Orpheus (1950) User Reviews

"Astonish us"

[Spondonman · 9/10 · 6 August 2006]

Although this is definitely Jean Cocteau up to his old cinematic tricks, Orphee is beyond criticism as it's Art that has stood the test of time. And updated Classical Art at that. Keep your guard up and you won't get it. But drop your guard and it's still an astonishing film, an allegorical atmospheric magical poetic potboiler, and a film I've seen over 10 times over the decades without failing to admire its self-possession and panache.

Orphee is a self-obsessed cult poet, who gets immersed in writing down and publishing the cryptic word gems the Princess of Death's talking car tells him. "The bird sings with its fingers" is especially ridiculously impressive, but of course, all of this was a reference to Resistance methods during the War of disguising their intentions from the Nazis. Allegorical to ... what? During this period his wife Eurydice is murdered by the Princess, who fancies Orphee while Heurtebise her Underworld chauffeur fancies Eurydice. Hem. This is not only a four dimensional, but a multi-dimensional tour de force, travelling back and forth through the worlds of life and death. The intellectual complexities involved can be enormous, you can lose the plot by thinking too deeply about one line of dialogue, or why "Orpheus's Death" is coming through the mirror at night to look at Eurydice. On the other hand, you might view it all as totally ridiculous and pretentious and laugh out loud at some of the scenes - but that only makes you a realist and not a poet. Auric's dreamy music helps a lot, although Passport to Pimlico keeps coming to mind!

Cocteau revisited Orphee later on near the end of his life, but The Testament of Orphee unfortunately really was pretentious even if startlingly different for 1960 - to quote: "his life had decayed, rotten with success". But this is the Real Secret of Secrets - Orphee is an utterly unique treasure, conceived and executed by an irreplaceable talent - and his second best effort too, after Belle et la Bete! Worth the weight of its nitrate stock in gold.

One of the best I have ever seen

[sanat · 9/10 · 5 August 2001]

I saw the movie, or most of it, around the age of eight or nine. It made a deep impression on me, and I have wanted to watch it again. Now that I have been able to find out the name and the director, I soon will!

The special effects in the film, as I recall them, must have been fabulous for the time, and were quite dazzling even by the standards of the eighties. The movie is surreal, and though it sounds trite, this is perhaps the best description. It left one with a delicious feeling, and even after almost twenty years I feel quite thrilled when I think about it. I found the notion of being in love with death, who is portrayed by María Casarès, and whom I found incredibly attractive, was overwhelmingly wonderful. That was my interpretation at that time. I am curious to see what I would think of it now.

Certainly a terrific film for a child. I think I would still find it wonderful.

The delightfully lithe work of an artist!

[HenryHextonEsq · 9/10 · 5 February 2003]

It was fantastic that I got to see this film, yet odd that it had to be from the video selection of my English faculty library. So, headphones it was, on a typically cold English February day, in a place of learning.

I quickly took to this spirited, ambitious film; a heady concoction that blends fantasy and reality beautifully. This is truly one of the aesthetically wondrous films one could ever wish to see... it has a visual poetry that beguiles the eye, as well as the verbal poetry of a fine script. This is a Cocteau film in which he goes a bit deeper into his characters; while the acting is 'stagy' (in quite an appealing manner) the use of location firmly grounds the piece in an initial contemporary, provincial French town. Cocteau's camera takes in all that is necessary and no more, in conveying his lucid dream visions. That the realism so convinces, in its way of establishing a sleepy, unremarkable French town, really helps the fantasy to come across within a richly plausible context.

Many touches seem audacious and visionary - the very fact of translating this ancient myth to contemporary France, the brilliant device of having Orpheus enraptured by at times otherworldly, at times mundane messages conveyed through a crackling car radio... the imagery of a mirror turning watery as it is passed through; this is sublime, artful stuff, of a heavily metaphysical, cerebral yet enjoyable nature. Maria Casares is absolutely splendid as the "Princess", an aspect of Death; beautifully sleek and stern, with a suppressed tenderness brought out later in the film. Casares brilliantly conveys the sense of a timeless creature of the ages, despite her being only in her 27th year when it was made. Jean Marais is wonderfully theatrical in his acting; a good portrayal of the flawed artist - in this case 'poet', chasing after inspiration rather than worldly happiness. The overlaps with Cocteau himself, autobiographically, add a little extraneous interest... certain scenes seem to refer to Cocteau's position in France, and interestingly also the occupation, with the leather clad motor-cyclists and absurdist underground tribunals...

