Date: Tue, 23 May 1995 08:09:09 -0400 
      From: MCINTYRE@PA.MSU.EDU 
      Subject: Re: Jean Cocteau and Jean Cocteau and Jean Cocteau again


>  Cocteau was also present in Paris prior to even the twenties...over
>the years, he even dabbled in fashion illustration and heroine.  Read
>about him if you like; the biography "Cocteau" by Francis Steegmuller
>is very interesting.  Does anyone know about other films like the
>death of a poet or (something about) orpheus? The stills from them in
>that book are just godlike :)

Cocteau had quite a varied career, films, poetry, set design for a
Stravinsky opera, etc.  I'll second the recommendation of the Steegmuller
biography and suggest Cocteau's own writings.  His diaries have been
published, including _Diary of A Film_, his account of the filming of
_Beauty and The Beast_.  (And those of you who only know the story from the
Disney version are most strongly urged to check out Cocteau's version where
the fairy tale is presented with real magic.)  An interesting antecdote is
how Cocteau came to make _Beauty and the Beast_.  Jean Maris, his leading
man, felt he wasn't getting proper respect from the critics who dismissed
him as just a pretty face.  Maris asked Cocteau to give him a role in which
he could prove he was an actor, and Cocteau cast him as the Beast.  And
Maris came through wonderfully.

_Orpheus_ is a somewhat strange updating/retelling of the Greek myth set in
post-WWII Paris.  There's some wonderful shots of Death going in and out of
mirrors with the explanation that "Mirrors are the means by which Death
moves from one world to the next.  Look in any mirror and see Death at
work."

_Blood Of A Poet_ is extremely surreal, which in my lexicon means "visually
stunning but darned if I know what it *means*." (-8  However, the one time
I saw it was without subtitles and there is a lot of French narration, so
perhaps those who can handle the language barrier can interpret for those
of us who are limited to a poor grasp of English.

John McIntyre
Physics - Astronomy Domine Dept
Michigan State University