Under the direction of Lisa Immordino Vreeland (Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict, 2015; Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel, 2012) with Josh O’Connor setting the pace of narration, this is a portrait of Jean Cocteau, poet, graphic artist, designer, playwright and filmmaker; a consummate artist with a singular body of work, poetic and capricious, who introduced surrealism to French filmmaking. This documentary brings it all together in an exploration of the legendary artist’s career. Through rare archive footage, sequences shot on 16mm film, private conversations, numerous extracts from his works, Lisa Immordino Vreeland lets the shape-shifting artist speak in the first person, conveying an enduring sense of a magnetic presence. Openly gay, Jean Cocteau was a visionary whose influence left a deep impression on the 20th century that still resonates today. An exceptional documentary that lays bare the multi-faceted genius that was Jean Cocteau and offers a deep dive into his dreamlike universe. This is a man who considered his artistic destiny to be a mix of obscurity and celebrity and turned his life into a dazzling private and public alchemy through exceptional talent, success, fame and controversy. Lisa Immordino Vreeland tells this fascinating story by revealing compassionately a life liberated by artistic impulse – and an art that connected profoundly to his ecstasies and his struggles.

Bruno Deloye