Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
beautiful, dazzling, brilliant FAERIE TALE!, October 25, 2004
FAERIE TALE THEATRE's production of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST makes for dazzling family entertainment, with strong performances from lead actors Susan Sarandon and Klaus Kinski in the title roles.
Beauty's merchant father steals a white rose from the castle of the Beast (Klaus Kinski). As punishment, the Beast orders that the merchant return to the castle in 3 days, or else one of his daughters must go in his place. Beauty selflessly sacrifices her own freedom to release her father, and goes in his place.
Once in the castle, Beauty slowly begins to win the friendship and trust of the Beast, who hides a gentle and kind heart beneath his frightening exterior.
Directed by Roger Vadim and co-starring Anjelica Huston and Nancy Lenehan as Beauty's jealous sisters, this version of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST is based on Jean Cocteau's celebrated French movie classic. Highly-recommended.
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Darker than you might expect..., September 17, 2003
Faerie Tale Theatre has produced some odd episodes over the years, but none more so than this disturbing revisioning of Jean Cocteau's film classic as directed by, um, Roger Vadim. Vadim is best known as the director of visually stylish but empty-headed films like Barbarella and ...And God Created Women. It goes without saying that this is an attractive episode, perhaps one of the most beautifully realized in the series. Vadim has borrowed many of Cocteau's gothic flourishes, and the sets and costumes (especially the look of the Beast) are straight out of that version. However, for all of its visual power, this is an underwhelming adaptation. Klaus Kinski as the Beast is inspired casting, and he lends the part a solemn gravity. Susan Sarandon, on the other hand, seems to be channeling Catherine Deneuve here. She's more Belle De Jour than Beauty, all frigid detachment and blank expression. This makes her final declaration of love for the Beast completely unconvincing. The fault lies just as much in a script that never fully develops either character or their relationship. The Beast remains pitiable and elusive to the last, and it's little wonder Beauty never seems to see him as anything more than a creature. The plot meanders, and Vadim lifts moments from Cocteau's version that, taken out of context, are more confusing than inspired. In the end, however, perhaps this should be enjoyed simply for the atmosphere Vadim has created, no small feat in a television production of this scope.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
I LOVE ALL OF SHELLY DUVALL'S FAERIE TALE THEATRE!!, February 7, 2003
As a child, I loved watching Faerie Tale theatre movies. I never watched this movie until I bought it. I have a goal of getting all of Faerie Tale Theatre's collection. Susan Saradon is a wonderful actress espcecially in her performance of Beauty and the Beast. I recommend watching more of this collection
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