Beauty and the Beast

By: C.E. Ortali

Title: Beauty and the Beast
Release date: March 17th 2017
Cast: Emma Watson, Dan Stevens, Luke Evans, 
Director: Bill Condon
Budget: $160 million
Box Office: $977.4 million (worldwide)
Plot: When a girl rescues her father, and comes face-to-face with a hideous beast, she’ll live in the Beast’s castle until she starts to develop feelings for him.
​Rating: 10/10

So, we all know about the tale of a French girl who lives with a beast in a haunted castle until she later falls in love with him.
 
But this new movie gives us a new perspective of such story.
 
The animated movie “Beauty and the Beast”, released in 1991, was a huge box-office hit for both animated movies and Disney movies at the time. 24 years later, the Walt Disney Company announced that they had plans for a live-action CGI-animated remake for the lovely tale of the most recognized Disney princess of all time.
 
I watched it and, in the first five minutes, I was already in love with the movie.
I enjoyed this new movie due to multiple reasons, such as:

1. It embraces culture: ​ It is set in a Rococo-era France, and I like that. In the movie, you see each detail of culture. The giant wigs, the dresses, the cottages: everything is included. The Beast’s castle is a mixture of Rococo and Renaissance style of architecture, and it is so pretty. Belle’s dress is modern but ancient at the same time.
2. It is not afraid to support the LGBT community:​One of the characters, LeFou, is a homosexual and Disney, for the first time, has introduced a gay character in a full-length feature. This movie also has the message of diversity. In the original animated version, there were no black characters. Although there are few, there are still a few moments where the black characters get their opportunity to stand in the spotlight. There are also characters from other countries, like the characters ‘Madame de Garderobe’ and ‘Maestro Cadenza’, two Italian musicians.
3. It mixes practical effects with CGI:The Beast, played by Dan Stevens, was made by using a mask and then, using CGI over it. Some stunts were made by the actors themselves. There is a scene where Gaston, played by Luke Evans, uses a gun to shoot the bar’s ceiling. In fact, that was an actual gun and there were real bullets involved (except for the scene where Gaston shoots the Beast that was indeed CGI).
4. It is a beautiful story that inspires young girls: Yes, exactly, this movie does involve feminism and I appreciate that. Belle is shown in the movie as brave, courageous, daring, poetical, and intelligent. Young girls are getting more inspired by this movie and are often reading more because of Belle. Emma Watson said in an interview about how she adds more feminism to Belle: “I loved Belle a long time before I became a feminist or a feminist activist. Of course the fact she’s so interested in literacy and she loves books, the fact she’s independent minded of course made me feel close to her.”

Image by: Melissa Hillier, at <32421227101_48963c7b29_b.jpg>