The Testament of Orpheus (1960)

 Jean Cocteau's "The Testament of Orpheus"


The 1960 film "The Testament of Orpheus" was not only the final installment in Jean Cocteau's "The Orphic Trilogy," it was also the final film in his legendary career. Cocteau had only directed 7 films in his entire filmography, but his legend was so much bigger than that. A dramatist of the stage, a poet, a painter, novelist, designer, and art critic, Cocteau was the closest thing to a "Renaissance Man" you could call in the 20th century. His final film, "The Testament of Orpheus" was a surrealist reflection of Cocteau's career as well as an observation of Cocteau's personal relationship to art and life.

It centers on Cocteau himself as an 18th century poet, as he travels through a dreamscape of his own works. Through these interactions, questions is posed regarding the nature of art and life. Cocteau melancholically reflects on his past works and what they mean in relation to his own connection to life and meaning.

All in all, I enjoyed the film. It definitely was a surreal experience and I enjoyed the ambiguity about many things in the film. It was also a nice send-off for Cocteau, who always managed to make interesting and engaging films that took you outside the realm of contextual narrative and into something strange and weird. What I got from this film: "Art and life and synonymous. To reflect upon art is to also reflect upon life and the self."




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rio Bravo (1959)

Image
  Howard Hawks' "Rio Bravo" To conclude the filmography of Howard Hawks, I watched his 1959 western film " Rio Bravo ." I've got to say that I was expecting a lot more out of this picture based on all the praise for the film. That is not to say that I didn't like it, it was a fine time at the cinema (I was not at the cinema, I was at home). I can't say that I should have expected more, as I'm not entirely that big of a fan of Howard Hawks. Even his best film (to me), " The Big Sleep " is arguably one of the weaker film noirs that I've seen. " Rio Bravo " is a film that apparently is a response to 1952's " High Noon ," which was an allegory about Hollywood's blacklisting and McCarthyism. Howard Hawks and John Wayne felt the film was anti-American and instead made " Rio Bravo " to broadcast an alternative perspective in which the hero of the story doesn't shy away from justice. I personally ha...
Read more

King Kong (1933)

Image
  Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Schoedsack's "King Kong" There are many post-Depression American 'box office' films that I have seen in my film studies journey. Most of these post-Depression box office films don't typically sit right with me. The films I have in mind are the gangster and monster films that swept the nation in the early 1930s. These films typically were meant to placate an anxious American audience. However, the depth to their thematic intricacies leave something to be desired. Even without this depth, the 'entertainment' aspect of these films were not very entertaining to me. However, there is one film that utterly surprised me, 1933's adventure epic " King Kong ."   The story is well-known. A group of filmmakers travel to a remote island to take advantage of strange and interesting natural wildlife unknown to the outside world. There they meet an indigenous people, all terrified of a large, monstrous primate living on...
Read more

The Big Sleep (1946)

Image
  Howard Hawks' "The Big Sleep" After watching Howard Hawks' 1946 film noir " The Big Sleep ," I have to say that it is not one of my favorite film noirs. That being said, it was definitely the best Howard Hawks film I've seen thus far. It did not have the typical dark ending that permeates the whole film with bleak darkness, which probably made it a lesser noir for me. In fact, it felt more like a 'studio noir,' if that makes sense. I'm not going to go into the entire plot of the film, especially because the entire plot is incredibly convoluted. In fact, this was a major strike against the film at the time of its release. Many reported that they could not keep up with what was happening. I've got to say that, for myself, this was the case as well. I found myself having to rewind to figure out what exactly I missed or who was who. However, upon reflection, the convoluted plot may only add to the feverish intoxication of the film.  Because...
Read more