Synopsis
Young lovers Orfeu and Eurydice run through the favelas of Rio during Carnaval, on the lam from a hitman dressed like Death and Orfeu's vengeful fiancée Mira and passing between moments of fantasy and stark reality. This impressionistic retelling of the Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice introduced bossa nova to the world with its soundtrack by young Brazilian composers Luiz Bonfá and Antonio Carlos Jobim.
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Cast
- Breno MelloOrfeo
- Marpessa DawnEurydice
- Lourdes de OliveiraMira
- Léa GarciaSerafina
- Adhemar Ferreira da SilvaDeath
- Waldetar De SouzaChico
- Alexandre ConstantinoHermes
- Jorge Dos SantosBenedito
- Aurino CassianoZeca
- Maria AliceLittle Girl
Recommendations
- 100
Washington Post
A riotous, rapturous explosion of sound and color, Black Orpheus is less about Orpheus's doomed love for Eurydice than about Camus's love for cinema at its most gestural and kinetic. - 90
The New York Times
It really is not the two lovers that are the focus of interest in this film; it is the music, the movement, the storm of color that go into the two-day festival. M. Camus has done a superb job of getting the documented look not only of the overall fandango but also of the buildup of momentum the day before. (Review of Original Release) - 90
Village Voice
Camus's film remains a revivifying experience - and a mid-winter oasis. Born and bred in France, Camus made other films, and lots of French TV, but Black Orpheus may still be the greatest one-hit-wonder import we've ever seen. - 88
TV Guide Magazine
Besides its exhilarating style, the well-acted film works as an effective translation of the classic Greek myth into a Brazilian romance. (Review of Original Release) - 88
Chicago Tribune
A film that art-house audiences in 1959 loved madly. And who can blame them? A buoyant, searingly colorful retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth set in Rio de Janiero, writer-director's Marcel Camus' movie is a romance heightened by its backdrop. - 80
Variety
Pic is somewhat cerebral, being mainly helped by the fresh playing of the cast, especially Yank actress Dawn. Color is excellent, and director Marcel Camus gives this movement. (Review of Original Release) - 75
Boston Globe
This is a movie about the marriage between sound and image, and the sound is wearing the pants in the relationship. - 50
Chicago Reader
This sort of thing was considered high art not so long ago; now it seems forced and ponderously symbolic.
