Beauty and the Beast: Diary of a Film [Paperback]

Jean Cocteau (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1972

Personalities of actors, technical problems and their surmounting, daily events, much more. 38 photographs.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English, French (translation)

Product Details

• Paperback: 142 pages
• Publisher: Dover Publications (June 1, 1972)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0486227766
• ISBN-13: 978-0486227764
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.3 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #826,809 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Making Beauty from Beastly Conditions, May 25, 2000

By 

K. Garner (Farmington, MI) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beauty and the Beast: Diary of a Film (Paperback)

Cocteau's diary on the making of his most famous film - "La Belle et la Bête" (1946) - recounts an almost endless series of obstacles that he encountered during its production. From illnesses (everyone involved seemed to suffer some significant ailment or injury during production) to production problems (bad film stock, unworkable cameras) to union disputes, the film was almost plagued from the start.

At times this litany of woe and frustration can be quite tedious - when Cocteau goes into a detailed discussion of his ezcema and other physical maladies, I tuned out. But it's still a fascinating look at not only how he pulled all the elements together (although his entries for the editing process are rather short) but also what filmmaking was like during a difficult time in French history. His depictions of his stars, Jean Marais and Josette Day, are quite interesting too. And the book shows perhaps better than many textbooks how the different talents on a film set contribute to the final result.

The book probably won't be enjoyable to those who haven't seen the movie (at least a few times) but for those who really admire this film, this behind-the-scenes look is a real treat.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Diary is great for anyone who is intrested in Films, April 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Beauty and the Beast: Diary of a Film (Paperback)

Jean Cocteau was a genius. A genius who created works that enchant you when you witness them and confound you when you attempt to understand how they were executed. They give the appearance of such straight foward fluidity of thought and motion that they conceal all of Cocteau's struggle to create them. But beneath that glaze of facility is an infinite clockwork of tedious difficulty and boundless determination. This diary is the biography of one such clockwork.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Suffering for his Art, January 7, 2006

By 

Richard (Somewhere out here) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Beauty and the Beast: Diary of a Film (Paperback)

Some have found Cocteau's litany of illnesses that he and others suffered while filming "Beauty and the Beast" tedious and skipped over them as seemingly irrelevant. Unfortunately, those who do so may miss the entire point of Cocteau's masochistic esthetic, namely, the necessity for the artist to suffer and triumph over all adversity for the sake of his art. That suffering is part and parcel of his art, suffering is art, just as "Beauty and the Beast" suffered during the filming and triumphed as a lasting work of art. Cocteau's suffering at the time mirrored the enormous technical difficulties encountered while making the film. The entire surreal struggle of Cocteau and of others involved in the film is wonderfully captured in his journal and any serious student of either Cocteau or the film will profit by reading it.