Black Orpheus

Black Orpheus is, at times, a magical and charming film that took me away to another land. At other times I was left a little disappointed in the execution.

Orpheus is a tale that I'm very familiar with. I've read the story in my college mythology class and I watched the Jean Cocteau film a few years ago. It's a simple story that can be easily molded to fit different settings and characters and Black Orpheus is a perfect example of that. Additionally, Rio is a culturally-rich, visually stunning, and vibrantly colored location making for an enjoyable experience in and of itself. The music is phenomenal and adds a unique flavor to the film. The performances are great across the board especially from the two leads (Breno Mello, Marpessa Dawn) and a major standout for me in expressive Lourdes de Oliveira. All of these elements come together to make an awesome adaptation of the classic tale while putting a unique Brazilian twist on it.

My slight disappointment comes from the characters. They lack depth and the vision that Camus brings to the rest of the film. Additionally, I thought the interpretation of Death was really goofy and took me out of the film on occasion.

List: ****2025 Goals******

***Last Review: Aniara***

Black Orpheus is, at times, a magical and charming film that took me away to another land. At other times I was left a little disappointed in the execution.

Orpheus is a tale that I'm very familiar with. I've read the story in my college mythology class and I watched the Jean Cocteau film a few years ago. It's a simple story that can be easily molded to fit different settings and characters and Black Orpheus is a perfect example of that. Additionally, Rio is a culturally-rich, visually stunning, and vibrantly colored location making for an enjoyable experience in and of itself. The music is phenomenal and adds a unique flavor to the film. The performances are great across the board especially from the two leads (Breno Mello, Marpessa Dawn) and a major standout for me in expressive Lourdes de Oliveira. All of these elements come together to make an awesome adaptation of the classic tale while putting a unique Brazilian twist on it.

My slight disappointment comes from the characters. They lack depth and the vision that Camus brings to the rest of the film. Additionally, I thought the interpretation of Death was really goofy and took me out of the film on occasion.

List: ****2025 Goals******

***Last Review: Aniara***

About 10 years after Cocteau’s masterful modern telling of this ancient myth comes another more radical retelling from a French director.

I’m glad this movie was shot in color. The majority of foreign films at the time were in black and white and the colors of Brazil and the Carnival enhance the mystery of the myth. Additionally, the backdrop of carnival allows for exaggerated costumes without detracting from realism. (Did Bond steal the death costume from this for the opening of Spectre?)

On the cusp of bossanova’s popularization in the US, it was fun to hear some early developments in the genre. I’m a huge fan of Joao Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim as well as Sergio Mendes who drifts more into the carnival style seen in this film.

The depictions of black culture are far from perfect, yet having an all black cast in the 50s was extremely radical and is a breath of fresh air.

It is a beautiful and creative telling of a classic tale with a lot of heart and style.

About 10 years after Cocteau’s masterful modern telling of this ancient myth comes another more radical retelling from a French director.

I’m glad this movie was shot in color. The majority of foreign films at the time were in black and white and the colors of Brazil and the Carnival enhance the mystery of the myth. Additionally, the backdrop of carnival allows for exaggerated costumes without detracting from realism. (Did Bond steal the death costume from this for the opening of Spectre?)

On the cusp of bossanova’s popularization in the US, it was fun to hear some early developments in the genre. I’m a huge fan of Joao Gilberto and Antonio Carlos Jobim as well as Sergio Mendes who drifts more into the carnival style seen in this film.

The depictions of black culture are far from perfect, yet having an all black cast in the 50s was extremely radical and is a breath of fresh air.

It is a beautiful and creative telling of a classic tale with a lot of heart and style.

Retelling of the story of orpheus and eurydice from Greek mythology. My knowledge on Greek mythology is very less but those epics sound very interesting to me.
I kind of understand the symbolisms marcel camus was trying to show and the cinematography is beautiful but that's about it. I could not care less about things happening in the film. It's all over the place, i mean it's a musical but all that dancing every second kind of distracted me. A very mediocre film for me. Worst of the palme d'or till now

Retelling of the story of orpheus and eurydice from Greek mythology. My knowledge on Greek mythology is very less but those epics sound very interesting to me.
I kind of understand the symbolisms marcel camus was trying to show and the cinematography is beautiful but that's about it. I could not care less about things happening in the film. It's all over the place, i mean it's a musical but all that dancing every second kind of distracted me. A very mediocre film for me. Worst of the palme d'or till now

Top iterations of this story 🥹

Top iterations of this story 🥹

Ennuyant sans intérêt et surtout une histoire qui n’a aucun sens.

Ennuyant sans intérêt et surtout une histoire qui n’a aucun sens.