'Les Enfants Terribles' is one of those great novels of childhood at which the French excel, full of vibrancy, caprice, terror, passion, danger, wonder, fun: its narrative is an allegory of that life-, body-, soul-changing move from childhood to adulthood.

But it is so much more. It is the great Surrealist novel, about the child-like way of looking at the dim, everyday world as marvellous, as new: a snow-blanketed street, a messy room, a trip to the seaside. It is a novel of rite, of theatre, of play; of the classical and the modern; a living Surrealist manifesto, where reality, dream and imagination conflate in a supreme act of transformation, as dependent on, yet transcending, the real world as the novel's heroes. It is poetry and imagination as King Midas; a moustache on a marble bust; the lightest and most profound book ever written.

Cocteau's novel is gem of a book which deals with the power of make-believe to transport the characters into worlds of their own making. Specifically, Les Enfants Terribles tells the story of a brother and sister who, after the death of their mother, create a sanctuary in one enchanted room and via their active imaginations. These fantasies become the axis on which their lives revolve until it spirals out of control and ends in a climax befitting a Greek tragedy. Reading this book is like reliving a fever dream in which the reality and fantasy blur.

I saw this movie on television, it was trasmitted at the dead of night, such a pity! The plot, acting, cocteau,s narrative and particularly the atmosphere created by use of Bach adaptation to the Vivaldi violin concerto was just awesome!

A magnificent collection of plays by Cocteau, this set includes Orpheus, Oedipus Rex, and a preposterous execution of Knights Of The Round Table. Most outstanding is the surreal Eiffel Tower, in which inanimate objects possess mortal properties, and subsequently performing a play within a play. More comprehensive than what he put to film, nevertheless Cocteau writes in a minimalist mark that makes this book a fast yet enjoyable read. Also check out the novels Les Enfant Terrible and Opium.

you know.. like whateve

Cocteau seems to turn up in most unusual places. First he is praised by no less a figure than Edith Wharton, then he is hobnobbing with Proust, then off with Picasso, Diagalev, Stravinsky, and the Ballets Russes set, finally he is a film maker of the live action film of Beauty and the Beast. In between his life was filled with more living than should be allowed by law. Steegmuller's biography does justice to this life and probably will remain the definative text on the subject.

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Elisabeth and Paul, siblings, are orphaned in adolescence and build a private, closed world for themselves that slowly isolates them in their own brand of madness. When Elisabeth discovers that Paul is falling in love with a girl named Agatha (who reminds him of his childhood love Dargelos), she manipulates Gérard (who's in love with Elisabeth) into marrying Agatha. Paul tries to kill himself and confesses to Agatha, and the two piece together Elisabeth's treachery, leading to the story's final, implosive end. Cocteau's novel is magnificent, and wait until you see the movie based on this...

Cocteau is a genius. In Opium, Diary of a Cure, he recounts the experience of his recovery from opium addiction in 1929. He gives an account that sometimes touches on his moment to moment experiences of drug withdrawal, sometimes remarks on his current thoughts about other people and things in his world. Since he lived in the world of avante-garde French culture, his comments include Picasso or Satie. His descriptions and criticisms include references to his own works or to the climate of the period and offer a stunning look at his own thoughts in this extraordinary moment.

A surreal retelling of the Orpheus myth, filled with beautiful images painted by the characters' actions. Cocteau considered himself a poet, regardless of the media, and he lives up to his own image with Orphée. From the symbolism of Death releasing a bird, to the creepy vision of Orphée's severed head speaking, this is a work that inspires the mind and the soul.

Jean Cocteau's impressionistic poetry is simply amazing. It's in both English and French (and there's some famous erotic drawings by another artist included, which I found to be a little inappropriate) and contains about 20 poems. I loved every poem in the book and found modern allusions to them in bands like The Cure. I strongly recommend this to someone with a love for intellectual poetry.

The movie crew moves expediently to set up its shots. The director frantically worries that the power doesn't go out at a critical stage when the film is being developed. No, they aren't filming in Northern California during the rolling blackouts of 2001; it's 1945 France, still regrouping from the hardships of its Nazi occupation. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: DIARY OF A FILM is an excellent primary resource that documents the struggles of one French "crusader" to build up the momentum of its movie industry. It's a shame it's incomplete.

When Director Jean Cocteau started recording the progress of his masterpiece film, LA BELLE ET LA BÊTE, a couple of days before it started filming, not even he could have guessed the obstacles he'd have to overcome to finish it. Not only did he have to work around the frequent blackouts of the period, but health was a prevalent problem amongst the cast and crew (including himself), running overbudget was hurting his reputation with financiers, and even the weather slowed production when it failed to provide good lighting for exterior shots. This 1972 book, translated by Ronald Duncan, is a deliciously insightful account of putting a movie together from the director's point of view. It also includes photos, an introduction by George Amberg and Madame Le Prince de Beaumont's 18th century story.

As World War II ended, things were looking rosy for French cinema in the United States. Distributors were paying big bucks for rights to European movies--particularly France's. LE BELLE ET LA BÊTE was slotted as one of the five main contenders at the first International Cannes Film Festival. Journalists occasionally visited Cocteau to support his efforts with advance publicity, which he presents anecdotally.

