COCTEAU (Jean).

Lot 146
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Estimation :
800 - 1000 EUR
Result with fees
Result : 4 030EUR
COCTEAU (Jean).
3 L.A.S. to Raymond QUENEAU. Palais Royal, June 17 and October 10, 1960, 4 p. in-4 and in-8, envelopes kept. Hot reflections of Cocteau about Jean-Pierre MOCKY's film, Un Couple, script and dialogues by Raymond Queneau, that he has just seen. Beautiful letter in which, starting from the film of QUENEAU and MOCKY, he gives himself up to considerations on the cinema: Here is what I think: it is the (admirable) inheritance of Pot-Bouille and one is astonished that types like Zola (great poet) were able to live amputated without having the right to say nothing in fields for essential by the relief of their Work. It is therefore a beautiful inheritance (gold) to which one attends. The fortune has increased because it is not in paper. (...) It is the same drama as that of A-bout-de-souffle. The elegance is invisible when it affects to say shit like the true great ladies. The language of Madame de Chevigné (Duchess of Guermantes) stunned Gaston Gallimard when I took the entire N.R.F. to lunch at her house. One of the great beauties of your film is that the written language (said) and the visual language are equivalent in style and of the same weight (which is rare). Never does the hideous word "poetic" appear and everyone says what he has to say with an accuracy as reassuring as the great gymnasts between their trapezes (...) All industries became arts in the long run. The cinematograph was an art and it became, in the long run, an industry. We are the victims of the distributors (your concierge) and Alain Resnais was right to say: "It is sad that you have to be Cocteau's age to be able to make a young film". That said, bravery and dedication pay off, despite the obstacles, and we must continue to work "as is". Because the trade [sic] is the only valid school in an era where too much freedom prevents "disobedience". He mailed mechanically, in a morning disorder this last letter without name on the envelope but only the address. He is worried and would like us to find it... I had a scruple of spelling: water or au -a nonsense... In the last letter, he asks where the film you were kind enough to let me see is playing. I don't forget my promises...
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