Orpheus Orphée

by Jean Cocteau

France
1950
91 min
French OV
Feature film
Science fiction
Black & White

Special screenings 2020

Official synopsis

I’ve loved this film for a long time. It dwells on the crossing between life and death, and it has a hyper poetic language imbued with surrealism. One can perhaps manage to derive a meaning from its series of incomprehensible words. Kompromat actually is a little influenced by that cryptic universe. There’s also a reflection on the writer's relationship with emptiness, with this idea of ​​trimming the text to achieve the perfect result... i.e. the absence of words. And then there’s Maria Casarès, my favorite actress, who cultivates a “sexy cold” posture that fascinates me. (— Rebeka Warrior)

Biography and Filmography

Jean Cocteau was a French poet, who also worked as a graphic designer, a designer, a playwright and a filmmaker. He published his first collection of poems at the age of 20. Appointed a member of the Académie française in 1955, he notably wrote the play “La Machine infernale” and the novel “Les Enfants terribles”. In addition, he directed the films “Beauty and the Beast” (1946), “Les Parents terribles” (1948) and “Orpheus” (1950).

Jean Cocteau

Jean Marais, François Périer, María Casares...

André Paulvé

Unzéro Films

by Jean Cocteau

Jean Cocteau was a French poet, who also worked as a graphic designer, a designer, a playwright and a filmmaker. He published his first collection of poems at the age of 20. Appointed a member of the Académie française in 1955, he notably wrote the play “La Machine infernale” and the novel “Les Enfants terribles”. In addition, he directed the films “Beauty and the Beast” (1946), “Les Parents terribles” (1948) and “Orpheus” (1950).