DVD Les Enfants Terribles (DVD 1136849),
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Les Enfants Terribles

  • NR
  • DVD
  • 1 disc
  • Region 1 USA/CA (info)
  • Cinema giants Jean-Pierre Melville (THE WAGES OF FEAR) and Jean Cocteau (BEAUTY AND THE BEAST) collaborated to create LES ENFANTS TERRIBLES, a stunning portrait of surreal perversion and narcissism based on Cocteau's novel of the same name. When teenage Paul, the fragile protagonist, is mysteriously felled by a powerful snowball thrown by his dastardly and handsome idol, Dargelos, he returns home to recooperate under the unwilling care of his irascible sister, Elisabeth. The two share a bedroom in the home of their ailing mother. Within the their bedroom, the siblings have constructed a private universe of erotically charged jokes, elaborate rituals, and coded behavior sealing them off from the rest of the world. When their mother unexpectedly dies Paul and Elisabeth spiral even further into their own world, with Paul's fragile condition keeping him from returning to school. The incestuous undertones and poisonous ambiance are further complicated as Paul and Elisabeth are joined first by Paul's friend Gerard, who is obsessed with Elisabeth, and finally by Agathe, Elisabeth's coworker who is the spitting image of Paul's nemesis Dargelos. As the diabolical Elisabeth becomes unable to hide her dangerous love for Paul, the film heads for its high-pitched climax. Cocteau's tale of sublimation and deception comes to life under Melville's lucid direction.
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  • Additional Info
    Manufacturer Part Number (MPN): CC1707

  • Credits
    Edouard Dermithe, Jean Cocteau, Nicole Stephane
  • Critic Reviews
    "...A huge influence on the French New Wave directors, especially Francois Truffaut..." -- 3 out of 4 stars
    USA Today

    "...What starts as a study of two disgruntled French adolescents ends with the force of classical tragedy..."
    Sight and Sound

    "[I]n 1949 it must have been quite a shocker."
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