Les Enfants Terribles

A fragile teen (Edouard Dermithe) is hit with a snow shrouded stone at school and nursed back to health by his sister (Nicole Stephane), with whom he has an unhealthy relationship, which turns tragic when a female who stokes his desire is introduced into their inner circle and jealousies are inflamed. From Jean Cocteau's popular novel, who worked closely with director Jean-Pierre Melville during the production, Les Enfants Terribles is a smarmy, obnoxious, and vapid translation though incredibly directed and with a fine performance from Stephane.

** 1/2 out of ****

Orpheus

When a fellow poet is killed following a riot at a cafe, death obsessed Orpheus (Jean Marais) is escorted along with the corpse to a mysterious castle by Death herself (Maria Casares) where the dark angel and her cohorts pass between Earth and the netherworlds. When he returns home, he is unwilling to account for his whereabouts to his suspicious wife (Marie Dea) who falls in love with Death's chauffeur (Francois Perier) and when she meets her untimely Demise, Orpheus follows her on an ill-fated trip to Hades. Much the same as with his masterful adaptation of Beauty and the Beast, I had difficulty getting into Jean Cocteau's take on the Greek Myth during its initial reality set stages until its fantastical passages were unleashed, which again here are imaginative and riveting. The casting too is perfect with each actor just right for their specifically defined characters.

Beauty and the Beast

Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont's fairy tale, which tells of a beautiful, kindhearted commoner (Josette Day) trading places with her imprisoned father held in an enchanted castle inhabited by a cursed, brutish creature (Jean Marais), was given a magical, bizarre, and overtly sexual interpretation by Jean Cocteau is his classic film. Following a few pedantic opening passages, which also feature Marais, here playing the cruel Avenant who also seeks Belle's hand, as soon as our heroine arrives at the Beast's fortress the picture takes on an otherworldly quality marked by enigmatic, seemingly inexplicable special effects that capture the imagination and put modern movies to shame.