Some people under 40 are likely to think "Beauty and the Beast" is a classic story created by Disney in 1991. But that animated movie, which has enthralled millions of little girls and boys (and many of their parents, too), was actually based on a hefty novel by France's Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve published in 1740 as "La Belle et la Bete." In France, it was a best-seller of the Harlequin Romance variety: a sexy, dark love story conducted in a secret castle, tucked away in an enchanted forest. Apparently, it became quite the thing among the elite ladies and gentlemen of France to dress for masquerade balls as Belle or Bete (the Beast) — perhaps to spice things up in the romance department.

And now "La Belle et la Bete" has been reclaimed by the French, with a live-action version that's neither sugar-coated nor excessively child-friendly but loyal to the spirit of the original. For one thing, all dialogue is in French; there's also a lot of brooding and frustrated sexuality, and even a hint of Simone de Beauvoir-style feminism; and it pairs two of France's hottest actors — Lea Seydoux (fresh off the steamy set of "Blue is the Warmest Color") and Gallic badass-stud Vincent Cassel.

"This movie is an entirely different animal from the Disney picture," says director Christophe Gans in an interview with The Japan Times. Gans is no stranger to the world of beasts and beastly males — his milestone work from 2001, "Le Pacte des Loups (Brotherhood of the Wolf)," was a werewolf mystery set in 18th-century France.