Black Orpheus (1959)

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

I'd never heard of this film before I stumbled on it at my local library, but I was instantly intrigued. Disappointed however. I'll keep this brief.The constant beat in the background was interesting and vibrant, but really did become annoying when dialogue is being exchanged, especially when everyone in the film acts like a complete character of a weird hyper active child. Seriously the acting was probably the worst thing in the whole picture. It was obnoxious and illogical most of the time. Also typical plot holes, like why the women just kept running away from the masked man, instead of being protected by the people around her? Especially towards the end when there are COPS that she literally runs into, but doesn't seek help. Really obnoxious. There's more that makes this a really unenjoyable watch, but mainly it has a 15 minute plot stretched to an hour and forty minutes, filled with people acting way over the top, and loud thumping leaving this film with nothing more than a headache. PS I'm 21 so it's not because I'm too old for the noise!!

after few good years from I saw it, the memories are are about its poetry. a poetry including samba and Rio and voodoo and Latino spirit and crumbs from Cocteau universe and social references and folklore and impeccable acting. the same Ancient story. only the frame is different. and it remains different in a special manner. because it is a love story from the "50. the mark of decade is the basic source of seduction /interest today. and the web of dance, dialogues and carnival. the shining skin and the rhythm of music. the air of dream and the exotic flavors. a film who remains great today like in its period. because it is , in profound sense, one of the cinematography purpose definition.

The IFC celebrated Janus' 50th Anniversary with the release of 50 great movie imports over the years. For those of us that were able to catch, and record, some of those restored films on TV, we were very lucky. This film, which won the 1959 Oscar for Best Foreign Language, was part of that set. The film is set in Rio de Janeiro during Carnival, with bright colors and sounds. It is a modern retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth with a black cast. It is filled with singing, dancing, and the constant samba beat of the Carnival in the background and/or foreground. This film is certainly well worth seeing. However—probably due to my own failings--I was unable to connect with it or appreciate it. So, I won't even try to rank it here.

I did remember this title rather well having seen it featured in the book 1001 Movies You See Before You Die, and of course with that recommendation there was no way I was going to miss an opportunity to watch this French/Brazilian film. Basically in Rio De Janeiro, trolley conductor and musician Orfeus (Breno Mello) is engaged to Mira (Lourdes De Oliveira), and new in town is Eurydice (Marpessa Dawn) arrives during the time Carnival week. She is running away from a stalker, Orpheus is instantly attracted to her, and he introduces her to life in this new place, including meeting station guard Hermes (Alexandro Constantino), and given directions she finds her cousin Serafina (Léa Garcia). Orpheus is not enthusiastic about his upcoming wedding, he even buys a new guitar instead of an engagement which Mira wants, this is so that he can eventually celebrate and join in the carnival. He is happy to see Eurydice living next door to him, they do have her stalker Death (Ademar Da Silva) come and find her, but he is chased away, and Serafina's sailor boyfriend Chico (Waldemar De Souza) distracts her attention, so they can connect properly. Orpheus, Mira, Serafina and Eurydice all take part in the carnival with colourful dresses and instruments and join in all the dancing and celebrations, and of course during this Mira finds out about the deception. Death shows up again, and Orpheus tries to chase him away again, and in the process Mira hangs from a power line to get away, and her fiancé accidentally kills her turning the power on. A distraught Orpheus tries to look for Eurydice, but he is told by someone that she may be dead, he goes into essentially the Underworld to search for her. There is a point when he finds what may be her in an older being, and she may in fact be dead, and he mourns, but he finds her body in the dark world and carries it away to take home and bring her back to life. The end is not happy though, as jealous Mira spots Orpheus holding Eurydice on the edge of a cliff, throws a stone that hits his head, and both them fall to their deaths. Also starring Jorge Dos Santos as Benedito. I will be honest that I guess I didn't fully catch on to the Greek story being retold in a more modern form, the cast were all fine, and the love story was interesting enough, but what I personally enjoyed was all the brightly coloured and musical carnival action in between everything, overall however it is a worthwhile romance. It won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, it was nominated the BAFTA for Best Film from any Source, and it won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film. Good!