DVD
Orpheus = Orphée
Call Number
- DVD FOREIGN (CEN)
Edition
Two-DVD special ed.
Languages
In French with English subtitles.
Performers
Jean Marais, François Périer, Maria Casarès, Marie Déa.
Publication Information
[Irvington, NY] : Criterion Collection, [2011]
Physical Description
2 videodiscs (95 min.) : sd., b&w ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 booklet (27 p. : ill. ; 19 cm.)
Audience
Not rated.
Summary
Jean Cocteau's update of the Orpheus myth depicts a famous poet, scorned by the Left Bank youth, and his love for both his wife, Eurydice, and a mysterious princess. 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.
Notes
Title from container.
Originally released as a motion picture in 1950.
Special features: audio commentary featuring French-film scholar James S. Williams ; "Jean Cocteau : autobiography of an unknown" (1984), a feature-length documentary ; "Jean Cocteau and his tricks" (2008), a video interview with assistant director Claude Pinoteau ; "40 minutes with Jean Cocteau" (1957), an interview with the director ; "In search of jazz" (1956), an interview with Cocteau on the use of jazz in the film ; "La villa Santo-Sospir" (1951), a 16 mm color film by Cocteau ; gallery of images by French-film portrait photographer Roger Corbeau ; raw newsreel footage from 1950 of the Saint-Cyr military academy ruins, a location used in the film ; theatrical trailer.