Director: Christophe Gans
Genre: Romance/ Drama/ Fantasy
Runtime: 108 minutes
Year: 2014
Starring: Vincent Cassel, Léa Seydoux, André Dussollier, Eduardo Noriega, Myriam Charleins, Audrey Lamy, Sara Giraudeau, Jonathan Demurger, Nicolas Gob, Louka Meliava, Yvonne Catterfeld, Dejan Bucin, Wolfgang Menardi, Mickey Hardt, Arthur Doppler, Elisabeth Bogdan, Marie Gruber, Gotthard Lange, Max Volkert Martens, Richard Sammel, Nora Huetz
Description: An unexpected romance blooms after the youngest daughter (Léa Seydoux) of a merchant who has fallen on hard times offers herself to the mysterious beast (Vincent Cassel) to which her father has become indebted.
Review: Fairytales are hip today. Hollywood has done different fairytales, with twists, like “Snow White and the Huntsman”, “Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters” and “Red Riding Hood”. The TV show “Once Upon a Time” also shows the popularity of fairytales. French director Christophe Gans decided to make a live action version of “Beauty and the Beast”.
France in the 19th century: a merchant lives in a little town with his six children. They have money trouble. When the father decides to pick a rose for his youngest daughter Belle, he makes a big mistake. The flower belongs to a mysterious Beast. This Beast wants to kill the man. In exchange for his freedom, Belle takes his place. Along the way, Belle learns more about the Beast’s mysterious past.
The movie is visual and has many colorful and dreamy scenes. The décor is beautiful. The CGO is sometimes not that great, but manages to convince most of the time. The action scenes are spectacular. Director Gans managed to create a fairytale like atmosphere. Every shot looks like a painting.
With that Léa Seygoux and Vincent Cassel are excellent leads. Seydoux is very strong as Belle, she knows what she wants and is a strong female lead. Cassel portrays the Beast with mystery and a bit of curiosity. The supporting cast is not that important and pretty forgettable. The focus is on Belle and the Beast and the love developing between them.
The movie is dark, but never scary. It has fantasy elements and is sometimes unpredictable even though everyone knows the story. People who like fantasy and adventure, will like this movie.
Rating: 3,5/ 5
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