Beauty and the Beast (1978 film)
Beauty and the Beast is a 1978 Czechoslovak Gothic horror film directed by Juraj Herz from the script by Pavla Marková. It is based on Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont's 1756 fairy tale Beauty and the Beast.
For his direction, Herz received the Medalla Sitges en Oro de Ley at the Sitges Film Festival in 1979.
Plot
A widowed and ruined merchant lives with his three daughters. Julie, the youngest, asks him to bring her a rose. On the way to the village, he falls asleep on his horse while crossing an enchanted forest. He wakes up in front of a disturbing castle, populated by strange creatures and picks a white rose in the park where he meets a bloodthirsty being, half-man, half-falcon, who sentences him to death. His only chance of survival would be for one of his daughters to sacrifice herself, who would have to agree to remain a prisoner of the Beast for eternity. But the merchant refuses and agrees to die. Julie is the only one of the three daughters that chooses to save her father's life. She goes to the Haunted Wood's Castle where she meets the Beast. He has no qualms about killing Julie, but her beauty prevents him from doing so. Although Julie is forbidden to look at the Beast, she starts to fall in love with him and the love rescues the Beast from his curse.Cast
- Zdena Studenková as Julie
- Vlastimil Harapes as The Beast
- Václav Voska as Father
- Jana Brejchová as Gábinka
- Zuzana Kocúriková as Málinka
- Marta Hrachovinová as The Girl
- Vít Olmer as Rider
- Milan Hein as Groom