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.

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Plot Keywords:

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

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Music | Romance

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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

Although this won the Palme d'Or at Cannes and the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, ironically it is not terribly well regarded in its native Brazil where some object to the depiction of their country as being a non-stop party.

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Quotes

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

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Connections

Referenced in Me and Earl and the Dying Girl (2015)

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Soundtracks

Samba de Orfeo
Written by Luiz Bonfá and Antônio Maria

User Reviews

Precious tracery

Music, Carnaval and love story. All in a mythical Brasil, in soft pagan shadows and old Greek memory. A gentle film about desire and hate, about revenge and death.

A marvelous film thanks to the precision of details. The soul of ancient tragedy is present. The Latino hubbub, with pre- Christian rites and images inebriation is present too and the movie is result of this subtle fight and wonderful completion.

It is hard to define a film of this category. Artistic value is part of scenes in personal past and the film is only ladder for a golden age space. So, the gifts of "Orfeu Negro" is perfect refinement, the delicate acting.

"Black Orpheus" is a precious tracery about human condition.