NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Black Orpheus

Black Orpheus (Orfeu Negro in Portuguese) is a 1959 film made in Brazil by French director Marcel Camus. It is based on the play Orfeu da Conceição by Brazilian poet Vinicius de Moraes, which is an adaptation of the Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, setting it in the modern context of Rio de Janeiro during the Carnival. The film was an international co-production between production companies in Brazil, France and Italy. Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. ... Marcel Camus (April 21, 1912 - January 13, 1982) was a French film director. ... Vinicius de Moraes (October 19, 1913 - July 9, 1980), born Marcus VinÃcius da Cruz de Melo Morais in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, was a seminal figure in contemporary Brazilian music. ... The bust of Zeus found at Otricoli (Sala Rotonda, Museo Pio-Clementino, Vatican) Greek mythology is the telling of stories created by the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world and their own cult and ritual practices. ... The head of Orpheus, from an 1865 painting by Gustave Moreau. ... In Greek mythology, there were several characters named Eurydice (EurydÃkÃª, Î•Ï…ÏÏ…Î´Î¯ÎºÎ·). // The most famous was a woman â€” or a nymph â€” who was the wife of Orpheus. ... Location of Rio de Janeiro Coordinates: Country Brazil Region Southeast State Rio de Janeiro - Mayor Cesar Maia (PFL) Area - City 1,260 kmÂ² (486. ... Carnival or Carnivale is an annual Christian festival season. ... Production company refers to a company responsible for the development and physical production of a film or television program. ...

The film is particularly renowned for its soundtrack by bossa nova legend Antonio Carlos Jobim, featuring songs such as "Manhã de Carnaval" (written by Luiz Bonfá) and "A felicidade" that were to become Bossa nova classics. Bossa Nova is a style of Brazilian music created by AntÃ´nio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes and JoÃ£o Gilberto and was first introduced in Brazil in 1958, with Elizete Cardosos recording of Chega de Saudade on the CanÃ§Ã£o do Amor Demais LP. Composed by Antonio Carlos... AntÃ´nio Carlos Brasileiro de Almeida Jobim (January 25, 1927 in Rio de Janeiro â€“ December 8, 1994 in New York City), or Tom Jobim (as he is fondly known in his home country), was a Brazilian composer, arranger, singer, pianist/guitarist and one of the primary forces behind the creation... ManhÃ£ De Carnaval is the Portuguese name of a popular song which appeared in the 1959 film Black Orpheus. ... Luiz BonfÃ¡ (October 17, 1922 - January 12, 2001) was a Brazilian guitarist and composer most widely known for the compositions he penned for the film Black Orpheus. ... Bossa Nova is a style of Brazilian music created by AntÃ´nio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes and JoÃ£o Gilberto and was first introduced in Brazil in 1958, with Elizete Cardosos recording of Chega de Saudade on the CanÃ§Ã£o do Amor Demais LP. Composed by Antonio Carlos...

Black Orpheus won the Palme d'Or at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival as well as the 1960 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and the 1960 Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film (in those awards the film was credited as a French production; only in the 1961 BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Language Film, was Brazil credited together with France and Italy). Palme dOr The Palme dOr (Golden Palm) is the highest prize given to a film at the Cannes Film Festival. ... Year 1959 (MCMLIX) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Cannes Film Festival logo. ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... Academy Award The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are the most prominent and most watched film awards ceremony in the world. ... The Academy Award (Oscar) for Best Foreign Language Film is a yearly US award for the best film in a language other than English, released in the period October - September in the country of origin. ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... The Golden Globe Awards are American awards for motion pictures and television programs, given out each year during a formal dinner. ... For the main article see Golden Globe Awards. ... 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1961 calendar). ... The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), is a British organization that hosts annual awards shows for film, television, childrens film and television, and interactive media. ...

In 1999, the film was essentially remade as Orfeu by Carlos Diegues, this time with a soundtrack featuring contemporary Brazilian pop singer-songwriter Caetano Veloso. 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... Orfeu is a 1999 Brazilian film by direct by Carlos Diegues based on the play Orfeu da ConceiÃ§Ã£o by Vinicius de Moraes. ... Carlos Diegues, also known as CacÃ¡ Diegues, (born 19 May 1940 in MaceiÃ³, Alagoas, Brazil) is a Brazilian film director. ... Caetano Veloso (born 7 August 1942) is one of the most popular and influential Brazilian composers and singers. ...

Plot

Orpheus (Breno Mello) is a trolley driver in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, as well as a playboy amongst the women of his town. Although engaged to be wed, he does not seem very enthusiastic about the concept of marriage and spends the majority of the film trying to avoid his fiancée Mira (Lourdes de Oliveira). Location of Rio de Janeiro Coordinates: Country Brazil Region Southeast State Rio de Janeiro - Mayor Cesar Maia (PFL) Area - City 1,260 kmÂ² (486. ...

The film begins with Orpheus and his fiancée going to get a marriage license only after his fiancée agrees to get his guitar out of the pawn shop. The clerk at the courthouse makes reference to the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, causing Orpheus's fiancée to get jealous and assume that there is another woman in his life. When Orpheus gets home, he finds that his neighbor Serafina's (Léa Garcia) cousin named Eurydice (Marpessa Dawn) has been visiting. Death is after Eurydice (The man in the skeleton suit). This is shown in a scene in which the man chases her down and Orpheus gallantly goes to her rescue. The head of Orpheus, from an 1865 painting by Gustave Moreau. ... In Greek mythology, there were several characters named Eurydice (EurydÃkÃª, Î•Ï…ÏÏ…Î´Î¯ÎºÎ·). // The most famous was a woman â€” or a nymph â€” who was the wife of Orpheus. ...

