What do you think?
Rate this book
La Bella y la Bestia, diario de rodaje
Los libros de cine no abundaban en 1946, tal vez por ello las agudas anotaciones de Cocteau decidieron la vocación de varios futuros cineastas. Un tal Jacques Rivette toma tras la lectura de este libro la decisión de montar al tren que lleva de Rouen a París para hacer películas; un tal Jean-Luc Godard se lo regala años después a Anne Wiazemsky, diciéndole que es el mejor libro sobre cine que conoce. Pero, en contraste con el aspecto feérico de la historia, los detalles que Cocteau consigna son a menudo los más grisáceos. A la economía de posguerra se suma el efecto que en la salud de Cocteau tuvieron los trabajos pesados del cine. ¿Qué había en las fatigas narradas en este libro que, pese a todo, acertaba a colocar el cine por encima de lo demás en la imaginación de sus jóvenes lectores?
Paperback
First published January 1, 1946
6 people are currently reading
460 people want to read
About the author
Jean Cocteau
577 books872 followersJean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, boxing manager, playwright and filmmaker. Along with other Surrealists of his generation (Jean Anouilh and René Char for example) Cocteau grappled with the "algebra" of verbal codes old and new, mise en scène language and technologies of modernism to create a paradox: a classical avant-garde. His circle of associates, friends and lovers included Jean Marais, Henri Bernstein, Colette, Édith Piaf, whom he cast in one of his one act plays entitled Le Bel Indifferent in 1940, and Raymond Radiguet.
His work was played out in the theatrical world of the Grands Theatres, the Boulevards and beyond during the Parisian epoque he both lived through and helped define and create. His versatile, unconventional approach and enormous output brought him international acclaim.
His work was played out in the theatrical world of the Grands Theatres, the Boulevards and beyond during the Parisian epoque he both lived through and helped define and create. His versatile, unconventional approach and enormous output brought him international acclaim.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
September 16, 2019
Enjoyed this a lot, and I can definitely see why the French film is considered the golden standard for Beauty and the Beast adaptations. Disney sure borrowed a great deal of inspiration from this that don't come from the original fairy tale: Gaston, the candelabra, the mirror, the dining scene, a bit of Beast's appearance, the Gothic atmosphere, how more forceful and self-assured Beauty is than in the tale, the attack on the castle, the final dance once Beast returns to his princely shape, etc., etc.
My one major criticism would be that the reason for why the prince was cursed to be Beast is unconvicing, and sounded a bit ridiculous to a connoisseur of the tale like me. I always observe this detail because it's key to the story's core, which is barely kept from total omission here but only just.
My one major criticism would be that the reason for why the prince was cursed to be Beast is unconvicing, and sounded a bit ridiculous to a connoisseur of the tale like me. I always observe this detail because it's key to the story's core, which is barely kept from total omission here but only just.
August 8, 2021
Fascinating look into the mind of one of the pioneers of modern film, in the middle of his process, expressed with all the emotional clarity you'd expect of a director/poet. Would definitely recommend for any filmmakers wanting to see the thought process of a real visionary.
Some quotes that stood out:
“I have the impudence to believe that the cinema which depicts the impossible is apt to carry conviction, in a way, and may be able to put a ‘singular’ occurrence into the plural.”
“My method is simple: not to aim at poetry. That must come of its own accord. The mere whispered mention of its name frightens it away. I shall try to build a table. It will be up to you then to eat at it, to examine it, or to chop it up for firewood.”
“Photograph of me, during our preparation, on the cover. Looks like a sad old man gazing into the distance. This is me. I must get used to it. I get so lost in my work that I forget that I exist and change. Suddenly I find myself face to face with a person I didn’t know, but that my friends do.”
“The way time solves things is an enigma. God uses up centuries in an incredible fashion. As we do minutes.”
“The poet is only a servant of the power of a force that drives him and a true servant never abandons his master, but follows him to the scaffold.”
“To reorganize chance. That’s the basis of our work.”
Some quotes that stood out:
“I have the impudence to believe that the cinema which depicts the impossible is apt to carry conviction, in a way, and may be able to put a ‘singular’ occurrence into the plural.”
“My method is simple: not to aim at poetry. That must come of its own accord. The mere whispered mention of its name frightens it away. I shall try to build a table. It will be up to you then to eat at it, to examine it, or to chop it up for firewood.”
“Photograph of me, during our preparation, on the cover. Looks like a sad old man gazing into the distance. This is me. I must get used to it. I get so lost in my work that I forget that I exist and change. Suddenly I find myself face to face with a person I didn’t know, but that my friends do.”
“The way time solves things is an enigma. God uses up centuries in an incredible fashion. As we do minutes.”
