La Belle et la Bête

This first feature film by French director Jean Cocteau tackles the classic tale of Beauty and the Beast in a visually arresting and mythical fashion. A poor merchant leaves his home and three daughters behind to venture into the woods. Here, he encounters a magnificent castle and goes inside. When drawn to a rose, a beast appears, giving the father an ultimatum: either he dies or one of his daughters must come to live in the castle with the Beast. Belle, the youngest and persecuted daughter, sacrifices her life to save her father, only to find that the Beast is not as untamable as she once thought. This motion picture version later inspired Phillip Glass to compose an operatic scoring for the film.