Jean Cocteau
French postcard by Fotofolio, N.Y., N.Y, no. PH8. Photo: Philippe Halsman, 1949. Caption: The Act of Creation.
French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic Jean Cocteau (1889-1963) was one of the most multi-talented artists of the 20th century. He was one of the creatives of the surrealist, avant-garde, and Dadaist movements. He is best known for his novels 'Le Grand Écart' (1923), 'Le Livre blanc' (1928), and 'Les Enfants Terribles' (1929); the stage plays 'La Voix Humaine' (1930), 'La Machine Infernale' (1934), 'Les Parents terribles' (1938), and 'L'Aigle à deux têtes' (1946); and the films Le sang d'un poète/The Blood of a Poet (1930), La belle et la bête/Beauty and the Beast (1946), Les Parents Terribles (1948), Orphée/Orpheus (1950), and Le testament d'Orphée/Testament of Orpheus (1960). He collaborated with the "Russian Ballet" company of Sergei Diaghilev and was active in many art movements, but he always remained a poet at heart.
Jean Maurice Eugène Cocteau was born in 1889 in Maisons-Laffitte, Seine-et-Oise (now Yvelines), France. Cocteau was born into a middle-class family. He began writing at 10 and was a published poet by age 16. From 1908, he was a frequent guest in artistic circles. In 1911, he wrote the libretto for 'Le dieu bleu, a ballet by the Ballets Russes. In 1917 came 'Parade', an avant-garde ballet by Cocteau, for which Pablo Picasso, among others, designed the sets and costumes and Erik Satie composed the music. In Guillaume Apollinaire's programme booklet, to describe the ballet, the word surréaliste was used for the first time. the ballet was not a great success, but it did establish Cocteau's name in the avant-garde of Paris. In 1920, Cocteau began a relationship with the aspiring writer Raymond Radiguet, then aged 17. Cocteau was openly bisexual. After Radiguet released 'Le Diable au corps', a period of productivity followed for Cocteau. This stopped in 1923, when Radiguet died of typhoid fever. Cocteau became addicted to opium in the period that followed. In 1926, he published 'Le rappel à l'ordre', a book of essays describing the renewed interest in traditions in the post-World War I period. In 1929, Cocteau wrote his best-known work, Les Enfants terribles'.
Jean Cocteau's film debut Le sang d'un poète/The Blood of a Poet (1930) starring Enrique Rive, was a grand experiment in an effort to capture the poet's obsession with the struggle between the forces of life and death. Because of the October 1930 scandal around Luis Buñuel's L'âge d'or (1930) - another film financed by Le Vicomte de Noailles and Marie-Laure de Noailles, the Paris premiere of this film was delayed until January 1932. The film is the first part of Jean Cocteau's Orpheus Trilogy (1932-1960); a loosely connected telling and re-telling of the well-known Greek legend. His favourite actor was his protégé and lover Jean Marais, who starred in La belle et la bête/Beauty and the Beast (1946), L'aigle à deux têtes (1948) and Les parents terribles (1948). In Cocteau's most important film, Orphee/Orpheus (1950), Marais is a poet who becomes obsessed with a Princess, Death (Maria Casares). They fall in love. Orphee's wife, Eurydice (Marie Déa), is killed by the Princess' henchmen and Orphee goes after her into the Underworld. Although they have become dangerously entangled, the Princess sends Orphee back out of the Underworld, to carry on his life with Eurydice. Cocteau made about twelve films in his career, all rich with symbolism and surreal imagery. In Le testament d'Orphée/Testament of Orpheus. Cocteau himself played the poet Orpheus who looks back over his life and work, recalling his inspirations and obsessions. In 1955, he became a member of the Académie française and he was also awarded the French Legion of Honour. Jean Cocteau died at the age of 74. Cocteau's house in Milly-la-Forêt was bought by the government on the initiative of a committee that wants to keep his memory alive. It was inaugurated as a Cocteau museum in 2010.
Sources: Alan Katz (IMDb), Wikipedia (Dutch and English) and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.
