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Camus' classic film transposes the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice to the city of Rio de Janeiro at the height of the carnival, with a streetcar conductor as Orpheus and a local country girl as Eurydice. Winner of a Best Foreign Film Oscar in 1959.
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A beautiful movie filled with joy, sadness and a kind of optimism, and driven by one of the great music scores
11 July 2007
"Morning, such a pretty morning.
A new song is born,
Singing of your eyes, your laughter, your hands.
There will be a day when you come
From the strings of my guitar
That only your love sought.
A voice comes and talks about kissing,
Kisses lost in your lips.
Sing, my heart, happiness is back
In the dawn of this love."
And so Orpheus (Breno Mello), a happy-go-lucky trolley conductor in Rio de Janeiro, and Eurydice (Marpessa Dawn), a young girl from the country who has come to stay with her cousin in a Rio slum high on a mountain overlooking the city, fall in love. Please note that elements of the plot are discussed. Orpheus is handsome, confident and loves women as much as they love him. When he discovers Eurydice, however, she becomes all he has ever wanted. But Eurydice, caught up in her joy with Orpheus, still is frightened of a man masked as Death who she is convinced intends to kill her. But carnival is starting. There are costumes to buy and masks to wear, dancing to practice, life to be enjoyed. Through it all, the hot, sensual bossa nova beat of Antonio Carlos Jobin's and Luis Bonfa's music permeates everything.
The movie is so lyrical, so innocent and so joyous as it starts that it's easy to hope that in this version of the Greek myth there will be a different ending. There is not. But the intensity of carnival carries us along. The happiness and spirit of the friends and neighbors of Orpheus captures us just as much as the music. The almost child-like passion of Orpheus and Eurydice is so open and true, we realize that it can't last.
One of the most lyrical passages is early in the movie when Orpheus begins to play on his guitar a song he has written. Two scruffy little boys are with him.... Read more ›
A new song is born,
Singing of your eyes, your laughter, your hands.
There will be a day when you come
From the strings of my guitar
That only your love sought.
A voice comes and talks about kissing,
Kisses lost in your lips.
Sing, my heart, happiness is back
In the dawn of this love."
And so Orpheus (Breno Mello), a happy-go-lucky trolley conductor in Rio de Janeiro, and Eurydice (Marpessa Dawn), a young girl from the country who has come to stay with her cousin in a Rio slum high on a mountain overlooking the city, fall in love. Please note that elements of the plot are discussed. Orpheus is handsome, confident and loves women as much as they love him. When he discovers Eurydice, however, she becomes all he has ever wanted. But Eurydice, caught up in her joy with Orpheus, still is frightened of a man masked as Death who she is convinced intends to kill her. But carnival is starting. There are costumes to buy and masks to wear, dancing to practice, life to be enjoyed. Through it all, the hot, sensual bossa nova beat of Antonio Carlos Jobin's and Luis Bonfa's music permeates everything.
The movie is so lyrical, so innocent and so joyous as it starts that it's easy to hope that in this version of the Greek myth there will be a different ending. There is not. But the intensity of carnival carries us along. The happiness and spirit of the friends and neighbors of Orpheus captures us just as much as the music. The almost child-like passion of Orpheus and Eurydice is so open and true, we realize that it can't last.
One of the most lyrical passages is early in the movie when Orpheus begins to play on his guitar a song he has written. Two scruffy little boys are with him.... Read more ›
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful
THIS EVOCATIVE, BRILLIANTLY FILMED STORY, BASED ON THE LEGENDARY LOVE OF ORPHEUS FOR EURIDICE, WAS COMPLETELY RUINED BY THE APALLING QUALITY OF THE DVD. THERE WERE AT LEAST 6 NASTY BREAKS IN THE CONTINUITY AND IT WAS DIFFICULT TO ACHIEVE THE SUB-TITLES. A BAD BUY.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By Gc Whitaker
Amazon Verified Purchase
I saw this when it was first released and I was a student. It was something of a cult film at the time. Seeing it fifty years later it perhaps wasn't quite as magical as I remembered. But you could still see why it won awards. And perhaps this was the first time most of us heard the bossa nova
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By schumann_bg
TOP 500 REVIEWER
Black Orpheus won the Palme d'Or at Cannes, but in many ways it seems a bit dated, particularly in a certain naivety of tone which is very different from the style of films today. Having said this, the leads are very winning, Rio has an air of enchantment, and the Carnival is shown as quite ambiguous because of the story that is grafted onto it: it is both exciting, with its pulsating rhythms coming to dominate more and more, and threatening, in that you can disappear in a crowd or be pursued, and no one will notice. The first dance sequence between Orpheus and Eurydice gets a real sense of elation, and is perhaps the high point of the film. This and other sequences really need the big screen to make their full effect, and as such represent cinema in its purest state. The gold disk face carried down the hill and then disappearing against the fantastic landscape, for instance, needs the sense of infinite blue space and haze, just as the street scenes need to teem with movement and colour in a way that overwhelms the viewer. The two actors have remarkable grace and I love Orpheus's gold lattice top and micro-skirt (for want of a better word). Eurydice is more simply dressed but looks dazzling and has a face that could indeed launch a thousand ships ... I think I would prefer a version that somehow got more psychology into it, but maybe this would run counter to the myth ... I would like to see it remade by someone like Andre Techine, perhaps: with all the light and colour still but more subtlety in the characterisation.
By A. GILLES
Amazon Verified Purchase
One of the essential movies to have if you are a brazilian cinema fan. This 1958's masterpiece doesn't get old.
By mikeinmacc
Amazon Verified Purchase
Stunning photography, remarkable scene setting for the late 50s, beautiful colours and dancing! what is there not to like in Black Orpheus!
Amazon Verified Purchase
Good quality, great film, a must to watch, music is fabulous and dvd arrived safe and sound and on time.
By Stephen
Amazon Verified Purchase
A bit dated but then produced in the 70s. I bought this for the Jobim score . A nice little story and great location for filming.
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