Jean Cocteau
Jean Cocteau
The Testament of Orpheus (1960)
RANKED:
5. Les Parents Terribles (1948)
Jean Cocteau's 1948 film "Les Parents Terribles" is an attempt to elevate his original stage play of the same name into something more suitable for cinema. Well, he succeeded. Through the twists and turns of this family drama, Cocteau employs experimental camerawork like bold close-ups and mobile cameras. The effect is something that allows the viewer to feel an uncomfortable intimacy within the claustrophobic landscape of the family's apartment. Critics went wild for the movie, and many considered this screen adaptation to far succeed its stage predecessor.
4. The Blood of a Poet (1932)
Jean Cocteau's landmark surrealist film "The Blood of a Poet" is the first film in a trilogy of works called "The Orphic Trilogy," with films spanning decades apart. This first installment is a series of images that delve into the subconscious mind of Cocteau, as he explores his own place in the artistic medium. Regardless of the interpretation of the piece, the film demands participation. Its surrealist nature cannot be explained through logic, but through emotion and an understanding on the subconscious level of thought.
3. The Testament of Orpheus (1960)
Not only is 1960's "The Testament of Orpheus" the final film in Jean Cocteau's "Orphic Trilogy," but it also happens to be the final film Cocteau would ever make. In this surrealist journey, an 18th century poet travels through time into a post-apocalyptic dreamwork of his own fictional constructions in order to achieve a rebirth as an immortal celestial being. Really, the film is a reflection on Cocteau's own life and work. Along the way, Cocteau poses himself questions about the nature of art and life, seemingly landing on the complete lack of separation between the two. Even more so, art can only connected to life through the one who creates it and lives long after their death as its own living, breathing lifeforce. Cocteau seemed to come to the conclusion that his work and his art would outlast him evermore, and so it did.
2. Orpheus (1950)
In his 1932 film "Blood of a Poet," Jean Cocteau realized and dramatized his own sense of subconscious thought. In what would some consider a direct follow up to this work, his 1950 film "Orpheus" would be another attempt to do the same. Taking the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, Cocteau infuses his own personal relationship with love, death, and art all into a contemporized version of the story. Our protagonist Orpheus, struggling with oncoming irrelevance, becomes obsessed with igniting and creative spark and somehow winds up chasing his death wife into the underworld. With the landmark "Orpheus," Cocteau completely subverts the fabrication of the film screen and immerses viewers into a portal of his own subconscious. Using a mythological parable, this film blends realism with fantasy and intertwines the two to the point of becoming inseparable.
1. Beauty and the Beast (1946)
I think most people are familiar with the story of "Beauty and the Beast," which was originally adapted from Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont's 1740 novel. However, the very first on screen adaptation of the famous French literary work was Jean Cocteau's 1946 film of the same name. Cocteau's film is like a dream you float through. Its visual metaphors, gorgeous imagery, rhythmic pace, fantastical dreamscape, hypnotic sounds of music, and poetically infused atmosphere all create a breathtakingly beautiful experience for the viewer. Made after France's fresh emergence from World War II, this magical film asks you to suspend your intellectualism and view Cocteau's dreamscape through the lens of childlike sympathy. To believe in magic and fantasy. It is an escape into another world. And it would be endlessly replicated for years to come.
Comments
Post a Comment