A half-ruined merchant lives in the country with his son Ludovic and his three daughters. Two of the daughters, Félicie and Adélaïde, are real shrews: selfish, pretentious, and evil. They exploit the third daughter, Belle, as a servant. One day, on a business trip, on the way home, the merchant gets lost in a forest and enters a strange castle. He picks up a rose for Belle, and the castle's owner appears. He is a monster, half-human, half-beast, and possesses magic powers. He sentences the merchant to death, unless he gives up one of his daughters. Belle sacrifices herself for her father and goes to the castle, discovering that the Beast is not so wild and inhuman as he seems.
--Written by Yepok

User Comments: "Beautiful, poetic, and haunting", 4 January 2000
10/10 Author: Paul Gunther from Los Angeles, California

Cocteau was a poet. Make no mistake. First and foremost. Not only in history's mind, but in his own as well. We are truly blessed that he was a filmmaker as well, and a brilliant one at that, marvelously weaving together a tapestry that mystically incorporated both words and sounds with the beautiful visions that lay captured in his mind.

Cocteau's vision of "Beauty and the Beast" is a visual marvel. To explain these marvels for you would be to ruin the experience. And it is an experience. But it is one of the poet: borne of symbolism and mythology. This is a fairy tale that a child could appreciate for its romance and beauty, and a parent for its intelligence and use of symbolism and metaphor. I recommend this film unreservedly. If you like classics and consider yourself a serious filmgoer, Cocteau's film is essential to your education.