The Blood of a Poet

A short film made in France. The narrative does not run straight and builds no story. The film is in four parts and all of them turn around a poet. A man working in a room notices that the mouth he has drawn has come alive. It transfers to his palm; to be rid of it he rubs his hand on a statue and the statue begins to speak. The statue tells him to pass through the mirror. He enters it and comes out in a hotel corridor. There are doors along the corridor. Through each keyhole another scene appears: an execution, a lesson, a shadow play and a girl flying in a room. The next part takes place in a school yard. Children are throwing snowballs and the game ends badly. In the last part a card table is set up in the same yard while spectators watch from boxes. What the film is interested in is the artist himself: the wish to create, death and fame are folded into the same scenes. It was financed by a private patron and its release was delayed at the time. Jean Cocteau directed; he was a poet and this is his first film. The visual tricks are simple: reversed footage, sets built vertically and handmade effects. An important production for anyone who likes experimental cinema and surrealism. For a viewer looking for a narrative, the film tells nothing and explains nothing.