Orpheus

“interpret it as you wish.” i enjoyed watching this rendition of the myth of orpheus and eurydice. i found it very imaginative and funny that in this version, orpheus falls in love with death herself, which he finds irresistible, as a poet and a lover. eurydice reimagined and her descent into the underworld was very interesting and i loved how cocteau modernised the rule of not looking behind orpheus at eurydice into a mirror jumping sequence. i really like cocteau for his innovative ways of presenting his own adaptions and etc!! “I don’t have the right to love anyone, yet I love.” i particularly liked the starting credits and the sheer creativity of the face of orpheus— i thought that wired looking sculpture very cool! i also have an adoration for french movies that depict the past well. “the death of a poet requires a sacrifice to render him immortal.” i loved the scenery and the streets, the girls’ hair and etcetera. also the lady who played aglaonice was SO beautiful. her hair and facial features were very very pretty, especially that hair flick. i really wish cocteau explored her personality and bacchantes more; for she seemed a radical feminist which would’ve been very progressive for the ‘50s. i also like the reference to aglaonice as the daughter of Hegetor of Thessaly, as the first female astronomer in ancient greece!  “what has been must no longer be.” i also admired how the obsessive sort of dynamic between death and orpheus and (again mentioned) the irresistible pull and attraction the poet felt for her, was portrayed by cocteau. same with heurtebise and cégeste; the eerie servile nature reflecting upon almost a hades-like feeling. i like jean cocteau’s abstract way of communicating feeling and retelling such a revered myth well too. orpheus and eurydice’s tale was beautiful here! “there’s only one love that counts: ours.”