01
Donkey Skin
Why this pick
Like Cocteau’s fairy tale, it turns enchanted objects, lavish costumes and courtly ritual into a dreamscape where wonder coexists with unease and a heroine quietly asserts her freedom.
A FILM WORTH A CLOSER LOOKTHE FEATURE PRESENTATION
MOVIE1946 1h 36m FRA
IF THIS ONE STAYED WITH YOU
Movies like
Beauty and the Beast
DramaFantasy
CINEHUNCH / THE NEXT FRAME
Keep the feeling.
SIMILAR PICKS / A PERSONAL CONNECTION
If you loved Beauty and the Beast, try these.
01
02
The Umbrellas of Cherbourg
Why this pick
Its stylised colour, storybook romanticism and heightened artifice echo the tactile magic of Cocteau, while its sincere emotional stakes give its lovers a similarly fated, melancholic glow.
03
Orpheus
Why this pick
Cocteau again makes the impossible tactile—mirrors become thresholds and poetic desire becomes peril—through spare but spellbinding practical magic and an elegant, haunted romantic atmosphere.
04
Beauty and the Beast
Why this pick
This darker Czech rendering of the same folktale replaces Cocteau’s softness with Gothic dread, yet preserves the central fascination of a brave young woman entering an uncanny, morally ambiguous castle.
05
The Spirit of the Beehive
Why this pick
Its childlike gaze turns rural reality into quiet enchantment and mystery. The measured imagery and porous boundary between fairy tale, fear and compassion suit Cocteau’s poetic sensibility.
Finding the atmosphere, tension and little details that made this one stay with you.
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01 / THE STORY
A little about the film.
While scrubbing the floor at home, Belle (Josette Day) is interrupted by her brother's friend Avenant (Jean Marais) who tells her she deserves better and suggests they get married. Belle rejects Avenant, as she wishes to stay home and take care of her father, who has suffered much since his ships were lost at sea and the family fortune along with them. Belle's father (Marcel André) arrives home announcing he has come into a great fortune that he will pick up the next day, along with gifts for his daughters, Belle's shrewish sisters Adelaide and Felicie. Belle's roguish brother Ludovic (Michel Auclair) signs a contract from a moneylender (Raoul Marco) allowing him the ability to sue Ludovic's father if he can't pay.
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02 / FACES IN THE FRAME
The people who bring it to life.
Jean Marais
The Beast / The Prince / Avenant
Jean Cocteau
Himself