Something about him came to life during my High School years to the point where I related to him. In fact, once when I was in the hospital, I read cover to cover a biography of him by Francis Steegmuller. He was always basking in reflective glory of the stars, trying to contribute something of his own, until he became an institution unto himself. I'm thinking of his attraction to the doyens of France, including Stravinsky and Picasso. I recall his collection of drawings of men with Greek profiles swimming merrily. His "Blood of a Poet" film inspired my monologue song cycle, Doping The Blood of a Poet, which considers the benefits and drawbacks in the retention and release of the "precious" bodily fluids. He made other films, Orpheus, and Beauty and the Beast, but the one I love and credit as an influence in Storm Cloud and my yet unfinished opera, The Augusteia, is Les Enfants Terribles, directed by Jean Pierre Melville, which he wrote. His was a unique and valuable vision among visionaries.
I am looking for information to mount a revival of Cocteau's Ballet, The Wedding on the Eiffel Tower (1921) [Les Maries de la Tour Eiffel]. Please use the link below to email me. Thank you. (In 2003 It became The Marriage at the Statue of Liberty)