In this compelling tale of incestuous obsession, a teenage brother and sister, Paul and Elisabeth, create an intense, private world in their untidy shared single room. Within the room, they live, sleep, argue and play out their erotically charged games without heed to the real world going on around them. However, when outsiders intrude into their intensely private realm, the scene is set for tragedy.
A hauntingly atmospheric adaptation of Jean Cocteau's 1929 claustrophobic hothouse novel, for which he also wrote the screenplay and provided the voice-over, the film is dominated by a performance of fierce intensity by Nicole Stéphane as the scheming heroine Elisabeth.
Les Enfants Terribles brought two very different film-makers together for the first time – the mercurial, multi-talented Jean Cocteau and the single-minded, self-sufficient Jean-Pierre Melville. Despite clashing with one another, what emerged is a unique film that is as true to Cocteau's vision as to Melville's.
Extras
Newly restored in 4K and presented in High Definition
Commentary by Gilbert Adair (2004): archive commentary track by the novelist and film critic, whose novel The Holy Innocents was inspired by Les Enfants terribles
Commentary by Adrian Martin (2021): newly commissioned commentary track by the film scholar
Ginette Vincendeau on Jean-Pierre Melville (2004, 19 mins): the film scholar and author of Jean-Pierre Melville: An American in Paris on the filmmakers background and the recurring themes in his work
Volker Schlöndorff interview (2004, 10 mins): the filmmaker discusses his apprenticeship under Jean-Pierre Melville
Trailer
Gallery
**FIRST PRESSING ONLY** Illustrated booklet with new writing on the film by Deborah Allison, a contemporary review of the film and selected biographies
