Beauty and the Beast (2003 film)
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Beauty and the Beast is a 2003 film which is based on the folktale "Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast is a traditional fairy tale. The first published version of the fairy tale was a rendition by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, published in La jeune américaine, et les contes marins in 1740...

" and is set during the time of the Vikings. It is rated PG-13 for battle scenes and some violence.

Plot

Thorsson (Melvill-Smith) the king is falling ill and wants to make a pilgrimage to an island cursed by Odin
Odin
Odin is a major god in Norse mythology and the ruler of Asgard. Homologous with the Anglo-Saxon "Wōden" and the Old High German "Wotan", the name is descended from Proto-Germanic "*Wodanaz" or "*Wōđanaz"....

. The island is home to a horrible beast. His daughter Freya (March
Jane March
Jane March is an English film actress and former print model.-Life and career:March was born Jane March Horwood in Edgware, London, England. Her father, Bernard Horwood, is a secondary school teacher of English and Spanish ancestry. Her mother, Jean, is Vietnamese and Chinese...

) is betrothed to Sven, one of Thorrson's greatest warriors. She doesn't wish Thorrson to go, fearing the king will not return. Sven and Thorsson send a group of warriors to kill the Beast. The Beast kills many and only Sven and a few remaining warriors escape. The beast captures the king and keeps him prisoner. The beast appears to know Thorrson but Thorsson doesn't recognize him.

Sven and the others return to the island. Sven tells Freya what had happened, but tells her that her father had been slain by the beast. Freya calls them all cowards.

Later Freya tries to get an army together to go back and save her father (whom she believes to be alive). However, no one will join her and Sven reminds her that he is now king and that she is betrothed to him.

Freya and Ingrid go to the island alone to rescue her father. The Beast finds them and lets Ingrid and the King go under the condition that Freya stays. Freya consents to the Beast's wishes. Ingrid returns to Thorsson's village, where she tries to convince the people to go and rescue her friend. Sven refuses to take action, saying that what's important is that the king is safe, and he will not risk his life over Freya's foolishness.

Eric steps forward and tells everyone they've all been acting like cowards. He also says he'll go and save the king's daughter himself if Sven does not dare. Sven, not wanting to look like a coward, angrily agrees to send an army back to fight the beast and rescue Freya.

Meanwhile Freya and the Beast begin to develop a friendship with each other. The Beast tells Freya that Agnar, one of King Thorrson's warriors and the man she loves died. Agnar killed Odin's creature so he was cursed by Odin to roam the island as a replacement. With each passing moon, Agnar slowly becomes more and more animal. The curse will cause Agnar to live forever as half-man, half-animal unless the spell can be broken, which involves the sacrifice of a loving heart. Agnar had tried to find out how to break the spell but has never figured out the riddle. Freya tells him her people will probably come back for her and kill him. The Beast says they can't stop the curse, but Freya is unsure.

Sven returns to the island with an army and confronts the Beast. Freya tries to stop them, by telling them the beast is not a monster. Sven does not listen to her, thinking the Beast has fooled her mind. Sven and the Beast fight and ends with Sven shooting him. The warriors set the island afire and return home with Freya.

That night there is a full moon and Odin's curse resurrects the Beast. The Beast journeys to Freya's home where Thorsson has recovered from his illness and is once again king. He enters the throne room and tells everyone he is really Agnar and that he wants Freya as his bride and to be leader of the clan. Sven challenges Agnar to a fight. Sven nearly slays the Beast when Freya, not wanting Agnar to die, comes between them. Sven's spear, which would have slain the Beast, slays Freya instead, and the Beast stabs Sven with his sword, killing him.

As the Beast holds the dying Freya in his arms, Freya's sacrifice breaks the curse and the Beast is Agnar once again. The movie ends with Freya's body sent out to sea.
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