Looking for something short to watch last night, I found myself watching The Blood of a Poet (1930) for the first time in fifteen or so years. It's amazing to think that it's Jean Cocteau's first film. The assurance with which he combines composition and strange special effects effortlessly create a beautiful film that clearly conveys its ideas.
This movie is a prime example of how some things are best conveyed by film and describing them in words is to omit most of the meaning. You can get some idea of what is happening in a scene where two people in fancy dress play cards over a dead child or in a scene where a mouth appears on the hand of an artist. These are already fine ideas in text but visualising them in a way that gives a sense of time and rhythm and emotion is how the film really earns its title.
The Blood of a Poet is available on The Criterion Channel.
Twitter Sonnet #1591
The shaky picture proved a house's grain.
A heavy fox had lost his eyes in June.
A group of boys await a homeward train.
The speaking bird foretold a summer moon.
A flower horde destroyed the diamond field.
A boring sport's redundant spit and breath.
The des'prate hands of wheat comprised the yield.
An autumn life's composed of April's death.
A dogless coil chills the thought for weeks.
So marble steps convey the child's dream.
Transmuting thoughts we talked of double peaks.
For time has come when double visions team.
A leafy morning brought the freshness late.
A lonely mountain seeks a Gollum mate.
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