Le Testament d’Orphée [Testament of Orpheus] **** (1959, Jean Cocteau, Edouard Dermithe, Maria Casarès, François Périer, Henri Crémieux, Yul Brynner, Jean Marais, Claudine Auger) – Classic Movie Review 2985

Writer-director Jean Cocteau’s 1959 last film and movie final testament takes up where his first film Le Sang d’un Poète [Blood of a Poet] (1931) and arguably his most famous film Orphée (1950) left off.

An experimental film breaking the fourth wall, it exists in a magical surrealist landscape where Cocteau appears as Himself, The Poet, seeking the meaning of poetry and perhaps of life too, as he meets Cégeste (Edouard Dermithe) and is interrogated by Heurtebise (François Périer) and The Princess/Death (Maria Casarès) from Orphée.

Perhaps Le Testament d’Orphée lacks the coherence and sheer brilliance of Orphée, but the cast of Cocteau’s friends, colleagues and characters from his films, as well as the challenge and joy of trying to unravel the personal statement, make this haunting and sometimes magical journey well worth taking.

It also features Henri Crémieux (Le professeur / The Professor), Yul Brynner (L’huissier / Court usher), Jean-Pierre Léaud as Dargelos / The schoolboy, Daniel Gélin as L’interne / The intern, Pablo Picasso as Un ami d’Orphée/ Orphée’s Friend, Françoise Sagan as Une amie d’Orphée/ Orphée’s Friend, Charles Aznavour as Le curieux / The Curious Man, Claudine Auger as Minerve, Françoise Christophe as L’infirmière / The Nurse, Nicole Courcel as La mère maladroite / The Young Mother, Lucia Bose as Une amie d’Orphée/ Orphée’s Friend, Alice Heyliger as Eurydice, Brigitte Morisan as Antigone and Françoise Arnoul, Roger Vadim and Brigitte Bardot as themselves.

There’s only a walk-on cameo role this time for Jean Marais, star of Orphée, as Oedipe (Oedipus). François Truffaut is associate producer. Beautifully photographed in black and white by Roland Pontoizeau, and designed by Pierre Guffroy, with a wonderful score by Georges Auric (who also plays the trumpet), it proved Cocteau’s last film.

The full original title is Le testament d’Orphée, ou ne me demandez pas pourquoi!

http://derekwinnert.com/orphee-classic-film-review-117/

© Derek Winnert 2015 Classic Movie Review 2985

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com