Les Enfants Terribles
Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville
Written by Jean Cocteau based on his novel
1950/France
Melville Productions
First viewing/Hulu
[box] Narrator: A great mystery was made clear: Elisabeth hadn’t married him for his money nor his elegance or charm. She married him for his death.[/box]
If you like enigmatic, dreamlike movies, you will probably love this one. I don’t and didn’t.
We will use the term “plot” loosely. Elisabeth (Nicole Stephane) and Paul (Edouarde Dermithe) are brother and sister. They live in a big house with their mother, who is bed-ridden and appears to be terminally ill. They are both androgynous in appearance and look very much alike. The brother and sister bicker constantly. They also play some sort of secret game of their own invention that I never did really understand.
One day, Paul is hit in the chest by a snowball thrown by his bullying classmate Dargelos (Renée Cosima) and faints. His other friend Gerard tells the headmaster that the snowball contained a rock. Paul, who evidently has some sort of crush on Dargelos, denies this. Soon after, Paul is discovered to have a heart condition and is forbidden to return to school. Elisabeth now plays nursemaid to both her mother and her brother and complains about it the whole time.
Eventually, Elisabeth goes to work as a model. She is befriended by co-worker Agathe (also played by Renée Cosima). She brings Agathe home with her. Paul resents this. But sooner or later his friend Gerard is living with them as well.. The mother dies. Elisabeth marries a wealthy American who dies before the can have their honeymoon. The story devolves into sort of a weird homoerotic and incestuous love quadrangle. Paul sleepwalks a lot. It doesn’t end well.
The images are quite beautiful. The imagery is evocative. For someone with the correct sensibilities, I imagine the film would be really meaningul. It was not for me.
Trailer
