This twisted tale by avant-garde artist Jean Cocteau was written in 1929, yet remains groundbreaking today.
Les Enfants Terribles (The Holy Terrors) set the template for many tales of poisonous relationships (reminding me in tone of Bertolucci's film The Dreamers), and as was Les Liaisons Dangeroueuses, it was turned into a collaborative film with Cocteau in 1950. A celebrated filmmaker, his 1946 film le Belle et la Bete (Beauty and the Beast) remains a haunting masterpiece of design and light.
Beginning with schooldays pranks by unruly teenagers, Gerard and Paul are caught in the midst of a snowball fight, perceived as a grand take-no-prisoners battle. Enamoured with the beautiful Dargelos, Paul trails him to be closer. Dargelos' indifference ends this with a rock filled snowball, leaving Paul bedridden, and Gerard visiting him frequently. Gerard is in love with both Paul and his sister Elizabeth, the most calculating character I can remember. Together they form what they call the Game, an incestuous bickering worthy of Edward Albee. The next step, needless stealing for a growing treasure of unwanted objects for the challenge and thrill. So entwined is the sibling's relationship, verbally goading each other to the edge of breakdown then pulling back in derisive laughter, that there is no oxygen left in the room for others. In order to get Gerard out of the way, Elizabeth introduces Agatha, a simple girl she feels is bourgeois and plans to pair them up. Simply to irritate Paul, Elizabeth marries a stranger whose home they all move into, continuing the Game. As the web tightens, Gerard realizes no man can ever have Elizabeth, Agatha's love for Paul will always be thwarted, and Paul's love for Agatha will be viciously killed by his sister. Elizabeth has everyone under her thumb, and those that interfere with the love she has for her brother will squirm under pressure - it's a love that must carry on beyond death.
An open homosexual, Cocteau easily blends the love of Paul for Dargelos, and the love between Gerard and Paul, with the feelings they have for Agatha and Elizabeth - although no relationship can survive that of the siblings, which disregards life and logic. Addicted to opium at the time, this was written during a strenuous week of weaning, and is filled with obsessive destruction. The writing is poetic and unrivalled, a pleasure to read. That this was written in 1929 is to me unbelievable, he was a true visionary and this is an unforgettable novel.
1929 / Tradeback / 135 pages
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