Linkshoch Wonderful Movie

SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

kijii The IFC celebrated Janus' 50th Anniversary with the release of 50 great movie imports over the years. For those of us that were able to catch, and record, some of those restored films on TV, we were very lucky. This film, which won the 1959 Oscar for Best Foreign Language, was part of that set. The film is set in Rio de Janeiro during Carnival, with bright colors and sounds. It is a modern retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth with a black cast. It is filled with singing, dancing, and the constant samba beat of the Carnival in the background and/or foreground. This film is certainly well worth seeing. However—probably due to my own failings--I was unable to connect with it or appreciate it. So, I won't even try to rank it here.

Martin Bradley "Black Orpheus" was, by all accounts, a huge success when it first appeared, winning both the Palme d'Or and the Oscar for Best Foreign Language film but it has become somewhat neglected in recent years. It's not strictly a musical although it boasts a very good score by Luiz Bonfa and Antonio Carlos Jobim as it transposes the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice to Rio during carnival and it was for its score and for director Marcel Camus' superb use of colour, (DoP is Jean Bourgoin) that it became famous. However, the acting and the script leave a lot to be desired and you get the feeling a lot more could have been made of the setting. You may also wonder what all the fuss was about as it is certainly not the masterpiece some people said it was at the time.

deschreiber I know using the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice is considered an admirable things about this film, but I thought it added nothing to the plot and, in fact, wrenched things about in ways that made parts of the film quite incomprehensible. We'll let pass the absurdity of the names that derived from the myth, these Portuguese-speaking Brazilians with names like Orpheus, Eurydice, Hermes and dogs named Cerberus. That was bearable, although it put the film slightly off-kilter. The Orpheus and Eurydice myth really came into play near the end, when Eurydice is lost and Orpheus searches desperately for her. When I was young and first saw this film, not knowing the myth, this section seemed like utter nonsense; today, I see the nonsense is there, and I can see why, because the film maker was willing to shoehorn his story into the myth, no matter the consequences.The essence of the myth is Orpheus descending into the underworld to rescue his wife; he plays his lyre, so beautifully that no one can deny him, not even the guardians of the underworld, who allow him to lead Eurydice out of the underworld, on condition he not look back at her until both are safely back in the world of light. Just as he himself steps out into the light, he looks back, too soon, and Eurydice disappears from him forever. But what has that to do with the story in this film? The film is a modern, realistic love story. In the climactic scene after Orfeus has searched everywhere for Eurydice, he is taken to a crowded room where a voodoo-like ceremony is under way. He is told to "call" for Eurydice if he wants to find her, so he joins in the mass, ritualistic song, so quietly that his voice cannot be heard - quite a departure from the Greek myth. An old woman behind him appears to be possessed by a spirit, and she speaks with the voice of Eurydice, asking Orfeus if he loves her enough to be satisfied with her voice, never to look on her again. He turns to see where the voice is coming from, and all traces of Eurydice disappear. Now where is the sense in this, in terms of the story we have watched up to this point? We've been following an entirely realistic love story for over 90 minutes, in which the woman has gone missing and her lover has been searching desperately for her. Where has she gone? Has she died? Has she been kidnapped? No, an old lady in a voodoo ceremony speaks with her voice. Huh? What's this about? She tells him he must not try to look at her. Say what? Why not? No reason, it's just all nonsense. He turns to look, and we are to believe that he will never find his lover again. Again we ask why not? Does this make any sense at all? No, it doesn't, except in so far that the realistic love story has been wrenched and mangled in order to fit, in a rough sort of way, the plot line of an old Greek myth.The film would have been far better off to provide a proper resolution to the situation, one which fit with the realistic, this-world ethos of the rest of the movie. In my opinion, the use of the myth interfered in a bad way with an otherwise interesting and enjoyable movie.

Lee Eisenberg Brazil's election as host of the 2016 Olympics creates a really big reason to watch Marcel Camus's "Orfeo Negro" ("Black Orpheus" in English). I had never known the Orpheus myth until I saw this film, and what a way to learn it! Of course the movie's main pleasure is to see Carnaval. In this version, Rio de Janeiro conductor Orpheus (Bruno Mello) falls in love with country woman Eurydice (Marpessa Dawn), but can't forget his relationship with Mira (Lourdes de Oliveira). The bossa nova soundtrack is like a character by itself. To be certain, Antonio Carlos Jobim is best known for "Girl from Ipanema".All in all, this is a truly fine experience. As it turns out, Barack Obama's mother Ann Dunham saw "Black Orpheus" in the theater - before she met Barack Sr. - and it was her first real exposure to black culture.Really great.