Black Orpheus (The Criterion Collection)
by Marcel Camus
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Breno Mello, Fausto Guerzoni, Lourdes de Oliveira, Marcel Camus, Marpessa DawnDirector: Marcel Camus
Brand: Image Entertainment
DVD: Region Code 0
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Subtitled); Portuguese (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono; English (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
Format: Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 100 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1999-06-08
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Criterion
Movie Reviews of Black Orpheus (The Criterion Collection)
Movie Review: A beautiful movie filled with joy, sadness and a kind of optimism, and driven by one of the great music scores.
Summary: 5 Stars
"Morning, such a pretty morning.
A new song is born,
Singing of your eyes, your laughter, your hands.
There will be a day when you come
From the strings of my guitar
That only your love sought.
A voice comes and talks about kissing,
Kisses lost in your lips.
Sing, my heart, happiness is back
In the dawn of this love."
And so Orpheus (Breno Mello), a happy-go-lucky trolley conductor in Rio de Janeiro, and Eurydice (Marpessa Dawn), a young girl from the country who has come to stay with her cousin in a Rio slum high on a mountain overlooking the city, fall in love. Please note that elements of the plot are discussed. Orpheus is handsome, confident and loves women as much as they love him. When he discovers Eurydice, however, she becomes all he has ever wanted. But Eurydice, caught up in her joy with Orpheus, still is frightened of a man masked as Death who she is convinced intends to kill her. But carnival is starting. There are costumes to buy and masks to wear, dancing to practice, life to be enjoyed. Through it all, the hot, sensual bossa nova beat of Antonio Carlos Jobin's and Luis Bonfa's music permeates everything.
The movie is so lyrical, so innocent and so joyous as it starts that it's easy to hope that in this version of the Greek myth there will be a different ending. There is not. But the intensity of carnival carries us along. The happiness and spirit of the friends and neighbors of Orpheus captures us just as much as the music. The almost child-like passion of Orpheus and Eurydice is so open and true, we realize that it can't last.
One of the most lyrical passages is early in the movie when Orpheus begins to play on his guitar a song he has written. Two scruffy little boys are with him. They believe Orpheus can make the dawn come by playing his guitar at daybreak. As Orpheus plays, one boy holds a baby goat and the other a rooster to keep them quiet. "Morning, such a pretty morning, a new song is born..." Orpheus sings. Next door, Eurydice hears him and stops to listen. In that moment the myth becomes a real thing. And Orpheus, after he and Eurydice have slept the night together, sings another song while Eurydice dreams on...
"My happiness is dreaming in the eyes of my lover.
It's like this night, passing,
Seeking the dawn.
Speak low, please,
So she might wake up happy,
Offering a kiss of love.
Sadness has no end. Happiness does.
Happiness is like a drop of dew on a flower's petal,
Brilliant and tranquil, then grieving,
Then falling like a tear of love."
Then carnival arrives, and so does Death. At the end of the movie Orpheus and Eurydice are joined for eternity. On the mountain top as dawn breaks, the two little boys bring the new sun as one plays Orpheus' guitar and Orpheus' song "...Morning, such a pretty morning. A new song is born..." They are joined by a little girl, dressed in white, who begins to dance around them, and they join her.
At this point, I didn't know whether to smile or cry. I think I did both.
The film was shot in color with wonderful views of Rio streets, nighttime carnival and the poor neighborhood where Orpheus lives. The Criterion DVD transfer looks fine. There are no significant extras. There is a brochure in the case which gives an appreciation of the film.
Summary of Black Orpheus (The Criterion Collection)
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