Les enfants terribles (1950)

Director:

Jean-Pierre Melville
(more)

Writers:

Jean Cocteau (novel)
Jean Cocteau (adaptation)
(more)

Release Date:

28 July 1952 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Elisabeth is very protective of her teenage brother Paul, who is injured in a snowball fight at school and has to rest in bed most of the time...

Plot Keywords:

Brother Sister Relationship | Dead Teen Couple | Gay Interest | Paris France | Poison

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award.

Cast

Nicole Stéphane	...	Elisabeth
Edouard Dermithe	...	Paul
Renée Cosima	...	Dargelos / Agathe
Jacques Bernard	...	Gerard
Melvyn Martin	...	Michael
Maria Cyliakus	...	The Mother
Jean-Marie Robain	...	Headmaster
Maurice Revel	...	Doctor
Rachel Devirys
Adeline Aucoc	...	Mariette
Emile Mathys	...	Vice Principal
Roger Gaillard	...	Gerard's Uncle
Jean Cocteau	...	Narrator (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hélène Rémy

Directed by
Jean-Pierre Melville
Jean Cocteau		(uncredited)

Writing credits
Jean Cocteau		(novel)
Jean Cocteau		(adaptation and dialogue)
Jean-Pierre Melville		(writer) uncredited

Produced by
Jean-Pierre Melville	....	producer

Cinematography by
Henri Decaë

Film Editing by
Monique Bonnot

Production Design by
Emile Mathys
Jean-Pierre Melville

Costume Design by
Christian Dior		(dresses)

Makeup Department
Hagop Arakelian	....	makeup artist

Production Management
J. Boussard	....	assistant unit manager
J. Braley	....	production manager
Jean-Pierre Melville	....	production manager
Philip Schwob	....	unit manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Michel Drach	....	trainee assistant director
Jacques Guymont	....	second assistant director
Claude Pinoteau	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Jacques Carrère	....	sound mixer
Maurice Dagonneau	....	boom operator
R. Durand	....	sound recordist
Jacques Gallois	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
André Dino	....	still photographer
J. Thibaudier	....	camera operator

Editorial Department
Colette Charbonneau	....	assistant editor
Claude Durand	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Paul Bonneau	....	musical director

Production Companies

• Melville Productions

Distributors

• Gaumont (1950) (France) (theatrical) (as Gaumont Distribution)
• Arthur Mayer-Edward Kingsley (1952) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Silver Cine (1993) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• ARTE (2001) (Germany) (TV) (subtitled)
• Criterion Collection, The (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Homescreen (2009) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Moskwood Media (1998) (Netherlands) (VHS)

Also Known As:

Jean Cocteau's Les enfants terribles (France) (complete title)
The Strange Ones
Copiii teribili (Romania) [ro]
Die schrecklichen Kinder (West Germany) [de]
I ragazzi terribili (Italy) [it]
Los niños terribles (Spain) [es]

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

France

Language:

French | English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:18 (nf) | UK:12 (2000) | UK:X (1952) | UK:X (1976) (re-rating) | Australia:PG | Spain:18

Filming Locations:

Ermenonville, Oise, France

Company:

Melville Productions

Trivia:

Jean Cocteau was allowed a day of shooting, when Jean-Pierre Melville wasn't feeling up to the mark. Cocteau was to follow Melville's instructions exactly or do nothing at all. Eight shots in all, which were supposed to be of a summer's day but were done in midwinter in the rain.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes (2004) (VG)

Soundtrack:

Concerto in A minor for 2 violins and string orchestra (Opus 3, No. 8; RV 522)

Strange and at times unnerving masterpiece, French style.

It took time to build, but when things got really rolling, I felt things could not happen otherwise. The settings and actresses are truly fine. The musical score, simple and obsessive, is perfect for this almost naive plot of youth angst "avant la lettre". The final monologue of Elizabeth about "how we have to make our lives ugly, unlivable" is worth many bad French Literature we "ought to read".

While I cannot say it has any meaning, the "form" of this movie is so good one just forgets. I agree with Amazon's Tom Keogh that it may be "a harbinger of pop narcissism", I thought exactly the same. Some images are beautiful, like Liz moving in the garden with barren trees and a cloudy sky, prodding elegantly in a house that doesn't belong to her.

Doug Anderson on Amazon wrote a good summary and a great line: "the unwholesomeness of the bond is immediately apparent" "little blonde fascist versions of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton-". The thread he and another reviewer have is interesting. I pinch from there my end line: "In film the "how" is everything".