Disney's 1991 animated version of the classic French fairytale Beauty And The Beast is widely considered to be one of the best of Disney's output, as well as being the first animated film to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. It won two Oscars- both for its sublime music- and was turned into a hit stage musical. Unsurprisingly, it's now had a live action remake.
Directed by Bill Condon (Dreamgirls, Mr. Holmes), it's a very faithful adaptation of the animated film with a couple of added character bits and a few new songs. It follows the same story as the animated film: Belle is a beautiful but educated and headstrong young woman which puts her at odds with the people in her small provincial town. When her father is imprisoned by a ferocious beast in an enchanted castle in the woods close to the town, Belle offers herself in her father's place and becomes the Beast's prisoner. Gradually though, the relationship between Belle and the Beast begins to soften and perhaps there's something there that wasn't there before...
Disney's Beauty And The Beast is one of my favourite films of all time. So it was with a little trepidation that I went into the cinema. Were they about to butcher one of my most beloved films?
No. No, they weren't.
Simply put, the live action version is an absolute gem. Visually, the entire film is absolutely stunning. Jacqueline Durran's costumes are just sumptuous; everything from Belle's iconic yellow ball-gown down to Gaston's blood-red jacket looks perfect. Everything from the production design to the set decoration, the art design and the visual effects come together to create an absolute feast for the eyes.
The songs from the original animated film are included (written by Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman) with new ones written by Menken and Sir Tim Rice. It's just a shame that they couldn't use songs from the stage musical, although the songs that have been added are good and entirely in keeping with the original. Menken also composes the score, by turns melancholic, jovial, and spine-tingling. All of the singing is good; some singing is better than others, but nobody is in a Pierce-Brosnan-in-Mamma-Mia or Russell-Crowe-in-Les-Miserables situation.
Performances across the board are superb. Whilst I was a little dubious before about Emma Watson's casting, she's entirely brilliant as Belle. She plays Belle's vulnerability as well as she plays her bravery. It's a very assured performance. Dan Stevens is similarly strong as the Beast; surly and angry yet softening as he gets to know her. It's also nice that they've chosen to make him more educated; he gets a nice moment when he gives Belle the library. One of the added character bits is to see both Belle and the Beast's early life (both losing their mothers at a young age) which shows they have more in common than they first thought. This, on the whole, works.
Luke Evans is suave and charming as Gaston, although this version has his move to out-and-out villain a lot earlier. Josh Gad is great as the faithful LeFou, clearly infatuated with his friend (more on that later). Kevin Kline puts in a wonderfully nuanced and quite moving performance as Belle's father Maurice, more overprotective but still very caring. There's also an important, yet silent, role for Hattie Morahan who plays the Enchantress who casts the spell over the Beast in the first place.
Moving over to the inhabitants of the castle, no complaints: Ewan McGregor is similarly suave as the debonair Lumiere, Ian McKellen is wonderful as cantankerous Cogsworth whilst Emma Thompson adds warmth and homeliness as Mrs Potts. Doctor Who actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw is good as the flirtatious feather-duster Plumette and young actor Nathan Mack is great as Chip, whilst Audra McDonald and Stanley Tucci are a wonderful pairing as Madame Garderobe and Maestro Cadenza (who are turned into the wardrobe and a harpsichord respectively).
I've got to address the elephant in the room. Ever since it was announced that there was going to be an 'exclusively gay moment' in the film, conservatives, evangelists and homophobes the world over have poured bile and vitriol across the airwaves and the internet denouncing this move. I don't know what they're expecting them to show in a PG-rated movie but I think it says much more about their mindset than anything else.
Making LeFou gay is not the greatest leap forward; it's clear in the animated version that he's very devoted to Gaston. So what is this moment? What could possibly be worth such a negative backlash? Well... in the ball at the end, LeFou dances with another man. That's it. That's what the furore is all about. It's as bad as all those idiots foaming at the mouth about Sulu being gay in Star Trek Beyond when, in a real blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, all you see is him putting his hand on the small of another man's back.
So you have the first canonically gay character in a Disney film here; you also have not only the first, but second, live-action interracial kiss in a Disney movie when Audra McDonald and Stanley Tucci lock lips at the end, as do Ewan McGregor and Gugu Mbatha-Raw. Thankfully there haven't been protests about that.
I truly loved this film. It's quite a different beast to the animated feature but to compare the two is a bit like comparing apples and oranges (as live-action and animation are two wildly different mediums). It's a funny, lively, touching film, beautiful to look at, lovely to listen to, and a pure joy from start to finish.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Tez
No comments:
Post a Comment