Instant Access To 100,000+ Essays!

Jean Cocteau begins his film La belle et la beta like any other fairy tale with the cliché “Once upon a time.” But what begins as a fairy tale quickly turns into an hour and a half long exploration what is real and unreal. Cocteau is quoted as saying that the reason he filmed the fairy tale of Beauty and the Beast is to “show realism in the unreal” (Prof. Brown 1/24/02). Cocteau wants to show how the two worlds can become undistinguishable. He succeeds in creating two entirely different worlds, one completely real and one completely surreal. Yet, at the same time, he makes it seem as though the two worlds are completely intertwined. Special effects, lighting and cinematography help to create two contrasting realities in Jean Cocteau’s La belle et la beta (Beauty and the Beast). Jean Cocteau combines the many different types of camera angles, shots, and movement to emphasize the different spheres. The use of high and low angles Beauty in the two different spheres. In Beauty’s world, her sisters are shot from a low angle indicating their dominance in the family, while her father and herself are shot at high angles. The unique use of angles in the different spheres allows Cocteau to indicate to the audience wh