There are some amusing moments when Cocteau confesses to being a poor director. He admits to being so caught up with the performance that he missed the cue to tell the camera to roll. It's also fun to guess the subtext of Cocteau's accounts. It seems he spends a lot of time with leading actor, Jean Marais, who he playfully nicknames Jeannot. He also does favors for his Beauty, Josette Day, but anyone with critical thinking skills can eventually figure out the true nature of Cocteau's relationship with Marais. Cocteau is fairly discreet about it, though.

George Amberg, who wrote the introduction for this edition, notes the biggest criticism of this book. Considering how few movies Cocteau directed, we never learn exactly what prompted him to choose the BEAUTY AND THE BEAST fairy tale, aside from one vague remark.

This book also overlooks the ideas of how Cocteau's ancillary creative details came about as well. Cocteau was a multi-talented artist and some of the information he withholds from his journal is disappointing. Although his documentation of the filming is rather thorough, a lot had to happen before that point. Preproduction on LA BELLE ET LA BÊTE actually began in 1943. This was when he made most of his creative decisions and it would have been endlessly fascinating for any creative person to learn what muse bit him when he decided to make those sconces human arms.

Likewise with the reception to the movie's release. The story of LA BELLE ET LA BÊTE doesn't end with its filming. When the movie was finally shown at Cannes, Cocteau met a disappointing response. Many people had expected LA BELLE ET LA BÊTE to shine as beacon for the French film industry and initial audiences repelled its uniqueness. They saw it as frivolous at a time they wanted verisimilitude. The only award it took at Cannes was for its music. Out of sheer frustration, Cocteau implored NEW YORK TIMES readers a couple of days before its American debut to understand that his movie is supposed to look different.

If Cocteau could see today's acclaim he would be more than satisfied. There are few current American movie fans who are aware of Rene Clement's LA BATAILLE DU RAIL, which won the best picture award at that first Cannes festival. AMERICAN CINEMATOGRAPHER has deemed LA BELLE ET LA BÊTE one of the 100 best-shot films of all time and recognizes Cocteau as one of the true creative pioneers in film history.

The addition of Beaumont's story, which was the basis for Cocteau's retelling, is an intriguing touch and shows how sophisticated readers have become since its initial release in the 18th century. It provides story information instead of presenting pertinent conflict on stage. The Beast is not at maximum capacity when he tells the Merchant he is going to ruthlessly kill him, then gives the old man a three-day furlough to say goodbye to his family. The Merchant is stupid for intending to go back.

Despite its shortcomings, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: DIARY OF A FILM is a wonderful book for anyone interested in filmmaking. It's an excellent memoir of a fabulous movie, but it would've been even more fulfilling if Cocteau had started with preproduction and let us join him for the audience response.

Cocteau's diary on the making of his most famous film - "La Belle et la Bête" (1946) - recounts an almost endless series of obstacles that he encountered during its production. From illnesses (everyone involved seemed to suffer some significant ailment or injury during production) to production problems (bad film stock, unworkable cameras) to union disputes, the film was almost plagued from the start.

At times this litany of woe and frustration can be quite tedious - when Cocteau goes into a detailed discussion of his ezcema and other physical maladies, I tuned out. But it's still a fascinating look at not only how he pulled all the elements together (although his entries for the editing process are rather short) but also what filmmaking was like during a difficult time in French history. His depictions of his stars, Jean Marais and Josette Day, are quite interesting too. And the book shows perhaps better than many textbooks how the different talents on a film set contribute to the final result.

The book probably won't be enjoyable to those who haven't seen the movie (at least a few times) but for those who really admire this film, this behind-the-scenes look is a real treat.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who has seen Jean Cocteau's fil version of "Beauty and the Beast" The book is the diary of the film. There are some great photos in it as well.

Long ago, in a city far, far away, Pablo Picasso and some Montparnasse artist colony friends went cafe-hopping. The future film director Jean Cocteau, on leave from the Western Front, snapped pictures of the group indoors and out. Time passed, the friends went their separate ways, and the pictures were dispersed into different hands. Three-quarters of a century later, a Swiss electrical engineer collecting photos of the Montparnasse scene discovered that several of the photos seemed to have been taken at the same time. This book is the story of how he discovered other photos in the series in different collections around the world, how he discovered the identity of the photographer, and how he pinpointed the day and time the pictures were taken. This is an amazing book, as much for the ten-plus years it took to sleuth this story out as for the fact that anyone did it at all. The author, once he went to extraordinary lengths to collect these photos, even consulted the French Bureau of Longitudes to analyze the shadows in the pictures, in order to fix the time of day. So, what do we have? Pictures of Picasso as a man in his mid-thirties (with a full head of hair!), posing in cafes and on the street with other artists, notably Modigliani and Kisling, and his then current amour, and other acquaintances. They cheerfully pose and mug for their friend Cocteau. And that's it, really. The text relates the story of how these photos were taken, and how the author discovered when, where, and by whom they were taken. As if that wasn't impressive enough, he then adds chapters which deduce what kind of camera Cocteau used, maps of the area with the camera angles plotted, and selections of drawings, diaries, and correspondence that illustrate one detail or other of the pictures. It's all very interesting, in a headache-inducing way--rather like contemplating a picture painted on a grain of rice. And all this for the sake of recovering a long-ago afternoon of bar-hopping! _Le recouvrement du temp perdu_, indeed.

I havent ever seen a book like this before. Reading this book and following the complete pictures is the next best thing to having a time machine.This book answers those questions that we never had answered like how was he with his friends? etc. You will enjoy it.