Subscribe to watch - 14-day free trial, then £4.99 a month
Les Enfants Terribles
Jean-Pierre Melville’s film of Jean Cocteau's controversial novel about a teenage brother and sister and their intense, closeted relationship.
Drama 1949 106 mins
Director: Jean-Pierre Melville
Overview
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 film of Jean Cocteau's 1929 claustrophobic hothouse novel, for which he also wrote the screenplay and provided the voice-over, Les Enfants Terribles is dominated by a performance of fierce intensity by Nicole Stephane as the scheming heroine Elisabeth. The music by Bach and Vivaldi forms the film's impassioned score. 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. The pair disagreed over casting, scoring and several other elements, but from their clashes there emerged a unique film that is as true to Cocteau's vision as to Melville's.
Related
Drama
Volver Volver
Drama 2005 121 mins Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Family secrets echo around a Spanish clan, ringing loud enough to rouse the dead, in Pedro Almodóvar's assured melodrama.
A Moment in the Reeds A Moment in the Reeds
Romance 2017 107 mins Director: Mikko Makela
The world’s troubles recede, at least for a moment, in this intimate drama about an affair between a Finnish man and a Syrian immigrant.
The Third Wife The Third Wife
Drama 2018 92 mins Director: Ash Mayfair
A fourteen-year-old girl falls for another of her polygamous husband's wives in this award-winning coming-of-age tale of love and self-discovery.
The Wound The Wound
Drama 2017 88 mins Director: John Trengove
A traditional rite of passage ritual forms the backdrop for this tough and complex tale of closeted sexuality in South Africa.
End of the Century End of the Century
Romance 2019 84 mins Director: Lucio Castro
A chance encounter reconnects two men in this heart-breaking lament on love, lust and missed opportunities.
The Ghost and the House of Truth The Ghost and the House of Truth
Drama 2019 67 mins Director: Akin Omotoso
Featuring a magnetic performance from Susan Wokoma, this Nigerian thriller sees an intermediary between convicts and their victims risk everything when searching for her missing 10-year-old daughter.
Coming of Age
Girlhood Girlhood
Drama 2014 113 mins Director: Céline Sciamma
In the tough suburbs of Paris, sixteen-year-old Marieme decides to reinvent herself when she joins a girl gang.
Appropriate Behaviour Appropriate Behaviour
Comedy 2015 86 mins Director: Desiree Akhavan
Desiree Akhavan directs and stars in this witty, razor-sharp and fearless comedy following the sexual misadventures of a bisexual Brooklynite.
Bullet Boy Bullet Boy
Drama 2004 86 mins Director: Saul Dibb
Ashley Walters impresses in the hard-hitting Hackney drama that’s still one of the best of Britain’s black urban crime films.
Me without You Me without You
Drama 2001 103 mins Director: Sandra Goldbacher
Anna Friel and Michelle Williams star as two troubled girls whose tumultuous friendship takes many twists and turns.
Postcards from London Postcards from London
Drama 2017 89 mins Director: Steve McLean
A stylish, sexy film about a young man’s journey into an unusual form of escort work.
Ghost World Ghost World
Comedy 2001 107 mins Director: Terry Zwigoff
Scarlett Johansson and Thora Birch star as a pair of social outcasts struggling to make sense of the world around them, in this sublime love story based on the work of underground artist Daniel Clowes.
Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville
Army of Shadows Army of Shadows
War 1969 139 mins Director: Jean-Pierre Melville
A faithful adaptation of Joseph Kessel’s celebrated novel about the French Resistance, this is also Melville’s most profoundly personal film.
Le Doulos Le Doulos
Film noir 1963 105 mins Director: Jean-Pierre Melville
The first in Jean-Pierre Melville’s great series of thrillers is a dazzlingly intricate tale of deadly suspicion and betrayal.
Le cercle rouge Le cercle rouge
Crime 1970 135 mins Director: Jean-Pierre Melville
Jean-Pierre Melville 's magisterial, epic heist movie centring on on the preparation, execution and aftermath of a lengthy, daring and meticulously planned jewel-robbery.
New
Volver Volver
Drama 2005 121 mins Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Family secrets echo around a Spanish clan, ringing loud enough to rouse the dead, in Pedro Almodóvar's assured melodrama.
A Moment in the Reeds A Moment in the Reeds
Romance 2017 107 mins Director: Mikko Makela
The world’s troubles recede, at least for a moment, in this intimate drama about an affair between a Finnish man and a Syrian immigrant.
La belle époque La belle époque
Comedy 2019 115 mins Director: Nicolas Bedos
Daniel Auteuil’s illustrator is given the chance to visit a different era to re-evaluate his life in this resplendent and absurdly enjoyable French comedy.
The Third Wife The Third Wife
Drama 2018 92 mins Director: Ash Mayfair
A fourteen-year-old girl falls for another of her polygamous husband's wives in this award-winning coming-of-age tale of love and self-discovery.
The Wound The Wound
Drama 2017 88 mins Director: John Trengove
A traditional rite of passage ritual forms the backdrop for this tough and complex tale of closeted sexuality in South Africa.
End of the Century End of the Century
Romance 2019 84 mins Director: Lucio Castro
A chance encounter reconnects two men in this heart-breaking lament on love, lust and missed opportunities.