I should mention the character Heurtebise, treated deftly by Cocteau; who seems to find most to relate to in his male leads, Orpheus and Heurtebise. While the very feminine Death is portrayed exceptionally, Maria Dea's Eurydice is I feel, seen as quite insignificant, though Dea does her best. It's a shame Juliette Greco gets such short shrift in her role as Aglaonice; much is hinted at early on, regarding her antagonistic character, that is not followed up. Francois Perier is wonderful as Heurtebise; along with Casares the most memorable performance here. Perier really makes you believe in and sympathize with this character, as well as having a matter-of-fact eccentricity comparable to Marius Goring's Conductor in "A Matter of Life of Death".

Auric and Hayer do a superb job fine-tuning and moulding Cocteau's tantalizing vision of art, death and love. The film is technically brilliant, the trick shots superbly pulled off and the atmosphere always compelling, involving the viewer, despite the latent abstract quality of the film.

This really is a film to lose yourself in; a lyrical feat of visual poetry with the majestic sense of dream. It is film fantasy as it all too seldom has been; sublimely imaginative and fluidly inventive.

Rating:- **** 1/2/*****

One of the truly great masterpieces of cinema

[Dave Godin · 10/10 · 25 January 2000]

If ever a film could me called `magical', `hypnotic' and `compelling', then surely that film is ORPHEUS; magical because it is such an incredible feat of the imagination; hypnotic because it is a relentless assault upon all the senses, the intellect and the emotions, and compelling because it is a profound attempt to at least illustrate, (it is not so arrogant as to presume to solve!), the mystery of life, our awareness of death and human consciousness endlessly seeking some sort of certainty to comfort ourselves with. Layered with various ambiguous possibilities, and full of symbols which will resonate in a variety of ways according to each individual viewer, each viewing of the film draws you deeper into its mystery again and again, and each time teaches you more and more. Perhaps it could only have been made when it was, (in the aftermath of WW2), and where it was, (in a country that had decided to do a deal with Death and then lived to regret it). Perhaps because Jean Cocteau was so talented in so many fields, people seldom seem to note what an utterly brilliant film director he was, and his work in this respect with ORPHEUS, stands comparison with anybody's. The film is also so complete, and unravels so perfectly and in such a masterly way; not one superfluous scene; superb acting all round, atmospheric photography, and a superbly utilised and sublime score by Georges Auric. I simply cannot imagine a film like this being made now, (perhaps LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD was the last gasp of this type of didactic artistic consciousness), and this depresses me greatly, because it shows that `progress' is not an automatic, upwardly rising arc, but a curve that can go backwards as well as forwards. Anyone who has even the slightest affection for cinema should watch this film, and marvel, surrender, and learn from it. Without doubt in my book, one of the ten greatest movies ever made. So much so that I almost feel privileged to have been born into the time frame that could access it.

One Way to Celebrate a Lay-Off!!!

[alicecbr · 20 March 2001]

There's nothing better than a dark involved movie about death to bring you out of your blues. Having been laid off today from a high-tech, high-paying job, I find that this is a far better escape from my blues than getting skunk-drunk. Now I'll be able to afford the time to see such movies...this was at the Brattle Theater, an arts movie house in Cambridge that regularly shows movies written when brains were necessary to write a script that would be made into a movie. Of course, I saw it way back when but the mark of a good movie is that you see a different movie every time you see it, because YOU change and your interpretation therefore changes. The surreal scenes in the Underground evoke many other images, and, because of their wierdness, cannot be forgotten. It raises questions about the 'finality' of death, and the relative unimportance of so much in life (including jobs/employment). The love of the two protagonists for one another is especially intriguing, since Cocteau at first gives you the impression that Orpheus is a narcissistic writer only in love with himself.

The fierce command for Orpheus NOT to look at Eurydice reminds you of Lot's wife, as she turned into the pillar of salt. Of course, I still wonder why that part was in here.....maybe just to make us wonder about disobedience.

The mob throwing rocks at the house was indicative of mob mentality everywhere and anytime.

