What’s Happening on Hulu
April 30, 2012
Film Info
- France
- 1950
- 95 minutes
- Black and White
- 1.33:1
- French
- Spine #68
Jean Cocteau’s update of the Orpheus myth depicts a famous poet (Jean Marais), scorned by the Left Bank youth, and his love for both his wife, Eurydice (Marie Déa), and a mysterious princess (Maria Casarès). Seeking inspiration, the poet follows the princess from the world of the living to the land of the dead, through Cocteau’s famous mirrored portal. Orpheus’s peerless visual poetry and dreamlike storytelling represent the legendary Cocteau at the height of his powers.
Cast
| Orpheus | Jean Marais |
| Heurtebise | François Périer |
| The princess | María Casares |
| Eurydice | Marie Déa |
| The man | Henri Crémieux |
| Aglaonice | Juliette Gréco |
| Writer | Roger Blin |
| Cégeste | Edouard Dermithe |
| The inspector | Pierre Bertin |
| First judge | Jacques Varennes |
| Hotel manager | Jean-Pierre Melville |
Credits
| Director | Jean Cocteau |
| Written and directed by | Jean Cocteau |
| Producer | André Paulvé |
| Production manager | Émile Darbon |
| Editing | Jacqueline Sadoul |
| Sound | Calvet |
| Makeup | A. Marcus |
| Costumes | Marcel Escoffier |
| Sets | Jean d'Eaubonne |
| Cinematography | Nicolas Hayer |
| Music | Georges Auric |
Disc Features
- New, restored digital transfer (box set edition); new digital restoration (two-DVD and Blu-ray editions), with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
- Audio commentary featuring French-film scholar James S. Williams (two-DVD and Blu-ray only)
- Jean Cocteau: Autobiography of an Unknown (1984), a feature-length documentary (two-DVD and Blu-ray only)
- Jean Cocteau and His Tricks (2008), a video interview with assistant director Claude Pinoteau (two-DVD and Blu-ray only)
- 40 Minutes with Jean Cocteau (1957), an interview with the director (two-DVD and Blu-ray only)
- In Search of Jazz (1956), an interview with Cocteau on the use of jazz in the film (two-DVD and Blu-ray only)
- La villa Santo-Sospir (1951), a 16 mm color film by Cocteau (two-DVD and Blu-ray only)
- Gallery of images by French-film portrait photographer Roger Corbeau (two-DVD and Blu-ray only)
- Raw newsreel footage from 1950 of the Saint-Cyr military academy ruins, a location used in the film (two-DVD and Blu-ray only)
- Theatrical trailer (two-DVD and Blu-ray only)
- PLUS: A new essay by author Mark Polizzotti and an essay on La villa Santo-Sospir by Williams (two-DVD and Blu-ray); and an excerpted article by Cocteau on the film (box set, two-DVD, and Blu-ray)
New cover by Fred Davis (two-DVD and Blu-ray editions); new cover by Gordon Reynolds (box set edition)
Current Posts
Announcements
Photo Galleries
Three Reasons
Film Essays
Orpheus
By April 24, 2000
When I make a film, it is a sleep in which I am dreaming. Only the people and places of the dream matter. I have difficulty making contact with others, as one does when half-asleep. If a person . . . Read more »
Film Essays
Orpheus
By April 24, 2000
When I make a film, it is a sleep in which I am dreaming. Only the people and places of the dream matter. I have difficulty making contact with others, as one does when half-asleep. If a person . . . Read more »
Announcements
Photo Galleries
Orpheus: Through a Glass, Amorously
By August 30, 2011
Cocteau achieved his goal of poetry on celluloid, and then some, with this ultimate tale of love and death. Read more »
Three Reasons
Film Essays
Orpheus
By April 24, 2000
When I make a film, it is a sleep in which I am dreaming. Only the people and places of the dream matter. I have difficulty making contact with others, as one does when half-asleep. If a person . . . Read more »
