398 Les enfants terribles

[Dylan]

Les enfants terribles

[img]http://criterion_production.s3.amazonaws.com/release_images/1034/398_box_348x490_w128.jpg[/img]

Writer Jean Cocteau and director Jean-Pierre Melville joined forces for this elegant adaptation of Cocteau's immensely popular, wicked novel about the wholly unholy relationship between a teenage brother and sister. Elisabeth (a remarkable Nicole Stéphane) and Paul (Edouard Dermithe) close themselves off from the world by playing an increasingly intense series of mind games with the people who dare enter their clandestine world—until romance and jealousy intrude. Melville's operatic camera movements and Cocteau's perverse, poetic approach to character merge in Les enfants terribles to create one of French cinema's greatest, and most surprising, meetings of the minds.

Special Features

• New, restored high-definition digital transfer
• Audio commentary by writer, film critic, and journalist Gilbert Adair
• New video interviews with producer Carole Weisweiller, actor Jacques Bernard, and assistant director Claude Pinoteau about the making of the film
• A 2003 interview with Nicole Stéphane
• Around Jean Cocteau (2003), a short video by director Noel Simsolo set during an exhibition of Cocteau's work at the Centre Pompidou in Paris
• Theatrical trailer
• Gallery of behind-the-scenes stills
• PLUS: A booklet featuring pieces by Gary Indiana and Nicole Stéphane, an excerpt from Rui Nogueira's Melville on Melville and drawings by Jean Cocteau

Criterionforum.org user rating averages

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I watched the BFI R2 of this film today and really enjoyed it. A truly haunting, and at moments invisibly erotic, tale of incest and jealousy. This is my first Melville and my first Cocteau (but I plan to see "Blood of a Poet," "Beauty and the Beast," etc. by Cocteau, and "Le Doulos," "Samourai," and the rest of Melvilles). The sexual tension between the brother and sister is brilliantly pulled off (without anything remotely explicit), the cinematography is beautifully hazy/shadowy black and white, the sets are nice, the end dream sequence is very interesting, the choice of music (Bach and Vivaldi) works very well, and the actors are good.

My favorite parts of the film were the seemingly precursing scenes to the New Wave, including Cocteau's wonderfully absorbing narration, the beautifully quick and rough shots of France, and the scene with the siblings and their friend stealing items from a shop (which seemed like something straight out of an early Godard).

True, a lot happens in this film, and it moves awfully fast in certain scenes (especially where key points in the film occur suddenly, then dissolving to a much later date in the story...though I'm positive that's what Cocteau and Melville intended). Some may even find it hard to get into (I didn't, personally, but I can see how it would be). However, it's a damn good film, and the last eight minutes are really something.

All in all, recommended for all of the lovers of old French cinema here.

[cafeman]

My favorite parts of the film were the seemingly precursing scenes to the New Wave,

Watch all the Melvilles and the Cocteaus, throw in some Resnais, and you`ll rezlise that New Wave never really happened at all.

[Lino]

and you`ll rezlise that New Wave never really happened at all.

Please expand.

[Poncho Punch]

I think he means that French cinema was just as vibrant and masterful in the 50s as it was when Truffaut, Godard and the others came along.

[Lino]

I still don't buy it.

[iangj]

However, it's a damn good film, and the last eight minutes are really something.

All in all, recommended for all of the lovers of old French cinema here.

Dylan

I'd recommend it too, although perhaps more for Cocteau than Melville fans. It's certainly very different from BOB LE FLAMBEUR, LE DOULOS or LE CERCLE ROUGE.

But I thought Gilbert Adair's commentary very disappointing - too many pauses so I ended up fast-forwarding through.

[Matt]

It's always been my opinion that the Nouvelle Vague was just a bunch of guys who got very lucky that:

1. they had a mouthpiece, Cahiers du Cinema, through which to spout their ideas.

2. lightweight film and sound recording equipment became available at the same time they became interested in making their own films.

3. the French film industry started giving away lots of money to filmmakers at the same time they became interested in making films.

But that's a topic for another thread. The real hard work that laid the groundwork for the Nouvelle Vague was done by pioneering, independent filmmakers like Melville and Varda. Anyone who thinks the Nouvelle Vague sprang fully formed from the Seine or something clearly doesn't know their film history.

