The Eagle with Two Heads
Encyclopedia
The Eagle with Two Heads (French title L'Aigle à deux têtes) is a French film directed by Jean Cocteau
released in 1948
. It was adapted from his own play L'Aigle à deux têtes
which was first staged in 1946, and it retained the principal actors from the first Paris production.
was produced in Paris in 1946 and 1947, and his decision to make a prompt adaptation for the cinema allowed him to retain the principal actors who had enjoyed personal successes with their roles, especially Edwige Feuillère and Jean Marais. Cocteau declared his intention of following the three-act structure of the play closely, citing his admiration of the methods of Ernst Lubitsch
, but he opened out some of the scenes into a wider variety of locations. Filming began in October 1947 at the Château de Vizille
, and further shots were filmed at the Studio d'Épinay on the outskirts of Paris.
Christian Bérard
supervised the art direction, and the sumptuous sets and costumes (executed by Georges Wakhévitch
and Marcel Escoffier respectively) evoked a royal palace in an imaginary kingdom of 19th century middle-Europe. Georges Auric
expanded the music which he had written for the stage production into a full score for the film.
When the film was shown in New York in 1948 and in London in 1949, the reviewers of both The New York Times
and The Times
shared a similar perplexity about the film's meaning and purpose. The film has in general not enjoyed the same attention as the others which Cocteau directed in the 1940s.
Jean Cocteau
Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau was a French poet, novelist, dramatist, designer, playwright, artist and filmmaker. His circle of associates, friends and lovers included Kenneth Anger, Pablo Picasso, Jean Hugo, Jean Marais, Henri Bernstein, Marlene Dietrich, Coco Chanel, Erik Satie, María...
released in 1948
1948 in film
The year 1948 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Laurence Olivier's Hamlet becomes the first British film to win the American Academy Award for Best Picture.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :...
. It was adapted from his own play L'Aigle à deux têtes
L'Aigle à deux têtes
L'Aigle à deux têtes is a French play in three acts by Jean Cocteau, written in 1943 and first performed in 1946. It is known variously in English as The Eagle with Two Heads, The Eagle Has Two Heads, The Two-Headed Eagle, The Double-Headed Eagle, and Eagle Rampant...
which was first staged in 1946, and it retained the principal actors from the first Paris production.
Synopsis
On the 10th anniversary of the assassination of the king, his reclusive widow, the Queen, arrives to spend the night at the castle of Krantz. Stanislas, a young anarchist poet who seeks to assassinate her, enters her room, wounded; he looks exactly like the dead king, and the Queen shelters him instead of handing him over to the police. She sees him as the welcome embodiment of her own death, calling him Azraël (the angel of death). An ambiguous love develops between them, uniting them in a bid to outwit the machinations of the court politicians, represented by the Comte de Foëhn, the chief of police, and Édith de Berg, the Queen's companion. In order to remain true to their ideals and to each other, the Queen and Stanislas have to play their parts in a bizarre private tragedy, which the world will never understand.Cast
- Edwige FeuillèreEdwige FeuillèreEdwige Feuillère was a distinguished French stage and film actress....
as the Queen - Jean MaraisJean Marais-Biography:A native of Cherbourg, France, Marais starred in several movies directed by Jean Cocteau, for a time his lover, most famously Beauty and the Beast and Orphée ....
as Stanislas - Silvia MonfortSilvia MonfortSilvia Monfort was a French actress and theatre director. Daughter of the sculptor Charles Favre-Bertin and wife of Pierre Gruneberg....
as Édith de Berg - Jean DebucourtJean DebucourtJean Debucourt was a French film actor. He appeared in 104 films between 1920 and 1958.-Selected filmography:* The Fall of the House of Usher * Mayerling * Devil in the Flesh...
as Félix de Willenstein - Jacques Varennes as Comte de Foëhn
- Ahmed AbdallahAhmed AbdallahAhmed Abdallah Abderemane was a Comorian politician. He was President of the Comoros from 25 October 1978 until his death.-Life prior to the presidency:...
as Tony - Yvonne de BrayYvonne de BrayYvonne de Bray was a French stage and film actress. She was born Yvonne Laurence Blanche de Bray in Paris and died there.-Selected filmography:1952 – We Are All Murderers1950 – Olivia1949 – Gigi...
as La présidente
Production
Cocteau's playL'Aigle à deux têtes
L'Aigle à deux têtes is a French play in three acts by Jean Cocteau, written in 1943 and first performed in 1946. It is known variously in English as The Eagle with Two Heads, The Eagle Has Two Heads, The Two-Headed Eagle, The Double-Headed Eagle, and Eagle Rampant...
was produced in Paris in 1946 and 1947, and his decision to make a prompt adaptation for the cinema allowed him to retain the principal actors who had enjoyed personal successes with their roles, especially Edwige Feuillère and Jean Marais. Cocteau declared his intention of following the three-act structure of the play closely, citing his admiration of the methods of Ernst Lubitsch
Ernst Lubitsch
Ernst Lubitsch was a German-born film director. His urbane comedies of manners gave him the reputation of being Hollywood's most elegant and sophisticated director; as his prestige grew, his films were promoted as having "the Lubitsch touch."In 1947 he received an Honorary Academy Award for his...
, but he opened out some of the scenes into a wider variety of locations. Filming began in October 1947 at the Château de Vizille
Vizille
Vizille is a commune in the Isère department in south-eastern France.Vizille is home to the Musée de la Révolution Française de Vizille, a rich depository of archival and rare materials devoted to the French Revolution, housed since 1984 in the Château de Vizille, a Monument Historique. The library...
, and further shots were filmed at the Studio d'Épinay on the outskirts of Paris.
Christian Bérard
Christian Bérard
Christian Bérard , also known as Bébé, was a French artist, fashion illustrator and designer.Bérard and his lover Boris Kochno, who directed the Ballets Russes and was also co-founder of the Ballet des Champs-Elysées, were one of the most prominent openly homosexual couples in French theater during...
supervised the art direction, and the sumptuous sets and costumes (executed by Georges Wakhévitch
Georges Wakhevitch
Georges Wakhévitch was an art director .He was raised in Paris, where he studied painting. He was an assistant to film director Lazare Meerson in the 1920s....
and Marcel Escoffier respectively) evoked a royal palace in an imaginary kingdom of 19th century middle-Europe. Georges Auric
Georges Auric
Georges Auric was a French composer, born in Lodève, Hérault. He was a child prodigy and at age 15 he had his first compositions published. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Georges Caussade, and under the composer Vincent d'Indy at the Schola Cantorum...
expanded the music which he had written for the stage production into a full score for the film.
Reception
The film was released in Paris in September 1948. Its reception among French critics was mixed. It was appreciated for the sumptuous quality of its spectacle and for the elevated performances of its actors. Others however felt that its artificiality belonged to another age and another medium, and that Cocteau had not sufficiently emancipated his film from its theatrical origins.When the film was shown in New York in 1948 and in London in 1949, the reviewers of both The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
and The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
shared a similar perplexity about the film's meaning and purpose. The film has in general not enjoyed the same attention as the others which Cocteau directed in the 1940s.
External links
- L'Aigle à deux têtes at filmsdefrance.com