Versatile French poet, playwright, film director, and artist (1889–1963); among his best-known works are the novel Les Enfants Terrible and the film La Belle et la Bête. ALS in French, one page, 8.25 x 10.75, December 2, 1961. Letter to Jacques Lepage, editor of a literary magazine about an article concerning his last film “Le Testament d’Orphée.” In part (translated):“It is important for me to publish the text of the film because the public is distracted by images of a film and looks for symbols where there is none. This modern transposition tests Orphic initiation (own all the poets) will represent for our time and frivolous distractions…That's crusade Solitaire mentioned Unamuno.” In fine condition, with intersecting mailing folds and a couple trivial moisture drops to text.
In his last film, Testament de Orphée (Testament of Orpheus), Cocteau portrayed an 18th century poet who travels through time on a quest for divine wisdom. In his quest, he encounters several symbolic phantoms that bring about his death and ultimate resurrection. The motion picture, which also featured such notables as Pablo Picasso, Jean-Pierre Leáud, Jean Marais, and Yul Brynner, completes the story that Cocteau began in The Blood of a Poet, which explored relationship between the artist and his creations. although the films are highly regarded, Cocteau claimed that while making Testament of Orpheus, he considered much of what was being filmed as “absurd” and almost left portions of it on the cutting room floor. With that in mind, how intriguing is it that Cocteau took time to write this letter to a film journalist telling him that looking for symbols in his work is a waste of time!
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