The castle's fortress is a maze of crumbling corridors and overgrown staircases that we explore with Belle during the day. In every scene and with every single frame, director Christophe Gans captures the magical and otherworldly awe inherent in a fairy tale.

Though it does not attempt to reinvent the tale from an alternative perspective, La Belle et la Bete does give audiences a refreshingly real story rather than a romanticized but far fetched fable. The French film La Belle et la Bete is what I had so desperately desired but failed to receive from Disney's Maleficent. Overstepping the castle's generosity, the father must trade une vie pour une rose, a life for a rose. Seeking refuge, he finds shelter in a mysterious but magical castle. The merchant and father becomes lost when returning from a trip to the city. With everything confiscated by the banks to compensate for his debts, the newly destitute family retreats to the provincial countryside. A once prestigious and wealthy sea merchant (André Dussollier) is left disgraced and penniless when his three cargo ships go missing. American audiences will recognize the story without confusion as only minor changes are made with Christophe Gans's adaptation. La Belle et la Bete (Beauty and the Beast) brings the French fairy tale to life in an equally as wondrous but more realistic manner than the Disney classic. There is just something about these fables that have the ability to touch the audience's heart. La Belle et la Bete has all the whimsical magic and fantasy of a captivating fairy tale but with the humanity of a feature adaptation.

Instaling Beauty and the Beast