Forty-five years before the Disney version of this tale by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, Jean Cocteau directed this first-ever film adaptation. Far more than a simple re-telling of the tale, this is actually one of the most ingenious and innovative films ever made.

      Belle (Josette Day) is a young woman from a family of good fortune who, following tragic events at sea, loses her entire fortune. Her father (Marcel André) is unable to accept her new state of poverty and worries about his ability to continue supporting his twelve children. On one stormy evening while riding the path home on horseback, he gets lost in a forest and stumbles upon the castle of the Beast (Jean Marais). Drawn to a beautiful rosebush in the garden he plucks a single rose with the intention of bringing it to his daughter, Belle. That small act infuriates the Beast who then threatens to kill the father but spares his life in exchange for the hand of one of his daughters. Wanting to save her father, Belle flees to the castle of the Beast on an enchanted horse. Upon arriving she is repulsed by the cat-faced creature but ends up spending much time with him. Daily, the Beast asks her hand in marriage and every time, she rejects him. Gradually she begins to know the beautiful delicate inner soul of the Beast and has a growing affection for him.

  Both an adaptation of European folklore and a metaphor for class struggle as well as a critique of arranged marriage, Cocteau’s film is above all, a technical marvel. Bathed in Gothic ambiance filled with sets that are both enchanting and terrifying, its luxurious musical score complements it well. What distinguishes it from other cinematic works of the 1940s are the costumes, special effects and makeup which, unlike the cold modern computer-generated equivalent, makes you truly believe what you are seeing.

MATHIEU LANGLAIS is a psychologist since 1977 with a private practice in Montreal. He has a degree from Université de Sherbrooke and learned psychotherapy and psychoanalysis at the Montreal General and the Jewish General Hospitals.

He studied Jungian psychology at the Jung Institute in Zürich and through the Inter-Regional Association of Jungian Analysts in Montreal. Other studies include Archetypal Psychology (Patricia Berry), Bioenergy (Luc Morissette) and the Feldenkrais Method (Joseph Dellagrote). He teaches in Québec and Switzerland, specifically in Art Therapy in Lausanne.

His professional interests revolve around working with dreams, images, and the interdisciplinary treatment of psychosomatic illnesses.

WINTER/SPRING 2026 PROGRAM

SUNDAY, January 25: Cinéclub Montréal

“La Belle et la Bête” (J. Cocteau)

With Mathieu Langlais. 

IN PERSON

February 21: The Trickster

With Artemis Papert

March 21: Women and Men at the Crossroads of a Changing World

with David Pressault 

avril: 50me Anniversaire

Evènement en français:  TBA 

      April or May: 

      A Four-Week Reading Seminar: 

      The Writings of Lionel Corbett