[Lino]

Anyone who thinks the Nouvelle Vague sprang fully formed from the Seine or something clearly doesn't know their film history

Agreed. But I don't see anyone saying that in this thread. Even you have to acknowledge the fact that it was indeed a new form of filmmaking that decidedly broke away with the "cinema du papa" that was being made up until then (their expression, not mine).

I'm just trying to make cafeman come up with an explanation to my quote of his. He can't just say that and then run off (BTW, I enjoy reading your posts here, don't take this as an attack).

[Sai]

Agreed. But I don't see anyone saying that in this thread. Even you have to acknowledge the fact that it was indeed a new form of filmmaking that decidedly broke away with the "cinema du papa" that was being made up until then (their expression, not mine).

Well, no. They criticized a couple of filmmakers (like Claude Autant-Lara) that mostly adapted classic novels. They also recognized authors ranging from Hitchcock to Bergman. The filmmakers of the Nouvelle Vague also tried to make personal films. They did not 'break away' from the cinema du papa.

[Lino]

They did not 'break away' from the cinema du papa.

Are you saying that they didn't succeed in doing so or that that wasn't their point at all right from the start?

[ellipsis7]

2. lightweight film and sound recording equipment became available at the same time they became interested in making their own films.

The advent of faster emulsions were also a significant factor, to allow shooting 'on the hoof' in lower level light conditions.

As Godard says in HISTOIRE(S) DU CINEMA, the Nouvelle Vague was maybe the last generation that could readily view, embrace, absorb, analyse and criticise all the cinema that had gone before them, before moving forward themselves...

Nowadays the task would simply be too vast..

As regards this LES ENFANTS TERRIBLES DVD, Sight and Sound's review comments on the subtitles, deeming them 'clumsy (a version screened by Channel 4 made use of a much better translation) and there are several moments of dialogue left untranslated including a snatch of voicover at 20:32 (Channel 4's print accompanies this with a subtitle that reads, "Paul was the village idiot... a zero, a pathetic idiot to feel sorry for")'.

[zedz]

I'd recommend it too, although perhaps more for Cocteau than Melville fans. It's certainly very different from BOB LE FLAMBEUR, LE DOULOS or LE CERCLE ROUGE.

What I find so impressive about Les Enfants Terribles is the way in which Melville 'channels' Cocteau (and maybe even outdoes him). Although he exhibits his own distinctive style in the later crime films, he's also one of the most sensitive adapters in French cinema, with his style varying to meet the needs of the material. I think this can be seen especially well in Le Silence de la mer, in which he seems to anticipate the mature style of Bresson.

[Sai]

They did not 'break away' from the cinema du papa.

Are you saying that they didn't succeed in doing so or that that wasn't their point at all right from the start?

No, I'm saying that first of all, that the cinema du papa wasn't the only sort of cinema being made in France before the nouvelle vague got in. And secondly, it wasn't really a 'new form of filmmaking that decidedly broke away with the "cinema du papa"' in my opinion it was a more extreme version of personal filmmaking, which already existed (ranging from Hawks to Cocteau).

[Steven H]

As far as the Les Enfants Terribles subtitles go, even the clips shown in Nicole Stephane's interview seem better translated. Still an amazing film, and gorgeous transfer.

[Via_Chicago]

I just saw this stunning collaboration between Melville and Jean Cocteau for the first time and was blown away. Les Enfants Terrible is at once like and unlike all of Melville's other films. Certainly, it's choice of story is very different from the likes of Le Cercle Rouge, Le Samourai, and La Silence de la Mer, but the typical fatalism is all there. Dreamlike and haunting, this was one fascinating and highly entertaining movie.

Anyone else have thoughts on this one?

[David Ehrenstein]

It's one of kind -- a great artist entering the universe of another great artist. Melville was quite insistent on the fact that he produced, directed and executed the entire film, allowing Cocteau to direct only one brief scene at Momerency.

When the physician listens to Edouard Dermithe's heart it's the sound of Cocteau's heart that we hear.

