Beauty and the Beast

Please note: Due to inclement weather, the January 29 program has been canceled and may be rescheduled for a new date. Ticketholders will be contacted by our Visitor Experience team.

Dir. Jean Cocteau. France. 1946, 93 mins. 35mm. In French with English subtitles. With Jean Marais, Josette Day, Mila Parély, Nane Germon, Michel Auclair, Marcel André. Jean Cocteau’s adaptation of Mme. Leprince de Beaumont’s undying fairy tale is the very definition of cinematic enchantment. The avant-garde poet, artist, and director pulled out all the stops in creating a visually dynamic wonderland, using a barrage of imaginative techniques (with master cinematographer Henri Alekan) to bring the supernatural to life, and casting his lover Jean Marais as the feral humanoid beast—a former prince put under a spell whose curse can only be lifted by true love. Despite all the versions that have come after, Cocteau’s masterpiece remains the greatest: a rapturous, haunting evocation of love that exists beyond the natural world.

See It Big: Extravaganzas! is presented with support from MUBI GO.

Tickets: $15 / $11 senior and students / $9 youth (ages 3–17) / discounted for MoMI members ($7–$11).