Black Orpheus(1959)
Director: Marcel Camus
Writers: Marcel Camus, Jacques Viot
Stars: Breno Mello, Marpessa Dawn, Lourdes de Oliveira
Runtime: 100 minutes
Plot: A retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, set during the time of the Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro.
Review: Frenchman Marcel Camus presents us a melancholy tale in his colour film, "Black Orpheus" ("Orfeu Negro"). A tragic story of a man and a woman, who meet at the time of the annual blowout, fall rapturously in love, whirl through the night in a furious revel and fall off a cliff in the dawn. At least, the fellow falls off the cliff, holding the dead body of the girl in his arms. She has been killed the previous evening while trying to escape a scoundrel in a skeleton costume.
The samba drama is supposed to be based on the classic legend of Orpheus and Eurydice. Some parallels may be detected, but to us this seems an innocent conceit, unless you want to claim all sad love stories come from the same original source. But it really is not the two lovers that are the focus of this film; it is the music, the movement, the storm of colour that goes into the two-day festival. M. Camus has done a superb job of getting the documented look not only of the over-all fandango but also of the build-up of momentum.
Reviewed by Mohaiminul Islam
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