“The poet is only a servant of the power of a force that drives him and a true servant never abandons his master, but follows him to the scaffold.”
“To reorganize chance. That’s the basis of our work.”
May 17, 2019
o,4 estrellas
Es absolutamente interesante adentrarse en el mundo del cine, esta industria de post- guerra francesa de la mano del genial Jean Cocteau, el cual logró una de las películas más hermosas de la historia del cine. A pesar del argumento fantástico gótico de la cinta, Cocteau describe los días en el set de una manera muy práctica y realista, sin dejar de lado los inumerables imprevistos como los apagones de luz, lugares de rodaje insalubres, o la delicada salud de sus actores (Jean Marais y Mila Parély) sin dejar de lado a el mismo, que sufrío problemas cutaneos durante todo el rodaje, llegando incluso a la hospitalización.
Un indispensable para los admiradores de Jean Cocteau y de esta maravillosa adaptación del cuento: La Belle et la Bête de Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont.
Es absolutamente interesante adentrarse en el mundo del cine, esta industria de post- guerra francesa de la mano del genial Jean Cocteau, el cual logró una de las películas más hermosas de la historia del cine. A pesar del argumento fantástico gótico de la cinta, Cocteau describe los días en el set de una manera muy práctica y realista, sin dejar de lado los inumerables imprevistos como los apagones de luz, lugares de rodaje insalubres, o la delicada salud de sus actores (Jean Marais y Mila Parély) sin dejar de lado a el mismo, que sufrío problemas cutaneos durante todo el rodaje, llegando incluso a la hospitalización.
Un indispensable para los admiradores de Jean Cocteau y de esta maravillosa adaptación del cuento: La Belle et la Bête de Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont.
Read
January 28, 2025using this as a placeholder for reading both the scenario & dialogs and diary of a film because they're under the same listing as different editions... sigh...
anyway i have been a) circling my childhood cupid and psyche fixation for a month due to watching prince of the pagodas on christmas eve, and b) feeling increasingly interested in like. stylisation in film? my knowledge of film and filmmaking is v v small, but i keep seeing pieces of perceval le gallois floating around (which i also need to watch when i'm in a more arthurian frame of mind) and thinking abt the freedom & beauty in refusing the supremacy of authenticity, realism, naturalism, facts-as-they-are ? on rewatching la belle et la bête i think it's this quality i really like in cocteau's fairy tale vision, his insistence on a sort of precision and clarity that makes context disappear, his characters that make no pretence of living a life outside the bounds of their story, his trick shots that try to work the magic of objects and spaces that want to be other than what they are, his narrator-camera that presents shots 'as if [cocteau] were hidden behind the screen, saying: "then such and such a thing happened."' (also, specifically, the shot where the beast drinks water from beauty's cupped hands.)
it's all v interesting to me, all the more so bc i have such a flimsy frame of reference and deeply untechnical mind, so reading the script and diary feel like witnessing a kind of alchemical process.
anyway i have been a) circling my childhood cupid and psyche fixation for a month due to watching prince of the pagodas on christmas eve, and b) feeling increasingly interested in like. stylisation in film? my knowledge of film and filmmaking is v v small, but i keep seeing pieces of perceval le gallois floating around (which i also need to watch when i'm in a more arthurian frame of mind) and thinking abt the freedom & beauty in refusing the supremacy of authenticity, realism, naturalism, facts-as-they-are ? on rewatching la belle et la bête i think it's this quality i really like in cocteau's fairy tale vision, his insistence on a sort of precision and clarity that makes context disappear, his characters that make no pretence of living a life outside the bounds of their story, his trick shots that try to work the magic of objects and spaces that want to be other than what they are, his narrator-camera that presents shots 'as if [cocteau] were hidden behind the screen, saying: "then such and such a thing happened."' (also, specifically, the shot where the beast drinks water from beauty's cupped hands.)
it's all v interesting to me, all the more so bc i have such a flimsy frame of reference and deeply untechnical mind, so reading the script and diary feel like witnessing a kind of alchemical process.
October 27, 2024
“I know people blame me for exhausting myself over a film. They are wrong.” I think I will probably re-read this, and I know I will rewatch the film over and over. Love Jean Cocteau so much <3333
August 3, 2020
This is a fascinating insight into the making of one of the most beautiful of all fairy-tale films, Jean Cocteau's La Belle et la Bete. This book is a diary written by Cocteau during the filming process, and it provides a detailed picture of the highs and lows of the filming process - while Cocteau does touch upon his artistic ambitions for the film, the bulk of this diary is concerned with chronicling the mundane and practical problems that plagued the production (health issues, mainly). This creates a fascinating contrast - within a single diary entry, you'll find Cocteau waxing poetical about the beauty of the actresses' gowns and lamenting the growth of the boil on Jean Marais's thigh.
