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Orphee [1950] [DVD]

DVD ~ Jean Marais

5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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	54% buy Orphee [DVD] [1950] 5.0 out of 5 stars (4) �12.98
	18% buy the item featured on this page: Orphee [1950] [DVD] 5.0 out of 5 stars (3)
	12% buy La Belle Et La Bete [DVD] [1946] 4.7 out of 5 stars (6) �12.58
	8% buy Jean Cocteau Collection [DVD] 3.0 out of 5 stars (2) �7.98

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Product details

Actors: Jean Marais, Maria Casares, Francois Perier, Juliette Greco, Maria Dea
Directors: Jean Cocteau
Format: Black & White, Full Screen, PAL
Language French
Subtitles: English
Region: Region 2 (This DVD may not be viewable outside Europe. Read more about DVD formats.)
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Number of discs: 1
Classification: PG
Studio: Bfi Video
DVD Release Date: 30 Aug 2004
Run Time: 95 minutes

Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

ASIN: B0002IAQDQ
Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 47,811 in DVD (See Bestsellers in DVD)

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Reviews

Synopsis
Cocteau's luminous adaptation of the famous Greek myth, set in post-occupation Paris, remains one of the most stunning achievements of the auteur's career. Orphee (Jean Marais) is a successful Parisian poet, whom--despite popular acclaim--feels isolated and uninspired. When his wife Eurydice (Marie Dea) is stricken down by leather-clad bikers, he pursues them into the underworld, where he falls into a romantic entanglement with the dark-haired beauty Death (Casares). Stunning cinematography and surrealist flairs punctuate this beautiful, hypnotic masterpiece.

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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews

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Average Customer Review

5.0 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The closest the cinema has come to poetry., 9 Dec 2004

By	"peterhoward11" - See all my reviews

Self-obessessed and self-regarding Orphee, a poet, lives in splendid isolation with his beautiful wife Eurydice in post-war, bomb-damaged France. It is the early 50's and times are changing; Orphee is facing competition from a new wave of Poets and is scorned by the new generation. He goes into town with the intention of facing them down but to his rage, he is studiously ignored.

Their leader, the young Jacques Cegeste, is caught up in a bar-room brawl which spills out into the street and he is killed by a motorcyclist. Orphee, an innocent bystander, is taken away in a black limousine with the lifeless body of Cegeste by a beautiful and mysterious Princess to a deserted house. Here, time runs backwards and the way into the underworld lies through mirrors ("I give you the secret of secrets! Mirrors are the doorway through which death comes").

Orpheus falls in love with the Princess and so falls in love with his own death. Meanwhile, Orphee's absence is noted by the Police, who are advised by Cegeste's followers that he is responsible for the young poet's death.

Ultimately Orphee has to choose between between Death - the Princess - and Eurydice, after she is returned to the Underworld. He is wracked with indecision: the Princess eventually makes the decision for him.

This strange and beautiful film may seem familiar even if you are watching it for the first time as it has been referenced in many other films, as well as in pop videos: and yes, it was the image of Orphee (Jean Marais, Cocteau's lifelong lover) on the cover of The Smiths' This Charming Man.

There are many unforgettable images; Orphee, receiving fragments of poetry via his car radio ("The Bird counts with his fingers! Three times!"); the magical gloves; the glass seller in the Underworld; and ultimately, the final "Adieu!" between the Princess and her driver, the magnificent Herteubise.

Cocteau described his film as being of the myth of immortality: in the end, Death dies. It is certainly the closest the cinema has come to poetry, and is an essential addition to any collection.

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23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bees in a Glass Hive, 23 Jul 2004

By	"topnotchtosh2" - See all my reviews

I remember first seeing Orphee at the Everyman Cinema in London sometime during 1986 and being completely blown away by it! In this age of sterile CGI effects, Cocteau's masterwork is still refreshingly eye-popping with its array of dazzling 'analog' visual set-pieces. The poet-director uses back-projection, reverse-camera tricks, sets built on their sides, etc to create a stunning and mesmerising depiction of a man's (literal) descent into hell. Like no other film before or since-- and more audacious than the critically favoured La Belle et Le Bete-- Orphee is long overdue its release on DVD.

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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb Film - Haunting, 23 Aug 2004

By A Customer

Excellent film which is of the myth of the man who could not look at his wife as the price for getting her back from the dead, but set in 1949/50 France. The dead are taken to the underworld by the mysterious lady, and the motorbile riders - very evocative post WW2 treatment - and the special effects are stunning - all done without the benefit of modern techniques. I saw it at the cinema at a special showing recently (at the great Aldeburgh Cinema) and had only been able to source a dvd in Brazil (bizarre but true), and so seing this released in the UK is very welcome.

A Classic.

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