Jean Cocteau
French postcard by Fotofolio, N.Y., N.Y, no. PH8. Photo: Philippe Halsman, 1949. Caption: The Act of Creation.
French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic Jean Cocteau (1889-1963) was one of the most multi-talented artists of the 20th century. He was one of the creatives of the surrealist, avant-garde, and Dadaist movements. He is best known for his novels 'Le Grand Écart' (1923), 'Le Livre blanc' (1928), and 'Les Enfants Terribles' (1929); the stage plays 'La Voix Humaine' (1930), 'La Machine Infernale' (1934), 'Les Parents terribles' (1938), and 'L'Aigle à deux têtes' (1946); and the films Le sang d'un poète/The Blood of a Poet (1930), La belle et la bête/Beauty and the Beast (1946), Les Parents Terribles (1948), Orphée/Orpheus (1950), and Le testament d'Orphée/Testament of Orpheus (1960). He collaborated with the "Russian Ballet" company of Sergei Diaghilev and was active in many art movements, but he always remained a poet at heart.
Jean Maurice Eugène Cocteau was born in 1889 in Maisons-Laffitte, Seine-et-Oise (now Yvelines), France. Cocteau was born into a middle-class family. He began writing at 10 and was a published poet by age 16. From 1908, he was a frequent guest in artistic circles. In 1911, he wrote the libretto for 'Le dieu bleu, a ballet by the Ballets Russes. In 1917 came 'Parade', an avant-garde ballet by Cocteau, for which Pablo Picasso, among others, designed the sets and costumes and Erik Satie composed the music. In Guillaume Apollinaire's programme booklet, to describe the ballet, the word surréaliste was used for the first time. the ballet was not a great success, but it did establish Cocteau's name in the avant-garde of Paris. In 1920, Cocteau began a relationship with the aspiring writer Raymond Radiguet, then aged 17. Cocteau was openly bisexual. After Radiguet released 'Le Diable au corps', a period of productivity followed for Cocteau. This stopped in 1923, when Radiguet died of typhoid fever. Cocteau became addicted to opium in the period that followed. In 1926, he published 'Le rappel à l'ordre', a book of essays describing the renewed interest in traditions in the post-World War I period. In 1929, Cocteau wrote his best-known work, Les Enfants terribles'.
Jean Cocteau's film debut Le sang d'un poète/The Blood of a Poet (1930) starring Enrique Rive, was a grand experiment in an effort to capture the poet's obsession with the struggle between the forces of life and death. Because of the October 1930 scandal around Luis Buñuel's L'âge d'or (1930) - another film financed by Le Vicomte de Noailles and Marie-Laure de Noailles, the Paris premiere of this film was delayed until January 1932. The film is the first part of Jean Cocteau's Orpheus Trilogy (1932-1960); a loosely connected telling and re-telling of the well-known Greek legend. His favourite actor was his protégé and lover Jean Marais, who starred in La belle et la bête/Beauty and the Beast (1946), L'aigle à deux têtes (1948) and Les parents terribles (1948). In Cocteau's most important film, Orphee/Orpheus (1950), Marais is a poet who becomes obsessed with a Princess, Death (Maria Casares). They fall in love. Orphee's wife, Eurydice (Marie Déa), is killed by the Princess' henchmen and Orphee goes after her into the Underworld. Although they have become dangerously entangled, the Princess sends Orphee back out of the Underworld, to carry on his life with Eurydice. Cocteau made about twelve films in his career, all rich with symbolism and surreal imagery. In Le testament d'Orphée/Testament of Orpheus. Cocteau himself played the poet Orpheus who looks back over his life and work, recalling his inspirations and obsessions. In 1955, he became a member of the Académie française and he was also awarded the French Legion of Honour. Jean Cocteau died at the age of 74. Cocteau's house in Milly-la-Forêt was bought by the government on the initiative of a committee that wants to keep his memory alive. It was inaugurated as a Cocteau museum in 2010.
Sources: Alan Katz (IMDb), Wikipedia (Dutch and English) and IMDb.
And, please check out our blog European Film Star Postcards.