Esquisse sur espace filmique et espace mental de la chambre dans Les enfants terribles de Cocteau et Melville
Date
2010
Authors
Mwansa, Mulenga Rene
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
The University of Zambia Press
Abstract
Abstract
This article looks at the film `£e£ E#/o#/s rerrJ.6/es' by Jean Cocteau and
Jean-Pierre Melville. The movie is a fiction drama about a brother and his
elder sister who create an unrealistic romance. The scene of the bedroom
unravels the shocking incest between siblings. Incest here might not be
directly related to the Oedipus compl.ex, but it is in every way regarded as
incest. Morally, a relationship between brother and sister, in this way, is a
taboo to the community. The author's psychology is directed towards great
Greek tragedy flgures, where he brings forth images related to the Greek
mythology. He made an adaptation of `Oedipus Rex' in `£o Wczc47.#e
lyifernale' .
The article is divided in three parts: the first is a brief narration of the
storyline; the second part is an analysis of the plot with two sub-categories-
`cinematic space of the bedroom' and `mental space of the bedroom'; the
third part is the collective imagination and symbols in the film, which look
~. the symbols of death, mirrors and stars. These three symbols are the
materialisation of what cannot be seen: the death. This materialisation is an
ffort to depict how the two children constantly lived with death, which
represents the death of their mother and sister's husband.
The bedroom is the place that united the brother and the sister at the
physical level as well as at the mental level. In that bedroom, there is an evil
spirit but also a treasure, which is the narcissistic instrument for both of
them, Paul and Elisabeth. Furthermore, the fish that killed one and the gun
that killed the other were both kept at the treasury. Paul and Elisabeth were
deflnitely united in a fatal way, one to another despite the will to get married
elsewhere. What they could not do in the flesh is spiritually realised beyond
theworldwhenthesistercommitssuicidewhilecalculatingtheexactmoment
of her brother's death. The detailed revelation of the whole shocking story is
in the main text.
Description
Keywords
Incest--Drama--Zambia