Beauty and the Beast (2014)

I should have seen this before the latest Disney version of the tale. It came a couple of years ago, with a wonderful cast and visuals. French cinema is not a great vfx powerhouse. Unlike most of the famous Hollywood mythical and fairy tales originated from Europe, it's rare to see them converted to films in the similar fashion in its homeland. One of the reasons was the international market, to earn back everything they have spent for it, and more. When such projects do happen, sometimes the filmmakers tie up with Hollywood co-production to secure returns. Even if you take this film's worldwide box office, nothing overwhelming. But the challenge they had taken was truly appreciable.That's not it, this is the most redesigned versions of them all I've seen so far. Because I haven't seen any other than Disney's, excluding the modern timeline adaptation like 'Beastly', 'I' et cetera. Yeah, even the Disney's live-action retained original from their animated version, but visually extraordinary. And in here, the story was same, thought told in a different way. The graphics too were very nice, I did not expect that. Despite it is being a fantasy and a children's tale, the contents were more serious. That reveals they were very keen to bring the adults to the screens than the kids. Yet nothing too seriously targeted the grownups like 'Tale of Tales'.Everyone knows the basic storyline of this tale. A recently lost their fortune, a family of six siblings with their father relocates to a small farmhouse. No one other than the youngest daughter, Belle, was happy to be in such nature surrounded place. But one day when her father got into a big trouble, she takes his position and becomes a prisoner in an abandoned castle. Since then she begins to learn about the mystery man of the castle, particularly his past, reason to be ended like that. And following, a twist in the narration leading to the finale, everyone's fate will be revealed.❝Remember... A life for a rose.❞The film was two hours long and well filled with the scenes in it all over. It doesn't feel like we're watching a fantasy film. The colours, costumes, medieval story, misty mountain, all is the major reminder that you are watching a fairy-tale. Though you won't get anything magical from the story right away. Not until the third act. As for the story, from such vastly known tale, you can't expect any major surprise. As I said, some minor changes can be witnessed throughout. But such kind of scale the flick has in all the department, that too coming from Europe makes it a very special.Definitely no to comparison with the Disney's. Both of them were fine products on their own way. But people would compare and pick one when they are based on the same source. That can't be stopped. Disney had created their own brand, aiming for kids. You can find the people who liked both the live-actions. I never knew the original tale, I mean from the original source/text. Those who are familiar with are saying, this is most closest one. But something I did not understand was the Beast was cute furry Beast, just like Disney's. I anticipated something tough physique, hard character, I mean Beast as a real Beastly.Excluding that slight displeasure, I have had no other complaints with the film. I enjoyed it, yet there's another thing which is actually a question rather than a disagreement. The actors did their parts, though I felt the Beast character should have been played by a younger one. Vincent Cassel is a brilliant French actor and he did his best for it. Lea Seydoux as Beauty surely an excellent pick. The direction was good. Cautiously spent for everything in the film. So they have got a fine final product. Most of the people going for it, only keeping in mind Disney. You won't get that Disney's singing, dancing, overall appeal. One must clear off his mind from any great ideas and then only give it a try. Remember, it is not a very good film, but simply a good film.7/10

This blew me away. I couldn't believe how much I loved it. I have attention deficit disorder and I actually sat and watched this without doing anything else, getting up, or looking away. That almost never happens and I cannot stress that enough. The film looks stunning and has high quality camera work and art direction. The costuming is incredible. The casting and acting is top notch (truly). But what I especially appreciate and what really stood out for me and tempted me to write a review was that this was not the same scripted tale of Beauty and the Beast we have been over saturated with by Disney. This is a new story and not predictable and much more adult even. Yes there is still that question of whether Belle is just suffering from the syndrome that kidnap victims can get for their captors but at least he is smart and when they bicker it's believable there is chemistry. I recommend this and trust me that it's not the same story over again, it is quite different.

Beauty and The Beast might be my 2nd favorite movie of all time (I said favorite, not best). This movie seems to focus more on Beauty's family relationship and tries to make a simple fairy-tale seem epic and GG, but here's the thing: Beauty and The Beast wasn't written as a epic story, it never was meant to be one. It is simply "see beyond the appearance". I understand that the director wanted to show a more dark version of said fairy-tale and that's fine... As long as you keep your main focus on the title characters. There's a reason Belle's brothers or sisters blend with the background in the original tale. They are there solely to illustrate things. The main part is the Belle - Beast relationship that we do not get in this film. Even when the Beast turns back into the charming prince, Belle just sorta stands there mentally saying: "Eh, you are alive. Yay, I guess." My mom stayed awake til midnight to see her favorite movie and, by the end she just cursed the hell up because the movie was just disappointing to say the least. I praise it for having great costumes and astonishing set, but If you wanna get the heart of this tale, go look into the Disney version. For that movie knew where the core point lied, staying true to a aspect of the story that this 2014 version, that tried so hard to stick to the source material, missed.

I'd never seen Disney film version, but I was interested in this story, so I watched it. I was impressed by its beautiful images. I went to a movie theater two times. The reason is that this movie was made in French, so I was busy to look the subtitles at first I watched it. I couldn't' t help gazing beautiful costumes which Belle dress in. In this film, rose is the important thing. Beast and Belle's father meeting is caused by a red rose. Also, Beast's house is covered by huge amounts of rose. The depiction is amazing.Also, Lea Seydoux plays Belle and her eyes show off her grittiness very well. The beast is scarring, but he is sexy. He is like a Phantom who is a main character of the Phantom of the opera.