“Do we need another version of [insert title here]?” is one of the more frequently asked questions among critics and fans when certain stories keep spawning adaptations at a regular pace. It’s a question director Max Gold attempts to answer with Belle, a retelling of Beauty and the Beast that was chosen to serve as the closing film at Stockfish 2024. Given its literary pedigree and stylish production value, it should at the very least attract the curiosity of genre fans.
The movie owns up to its inspiration straight away, with opening narration so familiar one could be forgiven for assuming they were hearing an Icelandic-accented fandub of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. The international poster even quotes Howard Ashman’s song lyrics by using “The tale as old as time” as its tagline. And yet, there is something much darker going on beneath the recognizable surface – something the film alludes to with its Icelandic title, Fanga, meaning “prisoner”.
In this version, the famous rose is said to grant immortality, and the Beast has been cursed to guard it forever, as punishment for his adulterous behavior. When Belle’s father falls gravely ill, she is allowed to use the rose’s powers to restore his health. But there’s a catch: the spell will only be effective for one day, unless Belle agrees to remain the Beast’s prisoner, for all eternity.
Intriguingly, there isn’t really a Gaston/Avenant figure in this take on the story, or rather, he’s dismissed fairly quickly in favor of the real alpha male conflict going on: on one end, the father (Gudmundur Thorvaldsson), who has been changed from his usual passive depiction to a more warrior-like figure, fully embracing the Scandinavian feel of the project; on the other, the Beast (Ingi Hrafn Hilmarsson, also one of the producers), who in a neat reversal retains his human appearance (he looks like a bearded version of the Disney prince), with a mysterious bloodlust emerging at random intervals.
Caught in between them, Belle (Andrea Snaedal) is effectively a prisoner of both men, either physically or emotionally, and all three actors convey the tensions of a relationship that is loving and toxic at the same time with great intensity. This is still a fairy tale, but with a much murkier, more adult-oriented spirit coursing through its seven chapters: one scene in particular, where Belle and Beast openly address their sexual frisson, would not have been out of place in Angela Carter’s writings.
The film may be primarily in English (only select characters speak Icelandic), but the Nordic mood is prevalent from the get-go, be it via the casting or through the use of local landscapes that cinematographer Nico Navia captures to convey an eerie, primal atmosphere which turns a landmark of French literature into an unsettling piece of Scandinavian folklore. Shots of nature that other directors like Darren Aronofsky (Noah) or Ridley Scott (Prometheus) used to signify the beginning of life are an explicit harbinger of doom here.
Yes, it is a tale as old as time. But there is another Ashman lyric that resonates even more: true as it can be. Stripped of its more romantic elements, the story of Belle and her unlikely love interest retains its essential plot beats, but with an edgier, more contemporary sensibility and an emotional intelligence that give it something other recent reimaginings didn’t have: a reason to exist beyond cashing in on nostalgia and brand recognition.
Director, screenwriter: Max Gold
Cast: Andrea Snaedal, Ingi Hrafn Hilmarsson, Gudmundur Thorvaldsson, Hana Vagnerová, Sigurdur Sigurjónsson, Helga Braga Jónsdóttir
Producers: Lauren Bates, Zoey Gold, Ingi Hrafn Hilmarsson
Cinematography: Nico Navia
Production design: Susan Huyett
Costume design: Nadine Sondej-Robinson
Music: Matt Orenstein
Sound: Josh Ascalon
Production companies: Blind Hummingbird Productions, Teenager, Black Feather Creative, Monumental Productions
World sales: Motion Picture Exchange
Venue: Stockfish (Closing Film)
In English, Icelandic
93 minutes
