Monday 15 August 2005

Le Testament d'Orphee (1959)

This was the last film of director/poet/playwright/artist Jean Cocteau and it brings to a climax the various themes that appear in his works.  He stars as the poet who wanders through the unreal landscape meeting friends from the past, characters from his films and admirers from the present, among them Charles Aznevour and Pablo Picasso (who hams mightily during his thirty seconds of screen time). We even have Yul Brynner in a small part.  There is no linear story but only the fantasies of the poet's mind, as he presents us with images that burn into our memory.

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