Movie's ratings

    Les parents terribles

    Country
    Runtime 1 hr 45 min
    Premiere: World December 1, 1948
    Premiere: USA $11 818 April 22, 1950
    theaters 1
    rollout 221 days
    Digital: World October 30, 2018
    Production Companies Les Films Ariane

    Description

    Michel is in love with Madeleine, so he decides to tell his parents of his intention to marry her. He thinks his announcement is innocent enough; his engagement, however, threatens to reveal dark secrets lurking within his family’s home.

    Сast and Crew

    The Book Behind the Film "Les Parents Terribles" (1948)

    About the Book

    The film "Les Parents Terribles" is based on a play of the same name by Jean Cocteau. The play, written in 1938, is a dramatic exploration of family dynamics, love, and betrayal. It delves into the complexities of familial relationships and the destructive nature of possessive love.

    About the Author

    Jean Cocteau was a multifaceted French artist known for his work as a poet, playwright, novelist, designer, and filmmaker. His contributions to the arts were significant, and he was a prominent figure in the avant-garde movement. Cocteau's works often explored themes of love, beauty, and the supernatural, and he was known for his innovative and poetic style.

    Adaptation and Faithfulness to the Book

    The film adaptation of "Les Parents Terribles" remains quite faithful to Cocteau's original play. The screenplay, also written by Jean Cocteau, captures the essence of the play's intense emotional drama and the intricate relationships between the characters. The film successfully translates the theatrical experience to the screen, maintaining the play's tension and emotional depth.

    Key Themes

      • Family Dynamics: The play explores the complex and often toxic relationships within a family.

      • Possessive Love: It examines how love can become possessive and destructive.

      • Betrayal: The narrative delves into themes of betrayal and the consequences it brings.

    Production

    Cocteau made the important decision that his film would be strictly faithful to the writing of the play and that he would not open it out from its prescribed settings (as he had done in his previous adaptation, L'Aigle à deux têtes). He wrote no additional dialogue for the film, but substantially pruned the stage text, making the drama more concentrated. He did however reinvent the staging of the play for the camera, employing frequent boldly framed close-ups of his actors, and he made full use of a mobile camera to roam through the rooms of the apartment, emphasising the claustrophobic atmosphere of the setting. The translation from theatre to screen was a challenge which Cocteau relished: he wrote, "What is exciting about the cinema is that there is no syntax. You have to invent it as and when problems arise. What freedom for the artist and what results one can obtain!".

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