Cocteau’s The Beauty and the Beast from a psychoanalytic viewpoint.

What is it about?

The "male gaze" in the cinema spectatorship debate is balanced in this volume to address a wider picture: women, too, can enjoy lustful observation of men—and of other women. At the example of Cocteau's La Belle et la Bête societal construction of gender roles, of femininity as well as masculinity, is discussed from the perspectives of film studies and clinical psychoanalysis. Contributors: Wolfgang Mertens, Andreas Hamburger, Andrea Sabbadini, Christine Kirchhoff, Marianne Leuzinger-Bohleber, Andreas Rost.

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Why is it important?

From the perspective of clinical psychoanalysis, psychoanalytic culture theoriy and film scolarship, Cocteau's La Belle et la Bête - a modern version of the antique tale of Amor and Psyche - is discussed as an example of staging female and male identity construction to male and female viewers, as well as a contriution to post-war cinema.