The (five) characters in "Les Parents Terribles" never stop talking for a second. Sure, some of the talk is interesting, and all of it is very well acted, but it's quite exhausting. You get no respite from the talk, talk, talk. A few cinematic touches by Jean Cocteau cannot camouflage the fact that you are basically watching filmed theater; the film is based on Cocteau's own play and takes place entirely in four or five rooms, with no external shots whatsoever. There are some strong moments. **1/2 out of 4.
8 Reviews
Non Les Enfants Terribles.
morrison-dylan-fan7 April 2018
Warning: Spoilers
Recently buying Les Enfants Terribles,I started reading up online about the project from auteur icons Jean-Pierre Melville and Jean Cocteau. Making plans for films to view for an ICM poll on the best movies of 1948,I was surprised to learn from a DVD seller that the name of Melville's work was a reference to a '48 Cocteau,which led to me meeting the terrible parents.
View on the film:
Starkly standing out from his first three films, writer/director Jean Cocteau and cinematographer Michel Kelber trim the distinctive Surreal/ Fantasy stylisation for cramped, stage-bound locations. Following each person along as if they were cross to a different part of the stage, Cocteau allows his casts to fully explore their relationships in extended takes,with the addition of icy close-ups closing in on the vile from the parents.
Doing a second adaptation of his own plays in 1948, Cocteau superbly uses the isolated apartment to pull open the hateful views of Georges and Yvonne,who spit pure nihilism at the wide-eyed innocence of their son Michel. Reuniting from their magical Beauty and the Beast, Jean Marais and Josette Day proved they have not lost a drop of chemistry as Michel and Madeleine,via Marais threading Michel's passionate love for Madeleine between the fury of his family (played by the outstanding Yvonne de Bray/ Marcel André and Gabrielle Dorziat) and Day having Madeleine jump with giddy unease over meeting Les parents terribles.
View on the film:
Starkly standing out from his first three films, writer/director Jean Cocteau and cinematographer Michel Kelber trim the distinctive Surreal/ Fantasy stylisation for cramped, stage-bound locations. Following each person along as if they were cross to a different part of the stage, Cocteau allows his casts to fully explore their relationships in extended takes,with the addition of icy close-ups closing in on the vile from the parents.
Doing a second adaptation of his own plays in 1948, Cocteau superbly uses the isolated apartment to pull open the hateful views of Georges and Yvonne,who spit pure nihilism at the wide-eyed innocence of their son Michel. Reuniting from their magical Beauty and the Beast, Jean Marais and Josette Day proved they have not lost a drop of chemistry as Michel and Madeleine,via Marais threading Michel's passionate love for Madeleine between the fury of his family (played by the outstanding Yvonne de Bray/ Marcel André and Gabrielle Dorziat) and Day having Madeleine jump with giddy unease over meeting Les parents terribles.
The Folks Who Live In The Hell
writers_reign15 November 2006
Warning: Spoilers
This is Cocteau taking a leaf out of Marcel Pagnol's book by filming his own successful play using mostly the same cast. Determined not to 'open up' the play Cocteau confines himself to interiors that could be accomplished in a theatre via scene changes but whilst he succeeds in creating the claustrophobia of a small theatre he undermines his intention by featuring the kind of extreme close up (the scene, for example, where Michel exults about his love to Yvonne and we focus on her eyes as she absorbs this) that theatregoers would be unable to replicate even from a front row seat and employing opera glasses. This is primarily a vehicle for actors and in the main the performances match the writing - with the exception of Jean Marais who leaves a trail of sawdust in his wake - with Gabrielle Dorziat as tante Leo being the class act. As dysfunctional families go this one could give Gene O'Neill a run for his money. Momma Yvonne (Yvonne de Bray) has the hots for her son Michel (Marais) who has found (so he believes) true love in the shape of Madeleine (Josette Day) but the thing is Madeleine has been shacked up with Michel's father Georges (Marcel Andre) and, oh, I nearly forget, Aunt Leo (Dorziat) was in love with Georges herself but stood aside in favour of Yvonne; the parents prevail upon her to help split the young lovers and while she initially agrees she has a change of heart, something Yvonne could have used when she tops herself under the strain of it all. It's not exactly Les Bronzes or Le Pere Noel est un ordure but it is fairly classy and it's not, thank God, Nouvelle Vague.
The caravan continues on its way.
brogmiller17 January 2020
Jean Cocteau wrote his play in 1938. After many trials and tribulations which were too numerous to be listed here he finally staged a hugely successful production with his ideal cast in 1946. He committed that production to celluloid in 1948 with the same cast.
The superlative framing, revealing close ups and unusual camera angles, including overhead, from Michel Kelber, sets by Christian Bérard that are characters in the drama, sparingly used score by Georges Auric and ensemble playing of the highest quality must make this a leading contender for the title 'best filmed play'.
Yvonne de Bray, the original dedicatee , Gabrielle Dorziat, Marcel André, Jean Marais and Josette Day all perform their roles with the same energy as they would within the proscenium arch but still succeed in remaining filmic.
A magnificent piece of theatre thankfully immortalised on film. Here Cocteau has also included the centuries old ritual of 'les trois coups' prior to the curtain rising; a great theatrical tradition.
Jean Marais came full circle in the late 1970's when he directed this play and took the part of the father.
The superlative framing, revealing close ups and unusual camera angles, including overhead, from Michel Kelber, sets by Christian Bérard that are characters in the drama, sparingly used score by Georges Auric and ensemble playing of the highest quality must make this a leading contender for the title 'best filmed play'.
