Architecture for All: La Belle et la Bête

La Belle et la Bete (1946) is one of the great masterpieces of French cinema. Directed by Jean Cocteau and starring Jean Marais, it is a subtle and poetic retelling of the famous and much-loved tale written in 1757 by Madame Leprince de Beaumont. In love with the magical atmosphere of fairy stories, Cocteau sets the action against deliberately theatrical backdrops blending Baroque imagery and Neo-Romantic sentiment to create an unforgettable cinematic experience. This special screening (courtesy of the British Film Institute) will be introduced by the art historian and curator Stephen Calloway, author of ‘Baroque Baroque: The Culture of Excess’ (1994).