Jean Cocteau gave the cinema a truly abstract piece of work as his swansong, in which the mind of a poet (played by Cocteau himself) takes control of reality, twisting and re-moulding it until it bears not the slightest resemblance to reality as we know it in real life.
In this compelling tale of incestuous obsession, a teenage brother and sister, Paul and Elisabeth, create an intense, private world in their untidy shared single room. Within the room, they live, sleep, argue and play out their erotically charged games without heed to the real world going on around them. However, when outsiders intrude into their intensely private realm, the scene is set for tragedy. A hauntingly atmospheric adaptation of Jean Cocteau's 1929 claustrophobic hothouse novel, for which he also wrote the screenplay and provided the voice-over, the film is dominated by a performance of fierce intensity by Nicole Stéphane as the scheming heroine Elisabeth Les Enfants terribles brought two very different film-makers together for the first time the mercurial, multi-talented Jean Cocteau and the single-minded, self-sufficient Jean-Pierre Melville. Despite clashing with one another, what emerged is a unique film that is as true to Cocteau's vision as to Melville's. Special Features Newly restored in 4K and presented in High Definition Audio commentary by novelist and critic Gilbert Adair (2004) Interview with actress Nicole Stéphane (13 mins) Other extras TBC
Orson Welles, a hugely successful polymath who forged a career in film, radio and theatre, was little known for his TV work. In 1955, Associated-Rediffusion commissioned Welles to make his first television production, inviting him to write, direct and host a mini series. Despite its grand title, the series was filmed entirely in Europe. Part home-movie, part cinematic essay, each episode takes the viewer on a fascinating journey to see the famous people and places in key cities across the continent. In Paris, we are introduced to famous artists such as Jean Cocteau; in Madrid, we attend a bullfight; and in Vienna, in an episode which was long believed lost, we are taken to the locations of The Third Man. A unique and fascinating entry in the career of one of modern cinema's most revered figures, Around the World with Orson Welles finally receives its premiere DVD release from the BFI.
This stunning Jean Cocteau box set features Le Sang D'Un Poete (aka: The Blood Of The Poet) and Testament D'Orphee (aka: Testament Of Orpheus). Also an artist poet playwright and novelist Jean Cocteau is widely regarded as one of the most pioneering and important avant-garde directors cinema has produced. His debut Le Sang D'Un Poete and swansong La Testament D'Orphee are released here together in a boxset for the first time in the UK; made 30 years apart they bookend his filmic career and are both masterpieces of the avant-garde movement of which he was at the heart. Cocteau released 12 films in his lifetime including the award-winning La Belle Et La Bete (1946) perhaps his most accessible (and therefore well-known) work. Though often described as a poet first and foremost Cocteau's films were also infused with the phantasmorgorical surrealist imagery and rich symbolism characteristic of all his work. Le Sang D'un Poete (1930): In an artist's studio an unfinished statue comes to life. The lips of its androgynous face move pressing a kiss to the artist's hand. At the statue's demand he plunges it into a mirror. Le Testament D'orphee (1960): Jean Cocteau gave the cinema a truly abstract piece of work as his swansong in which the mind of a poet (played by Cocteau himself) takes control of reality twisting and re-moulding it until it bears not the slightest resemblance to reality as we know it in real life.
Orson Welles, a hugely successful polymath who forged a career in film, radio and theatre, was little known for his TV work. In 1955, Associated-Rediffusion commissioned Welles to make his first television production, inviting him to write, direct and host a mini series. Despite its grand title, the series was filmed entirely in Europe. Part home-movie, part cinematic essay, each episode takes the viewer on a fascinating journey to see the famous people and places in key cities across the continent. In Paris, we are introduced to famous artists such as Jean Cocteau; in Madrid, we attend a bullfight; and in Vienna, in an episode which was long believed lost, we are taken to the locations of The Third Man. A unique and fascinating entry in the career of one of modern cinema's most revered figures, Around the World with Orson Welles finally receives its world premiere Blu-ray release in this strictly limited, numbered edition from the BFI
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