Ciné Club Series: Beauty and the Beast (1946) by Jean Cocteau

Wednesday, September 10, 2025 From 7:15 PM To 9:15 PM Add to Calendar 2025-09-10 19:15:00 2025-09-10 21:15:00 Ciné Club Series: Beauty and the Beast (1946) by Jean Cocteau Launch of our new Page to Screen series at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline. This program explores major literary works adapted for the screen, featuring film screenings followed by conversations. Coolidge Corner Theater, 290 Harvard St, Brookline, MA 02446, Brookline, Massachusetts, United States America/New_York

At Coolidge Corner Theater Get Directions

Join us for a special screening of Beauty and the Beast (La Belle et la Bête), Jean Cocteau’s legendary 1946 adaptation of Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont’s fairy tale. A landmark in cinematic history, the film is, in the words of Roger Ebert, “one of the most magical of all films!”

Cocteau’s sublime interpretation, in which the pure love of a young woman transforms a feral yet gentle beast, combines theatrical artistry, dreamlike visuals, and poetic storytelling. Featuring unforgettable performances by Jean Marais and Josette Day, the film’s haunting imagery and inventive effects have made it a timeless icon of fantasy cinema.

Following the screening, stay for a Q&A with Nicholas Elliott, film critic, curator, and translator of the newly released English edition of Beauty and the Beast: Diary of a Film, Cocteau’s behind-the-scenes account of the film’s creation. Covering everything from the physical demands of production to moments of creative collaboration with Jean Marais, Henri Alekan, and Christian Bérard, the diary offers rare insight into one of French cinema’s greatest works. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the event.

Film in French with English subtitles.

🎟️ Tickets available at the Coolidge Corner Theatre website

About Jean Cocteau

Jean Cocteau was a French writer, poet, playwright, and filmmaker whose work bridged multiple artistic disciplines. A key figure in 20th-century French cultural life, Cocteau was associated with the avant-garde but maintained a singular, personal style that often drew from mythology, dreams, and classical literature.

As an author, he is best known for Les Enfants Terribles and a number of plays that combine poetic language with psychological insight. In film, Cocteau developed a highly personal visual style, as seen in works such as The Blood of a Poet (1930) and Orpheus (1950), which explore identity, death, and the role of the artist. His cinematic work is noted for its poetic logic, innovative use of effects, and fusion of theatrical and cinematic techniques.

About Nicholas Elliott

Nicholas Elliott is a film programmer and the American correspondent for Cahiers du Cinéma in New York. He is also a Contributing Editor for Film at BOMB magazine. His writing has appeared in Film Comment, The Criterion Collection, 4Columns, Extra Extra Magazine, and in anthologies on filmmakers such as Chantal Akerman and Philippe Garrel.

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