Orphee is a poet who becomes obsessed with Death (the Princess). They fall in love. Orphee's wife, Eurydice, is killed by the Princess' henchmen and Orphee goes after her into the Underworld. Although they have become dangerously entangled, the Princess sends Orphee back out of the Underworld, to carry on his life with Eurydice.
Roger Ebert wrote, "Seeing 'Orpheus' today is like glimpsing a cinematic realm that has passed completely from the scene. Films are rarely made for purely artistic reasons, experiments are discouraged, and stars as big as Marais are not cast in eccentric remakes of Greek myths. The story in Cocteau's hands becomes unexpectedly complex; we see that it is not simply about love, death and jealousy, but also about how art can seduce the artist away from ordinary human concerns".
There is definitely a good way and a bad way to update mythology. Thebad way, well, we will not go there. But the good way is shown here and in films like "O Brother Where Art Thou". For much of this one, it could be any story if it was not made obvious by the character names. A French poet does not immediately scream "Orpheus".
The myth-fantasy gets stronger as the film goes on, and this actually works. It could be silly to have fantastic elements show up part way through, but it actually just boosts the film from average to better than average.
Roger Ebert wrote, "Seeing 'Orpheus' today is like glimpsing a cinematic realm that has passed completely from the scene. Films are rarely made for purely artistic reasons, experiments are discouraged, and stars as big as Marais are not cast in eccentric remakes of Greek myths. The story in Cocteau's hands becomes unexpectedly complex; we see that it is not simply about love, death and jealousy, but also about how art can seduce the artist away from ordinary human concerns".
There is definitely a good way and a bad way to update mythology. Thebad way, well, we will not go there. But the good way is shown here and in films like "O Brother Where Art Thou". For much of this one, it could be any story if it was not made obvious by the character names. A French poet does not immediately scream "Orpheus".
The myth-fantasy gets stronger as the film goes on, and this actually works. It could be silly to have fantastic elements show up part way through, but it actually just boosts the film from average to better than average.