Jean Cocteau delighted in shocking the world. In pubic, at least, the image he presented was one of great daring -- a man eager to defy, willing to experiment, ready to challenge. Cocteau's achievements in almost every artistic medium -- including poetry, film, illustration, criticism, and ballet --[...]

This is a comprehensive, original and accessible account of all aspects of Jean Cocteau's work in the cinema. It is the first major study in English to appear for over forty years and casts new light on Cocteau's most celebrated films as well as those often neglected or little known. Jean Cocteau is[...]

Written in a French style that long defied successful translation Cocteau was always a poet no matter what we was writing the book came into its own for English-language readers in 1955 when this translation was completed by Rosamund Lehmann. It is a masterpiece of the art of translation of which th[...]

Reflections on life and art from the legendary filmmaker-novelist-poet-genius.
By the time he published "The Difficulty of Being" in 1947, Jean Cocteau had produced some of the most respected films and literature of the twentieth century, and had worked with the foremost artists of his time, inc[...]

In a rambling apartment, a middle-aged couple, Yvonne and Georges, live with their 22-year old son Michael. When Michael declares his love for a girl, his devoted mother burns with jealousy while his father is shocked to discover that his son's lover is someone he knows only too well. The original p[...]