The Storm Within

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The Storm Within ★★★ ½ Les Parents Terribles 1948

Based on Cocteau's play, many consider this domestic drama of a troubled family's tortured existence to be his finest work. De Bray plays the domineering mother, Marais plays the son, and Day is the woman he (and his father) love in this complex story of sexuality, parental rivalry and jealousy. With the film set in only two locations, Cocteau creates a claustrophobic intimacy within the walls of de Bray's family apartment and Day's apartment. An inferior remake, “Intimate Relations” was released in Britain in 1953. In French with English subtitles. 98m/B VHS . FR Jean Marais, Yvonne de Bray, Gabrielle Dorziat, Marcel Andre, Josette Day; D: Jean Cocteau; W: Jean Cocteau; Nar: Jean Cocteau.