''Beauty and the Beast'' ( cs, Panna a netvor) is a 1978 Czechoslovak

dark fantasy Dark fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy literary, artistic, and cinematic works that incorporate disturbing and frightening themes of fantasy. It often combines fantasy with elements of horror or has a gloomy dark tone or a sense of horror and dr ...

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

directed by Slovak film director

Juraj Herz Juraj Herz (4 September 1934 – 8 April 2018) was a Czechoslovak film director, actor, and scene designer, associated with the Czechoslovak New Wave movement of the 1960s. He is best known for his 1969 horror/black comedy ''The Cremator'', ofte ...

. The film is a re-telling of the classic tale ''

Beauty and the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve, Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' ( ...

''. For his direction, Herz received the Medalla Sitges en Oro de Ley at the

Sitges Film Festival The Sitges Film Festival ( ca, Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantàstic de Catalunya, links=no) is an annual film festival held in Sitges, Spain, specialized in fantasy and horror films, of which it is considered one of the world's foremost in ...

in 1979.

Plot

Julie is a bankrupt merchant's daughter, who is the only one of the three daughters, 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 Zdena Studenková (born May 19, 1954) is a Slovak film and stage actress, and a musical theater singer.For biographical information concerning Studenková, use her general links. She is the holder of the most number of ''OTO'' Awards, having w ...

as Julie * Vlastimil Harapes as The Beast *

Václav Voska Václav Voska (21 October 1918 – 20 August 1982) was a Czech film actor.Hardy p.171 Selected filmography * ''Bohemian Rapture'' (1947) * ''Jan Žižka'' (1955) * ''Against All ''Against All'' ( cs, Proti všem) is a 1956 Czechoslovak histori ...

as Father *

Jana Brejchová Jana Brejchová (born 20 January 1940) is a Czech film actress. She has appeared in more than 70 films since 1953. She was married to director Miloš Forman and later actor Vlastimil Brodský. Her younger sister Hana is also an actress who has ...

as Gábinka * Zuzana Kocúriková as Málinka * Marta Hrachovinová as The Girl * Vít Olmer as Rider * Milan Hein as Groom

Reception

David Melville from ''

Senses of Cinema ''Senses of Cinema'' is a quarterly online film magazine founded in 1999 by filmmaker Bill Mousoulis. Based in Melbourne, Australia, ''Senses of Cinema'' publishes work by film critics from all over the world, including critical essays, career ...

'' wrote, "''Panna a netvor'' has the capacity to horrify in the best and the worst of ways. Yet like any true fairy tale, it is unlikely ever to leave its audience bored or indifferent".

References

External links

* *
"Panna a netvor"
at the Česko-Slovenská filmová databáze.
"Panna a netvor"
at the Filmová databáze. * Screen captures and production maps fo
"Panna a netvor"
at Filmová místa. 1978 films 1978 horror films 1970s fantasy films 1970s monster movies Czech horror films 1970s Czech-language films Czechoslovak fantasy films Czech dark fantasy films Films based on Beauty and the Beast Films directed by Juraj Herz Films scored by Petr Hapka 1970s Czech films {{1970s-horror-film-stub