Black Orpheus

A riotous, rapturous explosion of sound and color, Black Orpheus is less about Orpheus's doomed love for Eurydice than about Camus's love for cinema at its most gestural and kinetic.

Camus's film remains a revivifying experience - and a mid-winter oasis. Born and bred in France, Camus made other films, and lots of French TV, but Black Orpheus may still be the greatest one-hit-wonder import we've ever seen.

It really is not the two lovers that are the focus of interest in this film; it is the music, the movement, the storm of color that go into the two-day festival. M. Camus has done a superb job of getting the documented look not only of the overall fandango but also of the buildup of momentum the day before. (Review of Original Release)

Besides its exhilarating style, the well-acted film works as an effective translation of the classic Greek myth into a Brazilian romance. (Review of Original Release)

Pic is somewhat cerebral, being mainly helped by the fresh playing of the cast, especially Yank actress Dawn. Color is excellent, and director Marcel Camus gives this movement. (Review of Original Release)

This is a movie about the marriage between sound and image, and the sound is wearing the pants in the relationship.

This sort of thing was considered high art not so long ago; now it seems forced and ponderously symbolic.

I'll admit I put on my Criterion BluRay of BLACK ORPHEUS with scant enthusiasm. I honestly knew nothing about the film and the brief description on the box didn't really sell the film to me. But I am working my way through the films of Criterion and have an agreement with myself not to skip any just because they don't sound great. I've exposed myself to some great films with that approach; movies like THE ASCENT, which I never would have watched otherwise and which now are among my favorites. BLACK ORPHEUS proved to be entertaining and fairly enjoyable, without really grabbing me. The Criterion bonus features were essential viewing for an uninformed viewer such as myself, so that I could understand the context of this film a little better. That it is widely considered responsible for bringing the excitement of Carnaval in Rio to the world in general is well worth knowing. That it is credited for popularizing the bossa nova is great to know. But does this background make it a great movie to view today? Yes and no. Black Orpheus is a retelling of the tragic Greek myth of the love between Orpheus and Eurydice (although it's actually based on a play that is this retelling), set against the background of Carnaval. The characters are now citizens of the poorer outskirts of Rio, preparing to celebrate in the big city. Orfeu, his town's lead dancer in the samba school which is going to be parading during Carnaval, is unenthusiastically engaged to Mira. When the enchanting Eurydice comes to town to stay with Serafina (another dancer), Orfeu is immediately drawn to this naïve but lovely young lady. They embark on an affair, stirring up all sorts of domestic turmoil. But in addition, Eurydice is apparently being chased by a strange man she believes wants to kill her (a man dressed in a Death costume, of call things). The plot of the movie, though neatly related to the Greek story, is really not that terribly interesting, truth be told. The character actions and motivations are often sketchy, and the "death" character is not even remotely adequately explained. What gives this movie life is the almost constant music and the nearly as constant background of dancing. The drumbeats of the bossa nova are almost always at least in the background if not in the foreground. The villagers wear wild costumes for the festive occasion. The locale is humid and everyone sweats all the time. The atmosphere created by the film is one of frenetic forward movement. One can certainly see why the film popularized the music. It's in the blood, the DNA of the film. What would be a silly drama becomes something actually akin to myth with the addition of all this music. It heightens passions. It creates forward momentum even during introspective moments. And the dance sequences, though filmed in a stagey manner by today's standards, are prolonged and come close to drawing the viewer in to their ecstatic nature. The people in this film can't help but dance; it's palpable. Without spoiling anything, the latter sections of the film require Orpheus to travel through the underworld of Rio, to some strange locales. These sequences are almost from another film, which is actually totally appropriate. He's gone from the happy, sensuous world of his village and the celebrations on the street to the mysterious and foreboding dark alleys of a sometimes unfriendly city. In the end, I was very content to have seen the film. The music is sensational. There are ample moments of light and fun. But while it captured my tapping feet and my musical brain, it didn't grab my heart, at least not enough to overlook the sometimes half-baked melodrama. It's tough to recommend the film on its own merits. Criterion has done a great job, as usual, and their version is the one to see. Allow yourself another 45 minutes or so to enjoy some of the terrific little documentaries that accompany the film.

Palme d’Or and Oscar’s BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM (although it should have been rewarded to Brazil instead of France) double-honour is a tremendous wow factor to lure in cinephiles, but sometimes the prestige backfires, the film may introduce Samba and Boss Nova to the world, but how can it overshadows an awkward truth, it won over 400 BLOWS (1959, 9/10) in the Cannes competition, a mania of over-exploited exoticism may be the answer...... read the rest of the review on my blog, simply google: cinema omnivore