Jean Cocteau
Known for
Jean Cocteau was a French director, poet, and artist born in Maisons-Laffitte, one of the twentieth century's great multidisciplinary figures who brought a surrealist, myth-infused sensibility to French cinema. The Blood of a Poet, an early experimental work full of dreamlike imagery, established his interest in the unconscious, while Beauty and the Beast turned a fairy tale into a work of haunting visual poetry through in-camera effects and stylized design. Orpheus reimagined the Greek myth as a meditation on death and artistic inspiration, a theme he closed with Testament of Orpheus late in his career. Better known internationally as a writer and artist, Cocteau nonetheless left a body of film work whose dreamlike visual imagination continues to influence fantasy and art cinema alike.
Jean Cocteau
34 Directed
Jean Cocteau was a French director, poet, and artist born in Maisons-Laffitte, one of the twentieth century's great multidisciplinary figures who brought a surrealist, myth-infused sensibility to French cinema. The Blood of a Poet, an early experimental work full of dreamlike imagery, established his interest in the unconscious, while Beauty and the Beast turned a fairy tale into a work of haunting visual poetry through in-camera effects and stylized design. Orpheus reimagined the Greek myth as a meditation on death and artistic inspiration, a theme he closed with Testament of Orpheus late in his career. Better known internationally as a writer and artist, Cocteau nonetheless left a body of film work whose dreamlike visual imagination continues to influence fantasy and art cinema alike.
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8 x 8: A Chess-Sonata in 8 Movements
Full Filmography
Les parents terribles
Writer
2022
Film
The Human Voice
Writer
2021
Film
The Human Voice
Story
2021
Film
The Human Voice: A Story for Our Times
Story
2020
Film
The Human Voice
Writer
2019
Film
Poulenc's The Human Voice / Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle
Writer
2018
Film
The Human Voice
Story
2018
Film
The Human Voice
Writer
2018
Film
The Human Voice
Story
2016
Film
Photos
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Jean Cocteau still alive?
Jean Cocteau passed away on October 11, 1963 at age 74.
What are the most famous roles of Jean Cocteau?
Jean Cocteau is best known for directing Beauty and the Beast, Orpheus, The Blood of a Poet.
How many movies has Jean Cocteau directed?
Over a 38-year career (since 1925), Jean Cocteau has directed or written 34 films and worked on 0 TV shows.
What was Jean Cocteau's first movie?
The career of Jean Cocteau began with Parade ().
What is Jean Cocteau's most recent movie or series?
Jean Cocteau's most recent release is Les parents terribles, which premiered on December 2, 2022.
Jean Cocteau
1889-07-05 · Maison Laffitte, Yvelines, France
Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ kɔkto]; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, boxing manager, playwright, artist and filmmaker. Along with other avant-garde artists of his generation (Jean Anouilh and René Char for example) Cocteau grappled with the algebra of verbal codes old and new, mise en scène language and technologies of modernism to create a paradox: a classical avant-garde.[citation needed] His circle of associates, friends and lovers included Kenneth Anger, Pablo Picasso, Jean Hugo, Jean Marais, Henri Bernstein, Marlene Dietrich, Coco Chanel, Erik Satie, María Félix, Édith Piaf (whom he cast in one of his one-act plays entitled Le Bel Indifferent in 1940), and Raymond Radiguet.
His work was played out in the theatrical world of the Grands Theatres, the Boulevards and beyond during the Parisian epoque he both lived through and helped define and create. His versatile, unconventional approach and enormous output brought him international acclaim.Jean Cocteau, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.