Glasgow Film Festival (GFF) got the bragging rights of hosting the Scottish premiere of the French-English film, The Beast. Equal parts titillating, charming and terrifying, The Beast will prowl in the minds of viewers for a long, long time after watching. Luckily, The Beast’s sinister story is not one you’d want to forget. Frankly, it’s fantastic.
The GFF also managed to score George MacKay (1917, Pride), the co-star of The Beast, for a Q&A afterwards. Brig managed to squeeze another question in, after already catching him for a quick red-carpet chat.
In between our two riveting conversations, however, was the film itself: The Beast, or La Bête, as it is called in its original French.
The Beast stars Léa Seydoux and George MacKay, who play Gabrielle and Louis, two people who aren’t quite lovers that meet in three different lives in three different years: 1910, 2014, and 2044. The film cuts back and forth between each era, watching the three alternate ways their fear-ridden relationship unfurls.
However, each time the pair return they aren’t quite who they were. This basically means Seydoux and MacKay play three characters each. Although, with each character they play, one thing does stay the same: their terror.
Whilst spanning three eras, the film covers far, far many more genres; romance, period drama, comedy, thriller, regular drama, sci-fi. You name it, The Beast has it.
It’s not half as confusing as it sounds. It is, however, doubly more interesting than described- and it already sounds fascinating.
“I thought it was amazing… to take such a big swing, artistically”
Pigeons, parties and mystic messages, The Beast has it all. Whilst a lot may be going on, not once does the film lose coherence. This is entirely because of the director and writer Bertrand Bonello, whose precision and commitment are increasingly clear as the film goes on. Mingling three timelines so that one doesn’t feel neglected or unimportant is no small feat- and Bonello smashes it.
Similarly, the two stars- the only two characters with any large amounts of dialogue- hit the ball out of the park. Although, little else is expected from Seydoux and MacKay who are, quite possibly, two of the best and most varied actors currently working.
Their chemistry is palpable when it ought to be. Other times, their fear and resentment take to the forefront, resulting in a forward-lean in the cinema seat and some long-lasting goosebumps.
MacKay deserves a particular shout-out. Before the film, his French abilities rested at GCSE level, he said. For The Beast, MacKay actually learnt French. Whether or not he is now fluent is another question, however, he certainly knew enough to act with conviction and intent. You’d never know he didn’t speak much- if any- French before the role. His character is a native English speaker, which aides his anglicisation of some French words but, again, all of it is with intent.
“It was just a pleasure”
The people weren’t the only appeal of this film. The editing had levels of experimentation that are rare to see in modern cinema.
Rewinds, fades, cuts, and repeats: Bonello had it all, and it was all incorporated into the script, according to MacKay. The inventive editing was a part of Bonello’s writing process, part of its fortune-telling feeling and lucidity. Not only did it work fantastically, but the film would have been worse off without it.
Similarly, the score added to the mystique of the film. Modern synths in 1910 and string solos in 2044, Bonello mingled it all together in such a beautifully organic way. The jumps, the tension, the love, and the humour were all made thrice as brilliant- and it was already very brilliant- by the score, also partially composed by Bonello. Which, on top of all the efforts he made, is overwhelmingly impressive.
MacKay seemed similarly dazzled by Bonello’s brilliance.
“It’s Bertrand’s vision and we’re all really proud to be a part of it”
In the Q&A, Brig joked with MacKay that there isn’t a genre The Beast doesn’t cover. Laughing, MacKay explained the feeling of having three roles, three eras and so many genres within the one project: “It was really exciting. I thought it was amazing, that Bertrand [the director] wanted to take such a big swing, artistically. There are all the genres.
“1910 was filmed in 35mm, which was exciting in and of itself, given that that’s a rarity nowadays. “
The romantic nature of 1910 was enhanced by the 35mm. Similarly, the 2014 variation of Louis was enhanced by self-filmed footage: “[For] 2014, I was allowed [the] freedom to go off and film. Some of that stuff with Louis, I was just allowed a day in L.A. myself to just go around… He [Bonello] gave me the camera to kind of go off and explore.
“It was just such a pleasure. We didn’t try to lean too much into a genre- the visuals and the soundscape took care of that.
“It was about keeping the through-line of all three characters and thinking about the way the context changes them. It was a pleasure to be in all those different genres in the [one] film.”
Watching the film undoubtedly gave the audience as much pleasure as MacKay felt whilst filming it.
The Beast will be released in cinemas across the UK on April 19.
Feature image credit: Jonathan Boomer
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