BLACK ORPHEUS

Brazilian publicity poster for Black Orpheus (© Marcel Camus/Tupan Filmes/Lopert Pictures – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)

I devoted the Friday night/Saturday morning of 6/7 May 2017 to watching a very special film that I'd wanted to see for many years – Black Orpheus (aka Orfeu Negro aka Orfeo Negro), the celebrated, Oscar-winning, Brazil-set musical from 1959 offering a modern-day interpretation of a classic story from Greek mythology, Orpheus and Eurydice.

Its dialogue and singing are in Portuguese (at the 1960 Academy Awards ceremony, it won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film). However, a few days ago I was able to purchase an official DVD of it dubbed into English and also with English subtitles. So I sat back and watched it twice, once the English-dubbed version, and once the original Portuguese version with English subtitles.

Black Orpheus is a fascinating film, blending the wild samba-driven gaiety of Carnival in Rio de Janeiro with life in one of this city's famous favelas or slums (much of this movie was filmed in the Morro da Babilônia, a real favela), and is full of melodic music and colourful dance. In faithful homage to the original Greek myth, however, it is also replete with eerie supernatural overtones, as Death in physical, human form stalks and ultimately claims Eurydice (played vibrantly by Marpessa Dawn), followed by the vain attempts of Orpheus (Breno Mello) to win her back by participating in a Macumba ritual taking place within an Underworld-redolent setting complete with a ferocious guard-dog called Cerberus (albeit only one-headed here). Intriguingly, prior to appearing in this movie, in which he gives a very creditable, winning performance, Mello had been a professional football player, not an actor.

In the English-dubbed version, the movie's most famous song 'Manhã de Carnaval', written by legendary Brazilian composer Luiz Bonfá, is sung in direct English translation from the original Portuguese, and was the first time that I'd ever heard these beautiful lyrics. This is because the two more famous English versions ('Carnival', and 'A Day in the Life of a Fool') are not translations from the Portuguese version but are entirely new lyrics. So that was a very pleasant surprise.

As a longstanding fan of carnivals, musicals, and Greek mythology, and also as someone fortunate enough to have visited Rio, I thoroughly enjoyed this most unusual but spellbinding film, subtly segueing between romance, celebration, folklore, song, tragedy, and the supernatural. I can readily recommend it to anyone seeking something very different and totally captivating in the world of movies.

But don't just take my word for it – watch the entire English-dubbed version for yourself while it's still available for free here on YouTube.

And to view a complete listing of all of my Shuker In MovieLand blog's other film reviews and articles (each one instantly accessible via a direct clickable link), please click HERE! 

English publicity poster for Black Orpheus (© Marcel Camus/Tupan Filmes/Lopert Pictures – reproduced here on a strictly non-commercial Fair Use basis for educational/review purposes only)