Synopsis
In his last film, legendary writer/artist/filmmaker Jean Cocteau portrays an 18th-century poet who travels through time on a quest for divine wisdom. In a mysterious wasteland, he meets several symbolic phantoms that bring about his death and resurrection. With an eclectic cast that includes Pablo Picasso, Jean-Pierre Leáud, Jean Marais and Yul Brynner, Testament of Orpheus (Le Testament de Orphée) brings full circle the journey Cocteau began in The Blood of a Poet, an exploration of the torturous relationship between the artist and his creations.
Cast
| The Poet | Jean Cocteau |
| Cégeste | Edouard Dermithe |
| The princess | María Casares |
| Oedipus | Jean Marais |
| Himself | Charles Aznavour |
| The court usher | Yul Brynner |
| The nurse | Françoise Christophe |
| The young mother | Nicole Courcel |
| The professor | Henri Crémieux |
| The intern | Daniel Gélin |
| The schoolboy | Jean-Pierre Léaud |
| Himself | Pablo Picasso |
| Heurtebise | François Périer |
Credits
| Director | Jean Cocteau |
| Written and directed by | Jean Cocteau |
| With technical assistance from | Claude Pinoteau |
| Cinematography | Roland Pontoizeau |
| Costumes and sculptures by | Janine Janet |
| Sets | Pierre Guffroy |
| Editing | Marie-Josèphe Yoyotte |
| Sound | Pierre Bertrand and René Sarazin |
| Makeup | Alexandre Marcus |
| Dame Distraite’s wardrobe by | Cristobal Balenciaga |
| Some special effects by | Pierre Durin |
| Masks | Bebko |
| Music | Georges Auric |
| Producer | Jean Thuillier |
Disc Features
- New digital transfer, with restored sound
- New English subtitle translation
- Villa Santo Sospir, a 16 mm color film by Cocteau featuring many of the locations used in The Testament of Orpheus
- A collection of Cocteau’s writings on the film
- A Cocteau bibliofilmography
From the Current
Testament of Orpheus
by Apr 24, 2000PREFACE A man who dozes, his mouth half open, in front of a wood fire, lets slip some secrets from that night of the human body that is called the soul, over which he is no longer master. The sentry of his mouth has fallen into a deep and imprudent sleep, and words escape . . .
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