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abigail-prohaska
Reviews
Beauty and the Beast (2017)
Comparison with another version
My critique will take the form of praise for another version of the tale, the German TV version of 2012 by Marc-Andreas Borchert, listed in IMDb and for which I wrote this review, as I say as a kind of cleansing reaction to the live-action version of the great cartoon of 1991: I wrote a review a few years ago about this TV film - asking Anglophone viewers not to be put off by the German, since they would be missing one of the most magical and moving versions of the tale. After seeing the bloated new version by Disney I had to go back to it as a kind of cleansing process. There are also some coincidences in the handling of the story that make me think the US team must have been inspired by this German version, some of the more poetic details – not in the latest and to the 1991 cartoon version – in the Disney seem based on ideas in Marc-Andreas Borchert's wonderful film. The main theme of transformation through love is enacted with utter credibility and convincing emotion, so there is great suspense that beast may not survive after all, making it a thriller as well as a dramatic love story. It plays in glorious Alpine scenery in castles both ruined and splendid, the music by Stephan Maria Schneider very moving, the actors ideal, a complex charismatic Beast and beautifully down-to-earth beauty, elements of humour; I cannot praise it enough and beg all to see it as an antidote to Hollywood megalomania (by which I do not mean the brilliant 1991 cartoon version!).
Die Schöne und das Biest (2012)
One of the most poetic treatments of this legend ever made
Even if you live far away from the German-speaking regions I can only recommend you do everything to find a way of seeing this wonderful version of the Beauty and the Beast legend/myth. It has everything, most of all magic and romance yet with protagonists you can believe in, including the charismatic Beast - Maximilian Simonischek, and the lovely, yet down-to-earth Cornelia Gröschel. The setting is a mostly ruined castle in Austria, and is presented in pictures that impress the imagination so deeply that you can imagine no other version; there is also an emotional, evocative musical score to underline the heart-rending course of events. Maybe if you write to ZDF 2nd German Television you might be able to get a copy. Don't worry about the German, it'll go straight to your heart - we all know the story. You may miss some of the humour,but you will emote with the dramatic development of the characters, the tears, the suspense and the joy.
Die Schöne und das Biest (2012)
One of the most poetic treatments of this legend ever made
Even if you live far away from the German-speaking regions I can only recommend you do everything to find a way of seeing this wonderful version of the Beauty and the Beast legend/myth. It has everything, most of all magic and romance yet with protagonists you can believe in, including the charismatic Beast - Maximilian Simonischek, and the lovely, yet down-to-earth Cornelia Gröschel. The setting is a mostly ruined castle in Austria, and is presented in pictures that impress the imagination so deeply that you can imagine no other version; there is also an emotional, evocative musical score to underline the heart-rending course of events. Maybe if you write to ZDF 2nd German Television you might be able to get a copy. Don't worry about the German, it'll go straight to your heart - we all know the story. You may miss some of the humour,but you will emote with the dramatic development of the characters, the tears, the suspense and the joy.