Trippy Film

I'd like to say that I love this movie. Mainly because I love this story. But the film has qualities that I have not seen in other films from that era. Aside from it being a fairy tale love story, it is a feast of visual delights. This is achieved through the amazing special effects and editing.

But it's not sappy, it's quite ahead of it's time. The scene where belle enters the castle with her billowing dress in slow motion, with arm candelabras lighting her way, is like surrealst art on film. It evokes some peculiar reactions from me. She's not just entering a creepy castle, she's scared, mystified, and enchanted. So am I.

The hauntingly romantic music combined with the dilapidated setting- create an image of a dystopia of lost love. I felt like it wasn't safe to love throughout the whole film -especially at the expense of man's greed-, but love was necessary.

The abrupt fades, magical transitions (like the pearls, or when belle teleports and appears at her house, or when Avenant transforms into a beast, etc.) Really trip me out, to say the least.

I think Cocteau didn't want to just depict the story on film, he wanted it to be art, making the viewer constantly evaluate the movie and their emotions.