Orpheus, upon seeing Eurydice, wins her graces by playing her a song on his guitar and telling her the story of Orpheus and Eurydice which he had just learned at the courthouse. Orpheus is a pleasant break from the insanity of Carnival, which seems to agitate Eurydice’s already frightened state. The two of them fall in love, yet are constantly on the run from both Orpheus's fiancée and death, both of whom wish to kill Eurydice. Mangueira samba school parades in Rio de Janeiro The Brazilian Carnival (Portuguese: ) is an annual celebration in Brazil held forty days before Easter and marking the start of Lent. ...

On the day of Carnival, Eurydice dresses in Serafina's costume in order to keep her face concealed. During the festival, Orpheus uses every excuse to be able to dance with Eurydice rather than Mira. He consistently tells Mira to get back to her place.

Eventually, Eurydice’s identity is revealed and she is forced once again to run for her life from both Mira and death. This time she is not so lucky, and is killed by Orpheus in his own trolley station when he turns the power on and accidentally electrocutes her. Death says "Now she's mine" before knocking him out. Despite the obvious fact that she is dead and the less obvious fact that he is the one who actually killed her, he looks for Eurydice within the Bureau of Missing Persons. The janitor there tells him that the place only holds papers, and that no people would be found there. The janitor seems to be illiterate and Orpheus's reading ability is also presented as being highly questionable. The janitor, taking pity on Orpheus takes him down the stairs and to the place of a Hoodoo/Voodoo ritual in a scene that seems to mimic catafalque. This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Voodoo (Vodou, Vodoun, Vudu, or Vudun in Benin, Togo, southeastern Ghana, Burkina Faso, and Senegal; also Vodou in Haiti) is a name attributed to a traditionally unwritten West African spiritual system of faith and ritual practices. ... A catafalque is a raised bier or platform of sorts (often movable) used to support the casket or coffin, or in the case of a pope: the body, of a person during a funeral or memorial service. ...

At the gate, there is a dog named Cerberus, after the three-headed dog of Hades in Greek mythology. At this ritual, Orpheus is able to channel the spirit of Eurydice through the body of an old woman. Orpheus calls out to her and asks to see her, but Eurydice begs him not too look toward the voice, lest he lose her forever. When he looks back to see Eurydice, her spirit leaves the woman and he loses her forever (This is in direct correlation to the Greek myth in which Orpheus is able to save his love Eurydice but loses her forever when he looks back at her). Cerberus - Watercolour by William Blake In Greek mythology, Cerberus or Kerberos (Greek ÎšÎÏÎ²ÎµÏÎ¿Ï‚, Kerberos, demon of the pit), was the hound of Hadesâ€”a monstrous three-headed dog (sometimes said to have 50 or 100 heads) with a snake for a tail and serpentine mane. ... Hades, Greek god of the underworld, enthroned, with his bird-headed staff, on a red-figure Apulian vase made in the 4th century BC. For other uses, see Hades (disambiguation). ...

He wanders in mourning for the continuation of the film. The Greek Orpheus also wandered around after Eurydice's death, refusing all other women until he is killed by Thracian women in the heat of Dionysian ritual. Like the Greek Orpheus, this Orpheus is killed by a group of apparently crazed women. As we see Orpheus' and Serafina's shack burning (Set by Mira no doubt), it is finally Mira's stone that hits him in the head and knocks him over a cliff to his death.

There are two children, Benedito and Zeca, who seem to follow Orpheus around throughout the plot (especially Benedito) who have the idea that it is Orpheus's guitar that causes the sun to rise in the morning. After Orpheus dies, Zeca is compelled by Benedito to pick up the guitar and play so that the sun may rise again. Zeca is able to play the guitar and the sun does rise. A little girl comes by and the film ends with the three of them dancing.

Trivia

External links

Categories: 1950s Romantic comedy films | 1959 films | BAFTA winners (films) | Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award winners | Brazilian films | Films based on Greco-Roman mythology | Palme d'Or winners | Portuguese-language films | Romantic fantasy films The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about motion pictures, actors, movie stars, TV shows, TV stars, production crew personnel, movie pictures, cast, crew as well as video games. ... Monsieur Hulot (actual film is in colour) Mon Oncle (My Uncle) is a 1958 film by Jacques Tati. ... The Academy Award (Oscar) for Best Foreign Language Film is a yearly US award for the best film in a language other than English, released in the period October - September in the country of origin. ... JungfrukÃ¤llan (The Virgin Spring) is a 1960 Swedish film directed by Ingmar Bergman. ... DVD cover of the film The Cranes are Flying (Russian: Ð›ÐµÑ‚ÑÑ‚ Ð¶ÑƒÑ€Ð°Ð²Ð»Ð¸, Letyat zhuravli) is arguably the greatest film to come out of World War II. It was directed by the Georgian-born Soviet director Mikhail Kalatozov in 1957 and starring Aleksey Batalov and Tatiana Samoilova. ... Palme dOr The Palme dOr (Golden Palm) is the highest prize given to a film at the Cannes Film Festival. ... La Dolce Vita (1960) (translation The Sweet Life) is a film directed by Federico Fellini and usually cited as the film that signals the split between his earlier neo-realist films and his later symbolist period. ...