BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

Also screening Monday, September 10 at 1:00

(1946, Jean Cocteau) In 17th-century France, village "belle" Josette Day sacrifices herself to fearsome "bête" Jean Marais as atonement for her father's transgressions. Cocteau's transcendent treatment of the folktale strives through use of poetic imagery and a minimum of special effects to achieve a "realism of the unreal.” Approx. 93 min. 35mm.
1:00, 4:40, 8:20

“A sumptuous film fantasy, superbly photographed. One of Cocteau’s greatest successes as a filmmaker.”
– Georges Sadoul

ORPHÉE

(1950, Jean Cocteau) After eponymous poet Jean Marais sees pal François Périer run down by motorcyclists, he pursues him to the realm of Death, ruled over by Maria Casarès (Children of Paradise). Startling special effects create a truly dream-like atmosphere for modern update of the myth. Approx. 95min. 35mm.
2:50, 6:30, 10:10

“Replete with poetic tricks – the mirrors, the messengers of Death dressed in black leather and riding motorcycles, and especially the creation of an imaginary town out of Paris locations.”
– Georges Sadoul

“Cocteau’s brilliant, hokey transposition of the Greek myth…is not only his most successful essay in pop surrealism but one of the most influential French movies of the 1940s.”
– Jim Hoberman, Village Voice