BROADCASTS.com

b'This week on The Spectator Film Podcast… La Belle et La B\\xeate (1946) 4.10.20 Featuring: Austin, Maxx Commentary track begins at 20:27 — Notes — We watched the Criterion Collection Release of\\xa0La Belle et la B\\xeate for this week’s episode. It’s an amazing release, with lots of tremendous bonus features and\\xa0two commentary tracks. Perhaps one of Criterion’s best releases.\\xa0 Also available on the Criterion Channel. “Beauty and the Beast: Dark Magic” by Geoffrey O’Brien from\\xa0The Current\\xa0 “On the Making of Beauty and the Beast” by Francis Steegmuller from\\xa0The Current “Cocteau, Jean” by Richard Misek from\\xa0Senses of Cinema — Great Director profile from\\xa0Senses of Cinema Jean Cocteau and His Films of Orphic Identity by Arthur B. Evans — While this book foregoes discussion of La Belle et La B\\xeate\\xa0to focus on Cocteau’s Orphic Trilogy, it remains an insightful introduction to anyone looking to learn more about Cocteau’s films. Other books on Cocteau can be weighted down with obscurity, but this one’s a very reliable entry point for those looking to learn more. Fantasy Film: A Critical Introduction by James Walters — I haven’t finished this book at the time of posting, but so far it’s a terrific resource of information that’s slightly lacking in insight; perhaps a light recommendation for those interested in the fantasy genre. That being said, Walters discusses society’s ideas of the spiritual and supernatural and how they were influenced by the advent of film in the early 20th century. This portion of the book can easily be connected to our conversation of Jean Cocteau’s poetic filmmaking approach as “seance photography,” and may be worth reading for anyone interested to learn more. “Gender Politics – Cocteau’s Belle is not that B\\xeate: Jean Cocteau’s\\xa0La Belle et la B\\xeate (1946)” by Susan Hayward from\\xa0French Film: Texts and Contexts\\xa0(Ed. Susan Hayward & Ginette Vincendau) — Here’s the link to French Film: Texts and Contexts, which features Susan Hayward’s Lacanian analysis of\\xa0 the film. Given the impressive list of contributors to this book, it’s probably an interesting read and may show up again as a resource for future episodes. The Enchanted Screen: The Unknown History of Fairy-Tale Films by Jack Zipes — Only read the chapter on Beauty and the Beast stories so far, but this book is fantastic. Wonderful insight into the historical lineage of the story in addition to discussion of the film adaptation itself. We’ll likely be using this book as a resource for future episodes. We’ll include some worthwhile passages below: “The issue at hand in [The Beauty and the Best fairy tale] is fidelity and sincerity, or the qualities that make for tenderness, a topic of interest to women at that time, for they were beginning to rebel against the arranged marriages or marriages of convenience… and Mme Le Prince de Beaumont did an excellent job of condensing and altering the tale in 1756 to address a group of young misses, who were supposed to learn how to become ladies and that virtue meant denying themselves. In effect, the code of the tale was to delude them into believing that they would be realizing their goals in life by denying themselves” (227-28) “There is a false power attributed to Beauty as a virtue. By sacrificing oneself, it is demonstrated, the powers that be, here the fairies, will reward her with a perfect husband. The most important thing is to learn to obey and worship one’s father (authority) and to fulfill one’s promises even though they are made under duress. Ugliness is associated with bad manners like those of her sisters. The beast is not ugly because his manners are perfect. Beauty and the Beast are suited for one another because they live according to the code of civility.'