First Look at Vincent Cassel in BEAUTY IN THE BEAST
Here's our first look at Vincent Cassel and Lea Seydoux in director Christophe Gans' big screen adaptation of the classic fairytale Beauty and the Beast. You might not know it, but you are familiar with Gans' previous work. He's directed films such as the live-action manga adaptation Crying Freeman, Brotherhood Of The Wolf, and the insane adaptation of Silent Hill. Here's a statement from the director in which he discusses the film that he's making...
Beauty And The Beast is the adaptation of a story by Madame de Villeneuve. Published anonymously in 1740 as La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins, it paints a portrait of Belle, a joyful and touching young girl who falls in love with the Beast, a cursed creature in search of love and redemption. In 1760, a condensed children’s version was published. It was from this version that Jean Cocteau and then Walt Disney drew their famous adaptations. Overshadowed, the original version by Madame de Villeneuve has never been adapted for the screen... until now!
Beauty And The Beast is the story of a family going through a crisis, having lost all of its possessions when the father was ruined. The encounter - at first terrifying, but then voluptuous - with this mythical Beast provides our characters with an opportunity to get back on their feet. I like to think that this film is a metaphor for the situation that is currently afflicting the world. That is one of the advantages of fairy tales, to present an ensemble of values that endure through the ages.
Beauty And The Beast speaks, among other things, of the power of dreams and love over materialism and corruption - a theme more topical now than ever. It was time to pay tribute to Madame de Villeneuve’s story: an amazingly contemporary tale, in which the poem of love is also a message of hope.
- Christophe Gans
I like the costume designs in the first photo and I'm looking forward to seeing more! Chances are this Beauty and the Beast adaptation is going to be extremely cool.