I'm a big fan of the film so found this chronicle of the minutia of the production fascinating, and it honestly left me feeling amazed that Cocteau found the time to write it at all - he sometimes writes two or three entries in a single day, each one describing the ceaseless workload and the spiralling stress of his position. Occasionally, the real world creeps in - production on the film started in the immediate aftermath of WWII, and one of the most interesting diary entries includes Cocteau's thoughts on the Nuremberg Trials.
If I have a complaint, it would be that the writing style here is very self-conscious - while Cocteau is frank and honest, he also writes in a quite a laboured, self-aggrandising style that suggests he was well aware that his writings would become public. I think I was probably more conscious of this because I started this immediately after reading Charlotte Bronte's letters, many of which are very intimate and personal and clearly not intended for public consumption. I think I'll always prefer the spontaneity of unguarded correspondence/diaries over the performative quality of something like this - Cocteau was well-established and famous in literary circles when he was working on La Belle et la Bete, and his diaries don't let you forget that.
I'm a big fan of the film so found this chronicle of the minutia of the production fascinating, and it honestly left me feeling amazed that Cocteau found the time to write it at all - he sometimes writes two or three entries in a single day, each one describing the ceaseless workload and the spiralling stress of his position. Occasionally, the real world creeps in - production on the film started in the immediate aftermath of WWII, and one of the most interesting diary entries includes Cocteau's thoughts on the Nuremberg Trials.
If I have a complaint, it would be that the writing style here is very self-conscious - while Cocteau is frank and honest, he also writes in a quite a laboured, self-aggrandising style that suggests he was well aware that his writings would become public. I think I was probably more conscious of this because I started this immediately after reading Charlotte Bronte's letters, many of which are very intimate and personal and clearly not intended for public consumption. I think I'll always prefer the spontaneity of unguarded correspondence/diaries over the performative quality of something like this - Cocteau was well-established and famous in literary circles when he was working on La Belle et la Bete, and his diaries don't let you forget that.
September 21, 2020
Un journal très intéressant sur la vision du poète Jean Cocteau sur le septième art. Le poète y note le déroulement du tournage de « La belle et la bête » avec Jean Marais. On y voit la difficulté du tournage, la maladie qui touche le réalisateur, son point de vue sur la société, le cinéma en France, comment capturer la poésie …etc. L’œuvre d’un artiste total qui donne envie de s’intéresser à son film mais aussi aux restes de ses écrits.
October 5, 2007
One of the great films of all time "Beauty and the Beast" and one of the great journals of making a film. Cocteau had an opium problem as well as skin problems as well. Misery made one of the most beautiful films in film history.
September 18, 2020
Jean Cocteau’s La belle et la bête was already pretty much a miracle but, after reading about all of the challenges, illness, and misfortune that plagued the production, it’s absolutely remarkable that the final product was so excellent. This was a highly enlightening glimpse into the making of one of cinema’s classics, and it will be interesting to rewatch the film knowing the stories and secrets behind so many of the sequences and individual shots.
August 28, 2008
Curious how one of my favorite movies could come out of such a painful shoot. Cocteau makes the occasional comment about the mystical power of poetry but mainly keeps to the details: the weather, the day's shoot, and his awful health problems. Fascinating... would make anyone think twice about wanting to make films. The original story (only a few pages long) is appended to the end.
April 3, 2012
On retrouve dans ce livre toute la magie du film - dont le tournage a été un véritable parcours du combattant, aussi bien pour le réalisateur que pour les acteurs et les machinistes. Dommage cependant qu'il soit autant question de furoncles, urticaire, jaunisse et autres maux dont Cocteau a souffert pendant ces quelques mois.
November 28, 2018
One of my all-time favourite movies. To read his thoughts and read about his struggles during the making of this film, was of immense interest to me. Though it is in French, I also recommend the coffee table book, La Belle et la Bête : Les coulisses du tournage.
September 26, 2011
Amazing diary written by Coteau during the making of his film Beauty and the Beast.
Want to read
April 14, 2008great movie even if I haven't seen the whole thing.
Want to read
August 10, 2009Reminder to self: rent this movie. In French with English subtitles
January 10, 2014
it's a mixture of cherries, strawberries and popcorn. in a deeper sense it's the leave from hotel california. deglamourize if that's a word.
March 1, 2014
delightful!
March 31, 2016
Pas absolument nécessaire, mais on retrouve l'ambiance de ce film magnifique et on apprend le bricolage derrière les extraordinaires décors.
March 16, 2018
Merveilleux film, livre formidable pour les fans !
April 10, 2009
Wonderful account of the making of a sublime film.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews