Disney first released this movie as an animated film. Now, they have released a remake featuring Emma Watson as Belle and Dan Stevens as the Beast. This is a movie widely known as a classic, and personally, I believe is second to the Cinderella Legacy. After watching the remake, I feel like it was made for the adult audience rather than children. The dark scenes turned even darker in this film and contrasted largely with the animated version.
The 2017 live-action film opened with the prince hosting a ball. Just like in the animated version, an old woman offers the prince a rose which he refuses. He was “repulsed by her” and sent her away, but she warned him that beauty lies within. The woman then turns into an enchantress and placed the curse upon him and everyone who lived there. As part of the curse, she also erased them from their loved one’s memories. The events leading up to the memory loss was something that I was familiar with, however, I found it both odd yet somehow practical. I never seemed to question why the people who were turned into furniture never had anyone wondering about them. It helped place the story into a more understandable light. Also included in the curse was the iconic rose. Just like in the animated version, the Beast had until the last petal on the rose fell to find love as the Beast or he would remain that way forever. As the petals fall, the furniture people turn more into their furniture appearances.
The film spends the majority of the time setting up the background of the story. It fills in scenes that the animated version left out, perhaps to show us the darker side of the story.When Maurice found the castle, he notices that it is covered in snow, however, it is June. This is another effect of the curse but if you don’t understand the basic storyline then you would be lost to this. After seeking refuge from the storm and being introduced to talking cups he leaves, but not without being caught stealing a rose from the garden. Belle had asked her father to bring her home a rose from the market every year which is ironic since the rose means something important to both the Prince and Belle.
While the movie follows the story thoroughly, it felt longer and not as entertaining as the animated version. I thought it was very heavily condemned with adult troubles such as love and heartache rather than the light that Belle brought to the Beast. It, also, showed how brutal men can be when they don’t receive what they want from women by the actions of Gaston. For instance, when Maurice seeks him for help in retrieving Belle from the Beast, he is made a fool. Gaston leaves him in the woods to die when he says that Belle would never marry him. Another instance is trying to send him to the asylum when returning from the woods and accusing Gaston of trying to kill him.
The movie is filled with magic but it is not the magic that we experienced through the animated version. This magic is dark and intense. However, at the end it becomes, the light that we have been craving. Once the Prince and everyone return to their natural state, the castle is restored to the way it was before it was wrecked by the village and light returns to end the snow. Everyone is reunited with their loved ones and Belle marries the Beast.
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