Most of Jean Cocteau’s films are personal and poetic, and his Beauty and the Beast loses little of his signature qualities for being based on someone else’s text: Jeanne-Marie Leprince De Beaumont’s tale of a young woman who goes to live with a monster to save her father’s life. Disney later made this story more cuddly, but Cocteau’s big, furry beast—played by his lover, Jean Marais—is none too intimidating, and this version of the story has a few Hollywood-ish flaws (notably a perfunctory ending). What distinguishes the 1946 fable is its otherworldly vibe—it plays like a cross between a silent film and a waking dream—and its witty visual touches, from the handwritten credits to the disembodied hands that serve the beast and his pretty captive in the otherwise unpopulated magic castle. Now meticulously restored, Cocteau’s film is one of surrealism’s most enchanted relics. At 6:45 and 8:45 p.m. (see Showtimes for other dates) at the American Film Institute’s Silver Theatre and Cultural Center, 8633 Colesville Road, Silver Spring. $8.50. (301) 495-6700. (Mark Jenkins)