value (besides the inherent gender issues). But some of the designs in the film are hardly intentional.
The biggest feature of this version compared to other versions is the emphasis on the background of the times. The original fairy tale doesn't seem to have a very clear era setting, and the various versions are not too entangled in this issue. I don't know if there are any articles like Little Red Riding Hood that specifically examine the origin and intention of this story.
The Disney version is somewhat suggestive, but a little confusing. The recollections of Bell's father seem to show that the story took place before the Enlightenment. Gaston's clothing, on the other hand, shows that Bell grew up living at least in the mid-to-late 18th century, but clearly before the Revolution.
The prince's court attire is typically Rococo, more pronounced after it has been changed back to its original form. That is to say, he is also a person in the middle and late 18th century, almost the same time as Bell, at most a few decades, and the castle is not a castle at all. Of course, the film also made a patch on this, and the residents of the town couldn't remember that the nobleman of his family was because of the witch's spell. I don't know who they are paying the tax or not paying the tax in recent years. (There is such a good thing? Isn't that Bell changing the prince back...)
The French version clearly states that the background of the story is after the Great Revolution, which can be clearly seen from the opening costumes alone.
The director was also afraid that we might not notice, and also made a tricolor flag on Bell's father's boat that was so big that it could almost be used as a stern sail. Judging from the fact that the people in the film greeted each other with "citizens" and "comrades" without meeting each other, this may have been a matter of the First Empire.
The background of this story is obviously not set casually. The film spends a lot of space describing the social landscape in the context of capitalism, especially the money issue. The material philistine, including the two sisters, the eldest son owes huge debts for vanity and pleasure, and the second son only vainly recites poetry. The family crisis originally started from the debt owed by the business failure, and the father was later betrayed by a partner who was single-handedly promoted because of the debt. The core contradiction of the whole story broke out also because the creditor blocked the door.
On the other hand, the beast is cursed because of its greed for the golden doe. It is not that he does not love his wife, but greed makes him lose his reverence for the divine and his moral restraint, thus breaking his promise. In the end, he incurs both money and manpower. (However, the sense of stitching in this plot is too strong, and the goddess of the Ganges, the snail girl, etc. have written protest letters.)
Not to mention the villain, his motive is extremely simple, that is, to make money. Whether it is with the Beast or the Bell family, it is just a naked financial relationship. It's not unreasonable to swipe the Yuanmingyuan in the barrage of the looting of the castle, but it's an insinuation that the Great Revolution can be purchased for zero yuan. In the decisive battle, the villain broke the nose of the guard statue with a shot. What event is this alluding to, it should not be too obvious.
So as a fairy tale, money and greed have always been the contradictions running through the main line, which is rare. It is different from children's fairy tales like Disney, but it is in line with the original meaning of fairy tales as moral fables. What's more interesting is that the story is not that the heroine married the prince and lived a happy life since then, but that the king lived an ordinary life with Bell as a commoner in free France .
Today in the 21st century, the domination of the audience by the happy ending of traditional fairy tales has been shaken like never before. First, the stereotyped happy ending makes people feel tired; second, the contrast between fairy tales and reality makes this ending appear cheap and hypocritical; third, the rise of various new values makes this "perfect ending" less perfect. A girl marrying a prince is marrying a man? Marry the face? Marry money? The right to marry? Why do girls have to marry princes? In short, many Hollywood screenwriters scratched their heads on this issue in order to meet the independence of modern women, and came up with all kinds of magic fairy tales. For example, the prince is a scumbag ("Snow White: The Mirror Mirror"); the princess's main career does not want marriage ("Snow White and the Hunter"), and in the end, it is found that all of them have been slapped by Disney, who honestly has a "perfect ending".
On the other hand, the answers given by this edition of "Beauty and the Beast" are not deviant. What more beautiful dresses and jewelry do you want? There is no messy reversal and subversion, it is so unpretentious, but it answers the question that makes Hollywood scratch its face very well. We also have to reflect on why the Yankees would rather criticize men and be anti-marriage than imagine that one day men can learn to put away their arrogance and desire for power and control and return to their duties as ordinary people? Unexpectedly, or not at all?
The title "Beauty and the Beast" is always reminiscent of "power" in the tarot. On the card is a picture of a lion being tamed under the comfort of a girl. The meaning of this card is also the control and control of the inner instinct by reason. Only by mastering your inner self can you make it a force that keeps you moving forward. This is also the difference between the fairy tale "Beauty and the Beast" and "Cinderella".
PS1: The heroine is called Belle, which means beauty in French, so Belle and the Beast is also Beauty and the Beast. It's rude.
PS2: If you follow the idea of this article, then the first paragraph of the heroine’s father picking roses is very interesting: you are innocent of pursuing fame, power, and profit, and you are guilty of pursuing love. 2333
PS3: I think the relationship between Laifu and Gaston in version 17 is suspected of plagiarism.
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