Yvonne de Bray, the original dedicatee , Gabrielle Dorziat, Marcel André, Jean Marais and Josette Day all perform their roles with the same energy as they would within the proscenium arch but still succeed in remaining filmic.
A magnificent piece of theatre thankfully immortalised on film. Here Cocteau has also included the centuries old ritual of 'les trois coups' prior to the curtain rising; a great theatrical tradition.
Jean Marais came full circle in the late 1970's when he directed this play and took the part of the father.
Mother,you had me and I always had you but...
dbdumonteil28 September 2002
The parents have rarely been more selfish and nastier than in this Cocteau play.Only Tennessee Williams's Mrs Venable in "suddenly last summer" can compete with Yvonne.Over-possessive to the power of 100,under her bourgeois mask,she is absolutely terrifying.And what about the father?He has an affair with Madeleine,who -coincidence- is in love with his son Michel.And when there's somebody who must sacrifice himself..it won't be him.
The play was ideal for cinema because the atmosphere is stifling,a constant huis clos where the characters are often filmed in close-ups:the parents 'faces exudes meanness,fear of getting old and ugly.Their apartment is deservedly called "la roulotte"(the trailer)as it seems as tiny as their occupants' heart.The only generous person is aunt Leo (Gabrielle Dorziat,dazzling as ever) who tries to save the young couple,because she knows what an unfulfilled life means;when she was young,she used to love her brother-in-law,Yvonne's now husband and she sacrified herself for her ungrateful sister.
Michel (Jean Marais ,a bit too old for the part but his gusto and his dynamism easily makes up for it) and Madeleine (Josette Day,who had already teamed up with Marais in classic "la belle et la bête") are unfortunate victims of the boy's old folks .
It 's untrue to say,as a precedent user mentions,that the nouvelle vague was rebelling against Jean Cocteau.He was never a target for them as was for instance,Jean Delannoy(who teamed up with Cocteau several times :"l'éternel retour"(1943) and "la princesse de Clèves" (1961).)
Cocteau is a monstre sacré.His works will outlive most of Godard's farces.I do hope they will.
The play was ideal for cinema because the atmosphere is stifling,a constant huis clos where the characters are often filmed in close-ups:the parents 'faces exudes meanness,fear of getting old and ugly.Their apartment is deservedly called "la roulotte"(the trailer)as it seems as tiny as their occupants' heart.The only generous person is aunt Leo (Gabrielle Dorziat,dazzling as ever) who tries to save the young couple,because she knows what an unfulfilled life means;when she was young,she used to love her brother-in-law,Yvonne's now husband and she sacrified herself for her ungrateful sister.
Michel (Jean Marais ,a bit too old for the part but his gusto and his dynamism easily makes up for it) and Madeleine (Josette Day,who had already teamed up with Marais in classic "la belle et la bête") are unfortunate victims of the boy's old folks .
It 's untrue to say,as a precedent user mentions,that the nouvelle vague was rebelling against Jean Cocteau.He was never a target for them as was for instance,Jean Delannoy(who teamed up with Cocteau several times :"l'éternel retour"(1943) and "la princesse de Clèves" (1961).)
Cocteau is a monstre sacré.His works will outlive most of Godard's farces.I do hope they will.
What the French New Wave filmmakers were rebelling against
psteier29 August 2000
The film's plot seems ready to turn it into a farce, but the humor is weak and the pace is leisurely. Well acted and decorated, but not about people I'm interested in.
For hard core Jean Cocteau or French film fans only.
For hard core Jean Cocteau or French film fans only.
A fun tragi-comic farce from one of the cinema's best poets.
PaulR-32 August 2000
Jean Cocteau was one of the few artists capable of bridging the gap between reality and the wondrous magic of existence. His "La Belle et la Bete" (1946), and even more so "Orphee" (1949), were masterful and inventive suspensions of reality for the sake of something infinitely more real..
"Les Parents Terribles" was not constructed in the same vein and is a rather simple story of a young man and his terrible parents. The endearing but doofus-like young man is played by the well-sculpted Jean Marais. Somehow, at 35, he looks younger in this film than he did in the 1943 "L' Éternel retour," which was also based on a Cocteau screenplay. The plot revolves around the young man's naive love for a girl who's been having an affair with his dad. Yvonne de Bray (somehow reminding me of Gloria Swanson in "Sunset Boulevard") gives an excellent incestual performance as Marais's clingy mother. The story's melodrama chugs along smoothly and only falters for me during one of the last scenes, where it spills too far over the top. Ultimately, the movie is a very enjoyable farce, even if nowhere near Cocteau's true wizardry.
"Les Parents Terribles" was not constructed in the same vein and is a rather simple story of a young man and his terrible parents. The endearing but doofus-like young man is played by the well-sculpted Jean Marais. Somehow, at 35, he looks younger in this film than he did in the 1943 "L' Éternel retour," which was also based on a Cocteau screenplay. The plot revolves around the young man's naive love for a girl who's been having an affair with his dad. Yvonne de Bray (somehow reminding me of Gloria Swanson in "Sunset Boulevard") gives an excellent incestual performance as Marais's clingy mother. The story's melodrama chugs along smoothly and only falters for me during one of the last scenes, where it spills too far over the top. Ultimately, the movie is a very enjoyable farce, even if nowhere near Cocteau's true wizardry.
Stifling, overwhelming.
manxman-111 October 2002
Claustrophobic melodrama in which the son wishes to marry the father's mistress and everyone tiptoes around trying not to spill the beans. Very well acted but stifling in its lack of exteriors and guaranteed to drive you into the arms of the nearest bartender.
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