First of all I give it 4.786250914/5 stars, saw it twice, would see again, and the Sharon Seal of Approval.
Disney promised us a live action remake of the much beloved 1991 animated classic Disney's Beauty and the Beast and boy did they deliver.
But if you wanted it to be a shot-for-shot, line-for-line, exactly, 100% the same movie, then you may be in for a surprise.
Consider this your SPOILER WARNING. I'll give those of you who have yet to see the film a moment to navigate away from this page.
Still there?
Bueller?
Alright, let's go.
All the major plot points were there, but the original movie's runtime was 84 minutes (less than an hour and a half), while modern movies tend to be closer to 2 hours; they had to add something to the film.
And add they did. They added backstory to the characters, they made the enchantress a bigger part of the story, they gave the Beast his own bittersweet song. And they added a touch of a different version of Beauty and the Beast.
They made the story more meaningful and nuanced. They made the Beast more worthy of Belle's love and they made Gaston more of a villain and they even gave Le Fou a conscience. I found myself feeling that Le Fou was not a fool in this telling at all. They changed the bookkeeper to be an academic priest who seems to appreciate and encourage Belle's intelligence while the rest of the town condemns it. They even connected the fates of the servants in the castle with the village people. They changed Maurice to be a heartbroken, overprotective, artist father.
The movie is a beautiful rendition of the animated classic, which I'm sure will become a classic in its own right.
It has the favorite standby songs, with some minor changes. For example, I really missed the sheep in "Belle" and Gaston's famous line "every last inch of me's covered with hair" in "Gaston." But they added a sweet song sung first by Maurice, "How Does a Moment Last Forever" which seems to be a song from the creators of the new movie, nodding to the anxiety of re-creating a well-loved movie, while also hinting at something more in the story. They also added a song for the servants in the castle where they pine after their former lives "Days in the Sun" where Belle begins to fall in love and hurt for the servants and wants to help them before she sees any humanity in the Beast. "Evermore" is the Beast's new solo, where he climbs up high in the tower as he watches Belle leave to rescue her father - sure she will never return, he sings "I'll fool myself, she'll walk right in And be with me for evermore." Even though I knew that Belle returns, I couldn't help but tear up.
That wasn't the first time I teared up either, when Belle and Beast are building a relationship, Beast shares a book the enchantress left him which allows him to travel anywhere in the world. Belle uses it to take them to the windmill in Paris where her family lived until her mother caught the plague and died - they had to leave here there to protect themselves. From then on, Maurice did his best to protect Belle.
So what did I not like about the movie?
I already mentioned that I missed the sheep and "every last inch of me's covered with hair" but there were a couple other minor things that bothered me about the movie. First, Belle wore shoes that looked unmistakably like Toms; surely they could have found her some more appropriate footwear? Second, I love Emma Watson, but something about her as Belle, just did not feel quite right to me. Finally, I had trouble determining when on earth this movie was supposed to take place. I think this movie should have occurred much after the plague, but I'm not sure.
By and large, I loved the movie. The animated film reigns supreme, but this film holds an honorable second place in my heart.
What were your thoughts on the film?
Happy End of March!
Sharon
Sharon
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