A MASK LESSON: THE MASK STORY BEHIND THE ICONIC FRENCH MOVIE “BEAUTY and THE BEAST” by J
- Long Beach Lingual Institute Cultural Center
- Sep 12, 2020
- 3 min read
by Valerie Swanson-Parmentier,
TO BOOK FRENCH CLASSES WITH MISS VALERIE: https://www.lblanguages.com/
As nowdays, we live in this new world were mask is a must, you will be amazed to know the secret behind the mask that the stunning actor Jean Marais was wearing for this 1946 french romantic Fantasy Film.
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The stunning actor, Jean Marais had to wear a mask to play the role of the Beast. What a lot of people didn’t realize at the time was that the filmmaker was also wearing a different kind of mask. The actor said, it was his favorite movie and the one he was the most proud of: “La Belle et la bête est un des films que je préfère, et dont je suis le plus fier.”
He mentioned: “This mask required each morning a 5 hour makeup session of gluing hairy bandages on his face. Carnivor black varnished fangs were adapted to the mask and the actor could only eat pureed food or apple sauce. Each day was a practice of patience and goodness for both the actor and the filmmaker. Indeed, the filmmaker Jean Cocteau was very sick during the shooting. He had a skin disease that lasted 6 years. The unfortunate “mask” he was condemned to wear was Impetigo, urticaria, eczema, boils, anthraxes and phlegmon on his face. He had a beard that he could not shave. So this different kind of mask was ironically less terrible to wear than the one of the actor. Despite his suffering and discomfort, Jean Cocteau was keeping a good mood and was joking around to create an atmosphere of friendship and cheerfulness. He was saying to the actor: “God was punishing him as he was forcing the actor to wear a mask by sending him a different type of mask”.
The actor Jean Marais says: “ A ce propos (About that, on this point)… ne trouvez-vous pas bizarre (don’t you find it strange)…tout le monde cherche à être beau physiquement (everyone seeks to be beautiful physically) ……et qu’il est à la portée de n’importe qui d’être beau moralement (and that is within the reach of anyone to be morally beautiful) …. et que personne n’en fait la gymnastique (and that no one practice it). D’ailleurs (bye the way, for that matter) …N’est-ce pas au fond le sujet de la belle et la bête?”… (Isn’t that indeed the subject of the Beauty and the Beast?”
I let you reflect on this and will end with my favorite Art piece of Jean cocteau “Dove of Peace (La colombde de la paix, 1946).
I wish you PEACE and PROSPERITY to all in these strange times we are living in. Gratefully, Miss Valérie
Exclusive Vintage Interview by Jean Marais by the French National TV Archives INA https://player.ina.fr/player/embed/I14034776/1/1b0bd203fbcd702f9bc9b10ac3d0fc21/wide/1 (Office national de radiodiffusion et télévision française)
As a side note, Jean Marais, was a French actor, writer, director and sculptor. He performed in over 100 films and was the muse of acclaimed director Jean Cocteau. In 1996, he was awarded the French Legion of Honor for his contributions to French Cinema. With his heroic physique, Jean Marais (1913-1998) was France’s answer to Errol Flynn, the epitome of the swashbuckling romantic hero of French cinema.
Jean Cocteau was one of the most multi-talented artists of the 20th century. In addition to being a director (directeur de film), he was a poet (un poète), novelist (romancier), painter (peintre), playwright (auteur dramatique), set designer (décorateur), and actor (acteur).
TO BOOK FRENCH CLASSES WITH MISS VALERIE: https://www.lblanguages.com/
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