Blu-ray: One of the greatest, visually poetic films of all time.
In French cinema, there are many filmmakers named Jean Renoir, Jean Vigo, Jean-Luc Godard, Jean-Pierre Melville, to name a few. But among these filmmakers who really never craved the spotlight was Jean Cocteau. A proud man with humility and creative talent that extends beyond cinema.
Before Cocteau was a playwright, a screenwriter, a director...he was one of the most prestigious, talented poets living in France.
At a young age, similar to Jean Vigo who suffered through pain throughout his childhood after the death of his father, Jean Cocteau lived a different life. Coming from a prominent family, like Vigo, at a young age, Jean Cocteau lost his father (who committed suicide).
Where a filmmaker like Vigo had cinema at a young age to escape reality, Cocteau had poetry.
In fact, his first volume of poems titled "Aladdin's Lamp" was created at the age of 19 and would eventually become popular through his poetry.
But it was World War...
"From Now On You Belong to the Other World"
I enjoy studying "Orpheus", my favorite of Cocteau's films for its sheer originality, cryptic whimsy, audio-visual conceptual risks, and superb musical score by Georges Auric. Each time I see it, more is revealed to me, thanks to the richness of the details and the underlying subtext. The picture switches effortlessly between "real-world life" and "dream world / underworld reality". This film features trick shots and special effects that are simple, yet state of the art for their time (as is also the case in "La Belle et La B
No comments:
Post a Comment