With due respect to the later Harry Potter films, and as much as I consider Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” cycle possibly the ultimate single film of this first decade of the 21st century, if I had to pick the greatest fantasy film of all time, there’s one film that pretty much stands alone for me. Poet turned auteur Jean Cocteau’s version of Beauty and the Beast has never been rivaled. This “fairy tale for adults” remains a masterpiece of entertainment and cinematic poetry, and it’s in-camera effects remain truly stunning. In some respects, even Jackson’s incredibly brilliant WETA crew has never quite matched what cinematographer Henri Alekan, and production designers Christian Bérard and Lucien Carré managed in devastated post-war France.
I suppose I’m already guilty of it, but I try not to build-up classic movies too much lest I build up expectations so high that no movie can really live up to them at first blush. They’re only movies. But take a look at this trailer, which includes narration by Cocteau himself. To me, this is beauty.
