Black Orpheus (1959)

A retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, set during the time of the Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro.

Director:

Marcel Camus

Writers:

Marcel Camus, Jacques Viot

Stars:

Breno Mello, Marpessa Dawn, Lourdes de Oliveira

Won 1 Oscar. Another 3 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Breno Mello	...	Orfeo
Marpessa Dawn	...	Eurydice
Lourdes de Oliveira	...	Mira
Léa Garcia	...	Serafina
Ademar Da Silva	...	Death (as Adhemar Feirrera da Silva)
Waldemar De Souza	...	Chico
Alexandro Constantino	...	Hermes
Jorge Dos Santos	...	Benedito
Aurino Cassiano	...	Zeca
Maria Alice
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ana Amélia
Elizeth Cardoso
Arlete Costa
Maria de Lourdes
Modesto De Souza

Storyline

In the heady atmosphere of Rio's carnival, two people meet and fall in love. Eurydice, a country girl, has run away from home to avoid a man who arrived at her her looking for her. She is convinced that he was going to kill her. She arrives in Rio to stay with her cousin Serafina. Orfeo works as a tram conductor and is engaged to Mira - as far as Mira is concerned anyways. As Eurydice and Orpheus get to know one another they fall deeply in love. Mira is mad with jealousy and when Eurydice disappears, Orfeo sets out to find her.

---

Plot Keywords:

samba | rio carnival | orpheus and eurydice | favela | bossa nova | 

---

Taglines:

The Music... The Dancing... The Colors!

---

Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Music | Romance

---

Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

Brazil France Italy

Language:

Portuguese

Release Date:

21 December 1959 (USA)

Also Known As:

Black Orpheus

Filming Locations:

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dispat Films, Gemma, Tupan Filmes

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Mono (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Marcel Camus shot the film entirely on location in Brazil with his cast and crew of mostly local talent. Camus wanted to capture the dramatic landscapes around Rio and the vibrant sounds and colors of the area, infusing the film with a kinetic energy set to the constant throbbing beat of samba music.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Benedito: [to Serafina] Serafina, look how beautiful!

---

Connections

Featured in The 79th Annual Academy Awards (2007)

---

Soundtracks

O Nosso Amor
Written by Antonio Carlos Jobim
Played frequently throughout the film

User Reviews

One of the classics of world cinema

Do they clean the streets in Rio De Janeiro? Well, of course they do. When this carnival is over.

And if you watch this movie you will see that they do it very near the end of the last reel, as in the morning when the truck comes round spraying water, just one of a thousand little details that director Marcel Camus got right, and one of the most insignificant. But it is from a multiplicity of detail that an edifice of cinematic genius is constructed.

The true brilliance of Black Orpheus lies in the people who live on the side of the cliffs overlooking the harbor at Rio. It is their energy that prevails. Then there is the color, the costumes, the pounding rhythms, the spectacular vitality of life that is depicted as a carnival of dance and song in which we are driven along as on a wave. And yet there is the constant reality of death. And it strikes in way we cannot comprehend, fatalistically, and we are helpless to do anything about it. And then Orpheus sings, a new Orpheus perhaps, and the sun rises again, and a little girl in white, looking like Eurydice in miniature, begins to dance as the little boy Orpheus plays his guitar, telling us that time has come round again.

Well, that's the plot as adapted by screen writer Jacques Voit from the play by Vinicius d Moraes as divined from the Greek mythology. Supporting this arresting conception is the music by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Luis Bonfa. I recall the former as the composer of bossanova who gave us "The Girl from Ipanema" and made the samba international. Starring in the title role as the streetcar conductor who is loved by all is Beno Melo, who might be seen as the natural man and native of paradise. The very pretty Marpessa Dawn plays Eurydice, an innocent from the country who falls in love with Orpheus and his song. Lourdes de Oliveira plays his intended, Mira who is hot blooded, vital and beautifully ordinary. But the actress I recall most vividly from the time I first saw this in the sixties was Léa Garcia who played Serafina. Her exuberance and comedic flair struck me as something completely different from anybody I had ever seen before. And then there are the boys who follow Orpheus around and emulate his every move. With their torn shirts and unflagging optimism, they represent the new day that will dawn.

If you haven't seen this classic of world cinema, you are in for a singular experience. There is nothing else like it that I know of. And it is as fresh today as when it was made almost half a century ago.

(Note: Over 500 of my movie reviews are now available in my book "Cut to the Chaise Lounge or I Can't Believe I Swallowed the Remote!" Get it at Amazon!)