ScreenFish

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fairy tale

3.15 Retelling BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

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This week, Steve welcomes ScreenFish newbie Derek Wong to delve into the tale as old as time when they chat about Disney’s remake of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. Can the 2017 version live up to the legacy of the original? What does it mean to be timeless?Has true beauty changed? All this and more, only on ScreenFish.

Want to continue to conversation at home?  Click the link below to download ‘Fishing for More’ — some small group questions for you to bring to those in your area.

3.15 Beauty and the Beast

A special thanks to Derek for coming on the show!

Beauty and the Beast – Now the Live Action Version

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“Tale as old as time/ Tune as old as song”

Yes, this is a story that has been told before. Beauty and the Beast is a live action remake of Disney’s 1991 animated (and much beloved) version of the French fairy tale that dates back to at least the 18th Century La Belle et Le Bête. Disney has also presented this as a stage musical. Is it time to tell it again? Does the new format make it a better telling of the story?

In case this oft told story has eluded you, it is a story of discovering the beauty where others only see ugliness. The Prince (Dan Stevens) leads an extravagant life full of parties and expensive trappings, One night an old woman shows up during a party asking for shelter and food, offering only a rose as payment. He ridicules her and turns her out, not knowing she is really an enchantress who places a curse on him and his castle. He is transformed into a hideous beast and his servants transformed into household objects. Unless he can give and receive love before the final petal falls from the enchanted rose, they will stay like this forever.

In town Belle (Emma Watson) has grown up with her widowed father (Kevin Kline). She longs for something more than can be found in her village. She is wooed (in spite of her clear rejection) by the vain and pompous Gaston (Luke Evans). When her father gets lost in the woods and comes across the Beast’s castle, he makes the mistake of picking a single rose to take to Beauty. The Beast locks him up as a thief. When Belle finds him, she takes his place in the cell. The Beast is rude and angry, but over time (and with the help of the talking household objects), the two discover in each other something more than either expected.

This is a film that showcases Disney’s strengths—wonderful production design and CGI effects, plus the music that has served the story well in the previous incarnations (plus three new songs by Alan Menken and Tim Rice). The humor is right for young viewers with just enough more mature comedy for adults to enjoy. The production numbers often involve crowds of people all singing and dancing. This is clearly designed to move to a new level from the stage version. Director Bill Condon wanted to create a musical worthy of the Golden Age of musicals, and also tell the well-loved story with a bit more depth to the characters.

The film’s key message is found in the love story between Belle and the Beast. It teaches that love is found when we are open to one another as Belle and the Beast eventually open themselves to know and be known. But there is also the whole theme of how do we welcome those who are different from us. Failure to do so is what led to the Prince being transformed into the Beast in the first place. For the Prince at the beginning of the film and for Gaston throughout, self-centeredness and failure to see others as something other than to be possessed is the root of the ills of the world. In that, this story could speak to us of how we relate to the world around us that is filled with people who are different from us. Do you judge their value by what that can provide to make us happy—or by the inherent value that all people have in their diversity?

Given that this story is so similar to the earlier film and the stage version, it is worth asking if this really adds to the story. I suspect that is going to be a matter of taste. Some will like all the production values of this version. They’ll love the sets and costumes. They’ll like the CGI characters. But it is also a bit darker and heavier at several places than the animation version. Others may think that this story is much better dealt with through animation. It should be noted that the animated version was seen as ground breaking at the time. It was the first animated film to be nominated for Best Picture. Personally, for all the beauty and splendor of this version, the darker tone that comes into play seems a bit much. I think the animated version is the better approach to this story.

Photos courtesy of Walt Disney Studios

The BFG – For the Child in Us All

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“Dreams are so quick.”
“Yeah, on the outside. They’re long on the inside.”

I find it interesting that the same year Steven Spielberg brought us E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, children’s book author Roald Dahl published The BFG, a kind of bedtime fairy tale. Now Spielberg brings Dahl’s story to the big screen with all the visual magic it deserves.

The story focuses on a ten-year-old orphan, Sophie (Ruby Barnhill). She has insomnia and surreptitiously roams the orphanage at “the witching hour” of 3 a.m. But when she hears something outside, she breaks all the rules (Never get out of bed. Never pull back the curtains. Never look outside.) There she sees an enormous 26’ tall giant (Mark Rylance) moving about. But he sees her as well. To make sure she can’t tell anyone, he grabs her and takes her back to Giant Country. There he plans to keep her prisoner. But he is a gentle giant, a Big Friendly Giant (BFG). The other giants are twice his size (they refer to BFG as “Runt”) and would be happy to eat Sophie if they could find her. The BFG is a vegetarian, eating only Snozzcumbers, a vile, disgusting gourd of some sort.

As Sophie and the BFG get to know one another, they form a bond. He takes her to his work—catching dreams and delivering them to children. It is a magical world that he takes her to as they hunt for different kinds of dreams. There Sophie finds her dream. But back in Giant Country, the boisterous and malevolent giants are on the hunt for Sophie. Sophie and BFG hatch a plan to enlist the Queen’s (Penelope Wilton) help in getting rid of the giants.

It should be noted that this really is a children’s story. Its humor is often scatological and slapstick (two words: corgis, whizzpoppers) or based in BFG’s language that is a combination of gibberish and malapropisms. Many recent children’s stories have added some more sophisticated humor and double-entendres to satisfy adult audiences. I find it refreshing for a film to rely on its appeal to children (and the child within each of us) as being enough to make the film enjoyable.

What is offered for adults are the amazing visual effects accomplished in part by combining live action and motion capture technology. Ryland’s BFG is a case in point. As ungainly as BFG is, the humanity in his face makes him as lovable to us as he is to Sophie. And the entire production design—from the streets of London to the clutter of BFG’s home to the paradise of Dream Country—all make this a film to enjoy for the artistry of the film.

Of course at the heart of the story is the relationship between Sophie and BFG. These are two people who have no one else in their lives that they can connect to. Yet they are so utterly different. Sophie learns to appreciate that BFG is not to be judged because he is in the same category as the other giants. As crude and belligerent as the other giants are, BFG is kind and vulnerable. I was reminded of a line from the biblical story of David. When Samuel went to Bethlehem to find the new king among Jesse’s sons, they paraded in front of him starting with the biggest. (Remember, David was a “runt” as well.) When Samuel saw the strapping Eliab he thought he would surely be God’s choice for king. But God told Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or on the height of his stature. . .; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7, NRSV) It is when Sophie and BFG see the hearts of one another that the outward appearances and differences melt away.

Photos courtesy of Walt Disney Studios