I've always thought Dermithe a better actor than he's given credit for. Obviously he was no Jean Marais, but he's brilliant here and in Franju's great Cocteau adaptation Thomas l'Imposteur

[Via_Chicago]

I've always thought Dermithe a better actor than he's given credit for. Obviously he was no Jean Marais, but he's brilliant here and in Franju's great Cocteau adaptation Thomas l'Imposteur

I agree that Dermithe was very good, but after watching La Silence de la Mer, with its Bressonian-like restraint, Nicole Stephane was an absolute revelation here. For me, her greatest moment was that brief scene where she whispers her brother's sleep-walking to Gerard, only to explode into her brother's room the very next moment. Masterful.

[Tommaso]

Even if Melville insisted he made the film, the influence of Cocteau - who really was a very close collaborator - is unmistakable. Quite a similar thing to Delannoy/Cocteau's "L'eternel retour", which looks even more Cocteauish than a 'real' Cocteau film. Dermithe was more or less forced upon Melville by Cocteau, and apparently Cocteau endlessly interfered and quarelled with Melville on the shoot. It seems he won, making the film somewhat 'un-Melvillean' and rather Cocteau-like. It has the typical 'ethereal', over-aestheticized quality of many Cocteau films.

[zedz]

When I saw Le Silence de la mer about ten years ago it blew me away. What I see in this early Melville and Les Enfants terribles is a completely mature technical mastery from Melville and - what I think is the key - a collaborative generosity. So I agree with David H, but I definitely see what David E is getting at. Both films are 'literary' in the best possible sense, with Melville finding the perfect cinematic expression for the adapted text, and thus, in a sense, 'channeling' the author. This is why the pure bursts of text in Le Silence are so potent, and why I see this film as an anticipation of Bresson's style in Diary of a Country Priest. It's not that Bresson was aping Melville, or that the two directors were somehow soulmates (though I think Melville is rather more Bressonian - or vice versa - than is commonly acknowledged), but that, in these two films, fidelity to text yielded similar results.

Le Silence de la mer also seems to me to anticipate the Nevers sequences of Hiroshima mon amour, though there's an obvious similarity of content there. Pretty high powered company for a first feature, anyway. This film is just gagging for a Criterion-standard release. Is the Rene C DVD subbed?

[dave41n]

Not sure where this post belongs exactly (rumors and news possibly?).

Anyways, this is from a member at criterionforum.com:

A month ago I sent Criterion an e-mail asking if they had planned any Melville titles to release (this is before they announced Army of Shadows.) Anyway, here's the email:

"Dear Martin,

We have a few Melville titles on the schedule at the moment - his brilliant ARMY OF SHADOWS is due out in stores in May, and LES ENFANTS TERRIBLES is due out in July.

Thanks for your interest.

Best regards,
Kim Hendrickson "

[zedz]

This has been rumoured for some time, but here's a cross-referenced confirmation:

Not sure where this post belongs exactly (rumors and news possibly?).

Anyways, this is from a member at criterionforum.com:

A month ago I sent Criterion an e-mail asking if they had planned any Melville titles to release (this is before they announced Army of Shadows.) Anyway, here's the email:

Dear Martin,

We have a few Melville titles on the schedule at the moment - his brilliant ARMY OF SHADOWS is due out in stores in May, and LES ENFANTS TERRIBLES is due out in July.

Thanks for your interest.

Best regards,
Kim Hendrickson "

Ironic that this appears the very same day as MoC's far more exciting Melville news.

And that "few" bodes well for the future as well. Maybe we'll see Le Doulos towards the end of the year?

[PhilipS]

Ironic that this appears the very same day as MoC's far more exciting Melville news.

It is also ironic that this comes just after the passing of Nicole Stéphane, who appeared in both Le Silence de la Mer and Les Enfants Terribles. She died on March 13 according to Wikipedia.

[Via_Chicago]

Coupled with the news of an MOC release of Melville's sublime, masterful debut Le Silence de la Mer, I couldn't be happier.

The patrons at the cinema I work at who told me they adored Melville will be most pleased with this release. Army of Shadows has done wonders for Melville's critical and commercial rediscovery in the U.S. (and Rialto will soon be releasing new prints of both Le Doulos and Leon Morin, Pretre!).

[miless]

WOW...
Les Enfants Terribles
Ace in the Hole
Ivan's Childhood

ALL IN THE SAME TWO MONTH PERIOD!!!

I'm going to be broke soon.

[Lino]

YES! I've been putting off buying the UK release and it finally paid off. Now for more Jean Cocteau, please!