The motorcyclists, angels of death, remind you of "The Wild One" as they perform their ghastly tasks in the small French town. As the other dead people make their sacrifices for one another, with no mention of religion, you almost have a re-awakened faith in the power of love. Which is what religion is all about anyhow,-- not in the ghost stories we are told to help make the fear of death/nothingness more pallatable.

Cocteau was a genius, and his movies are unique. Invest in them while you can, and re-visit them from time to time when you need a reminder of how precious love and life are.

The closest cinema has come to poetry

[peterehoward · 10/10 · 13 November 2005]

Self-obsessed and self-regarding Orphee, a poet, lives in splendid isolation with his beautiful wife Eurydice in post-war, bomb-damaged France. It is the early 50's and times are changing; Orphee is facing competition from a new wave of Poets and is scorned by the new generation. He goes into town with the intention of facing them down but to his rage, he is studiously ignored.

Their leader, the young Jacques Cegeste, is caught up in a bar-room brawl which spills out into the street and he is killed by a motorcyclist. Orphee, an innocent bystander, is taken away in a black limousine with the lifeless body of Cegeste by a beautiful and mysterious Princess to a deserted house. Here, time runs backwards and the way into the underworld lies through mirrors ("I give you the secret of secrets! Mirrors are the doorway through which death comes").

Orpheus falls in love with the Princess and so falls in love with his own death. Meanwhile, Orphee's absence is noted by the Police, who are advised by Cegeste's followers that he is responsible for the young poet's death.

Ultimately Orphee has to choose between between Death - the Princess - and Eurydice, after she is returned to the Underworld. He is wracked with indecision: the Princess eventually makes the decision for him.

This strange and beautiful film may seem familiar even if you are watching it for the first time as it has been referenced in many other films, as well as in pop videos: and yes, it was the image of Orphee (Jean Marais, Cocteau's lifelong lover) on the cover of The Smiths' This Charming Man.

There are many unforgettable images; Orphee, receiving fragments of poetry via his car radio ("The Bird counts with his fingers! Three times!"); the magical gloves; the glass seller in the Underworld; and ultimately, the final "Adieu!" between the Princess and her driver, the magnificent Herteubise.

Cocteau described his film as being of the myth of immortality: in the end, Death dies. It is certainly the closest the cinema has come to poetry, and is an essential addition to any collection.

A beautiful film

[rdoyle29 · 10/10 · 17 September 2000]

Jean Cocteau is a complete aesthetic package and I love him.

Cocteau seems to get an idea for a film based around some themes that spark ideas in him, and then includes a lot of images purely for aesthetic reasons. His films seem to belong to no real tradition. He's a tradition unto himself.

One of the things that really seems to be on his mind here is the middle aged slump into mediocrity. He was 60 years old when he made this film, so his Orpheus's fear that his artistic power has waned must have been a real concern. If you make a film this beautiful, you needn't worry.

I love that his film has poetry groupies who swarm poets for autographs. The suggestion that Orpheus may have plagiarized Cégeste's work causes poets to storm his house. What a world!

This film is all sleek black leather and beautiful lo-fi special effects.

Juliette Gréco and Jean-Pierre Melville show up.

the most poetic of all films.

[standardmetal · 10/10 · 23 May 2002]

I first saw this as a student at Yale and was mesmerized throughout the whole film. Yes, Jean Marais wasn't, perhaps, the greatest actor and if he wasn't Cocteau's lover he'd probably not have been in the film; on the other hand, his looks are an asset to the part. But Maria Casares as the Princess of Death steals every scene she's in.

Many, I suspect, have not understood the place at the end of the film where the Princess directs Huertebise to smother Orphée. But I don't think its meaning is that obscure: since he is already in the underworld, smothering him reverses the process; at that point in the film both Orphée and Huertebise walk backwards and Orphée finds himself back in his home with Eurydice. The symbolism of the mirrors also signals reversal, in this case, of images.

For me, the most striking image in the film is Heurtebise, moving but motionless, leading Orphée to the underworld looking like a dead man (which he really is.) against whom a strong wind is blowing. Again there are, in this scene, images of glass and mirrors no doubt borrowed from the Surrealists.

Lyre's Poker

[writers_reign · 7/10 · 28 October 2018]

In 1950 'Opticals' aka as 'trick photography' were I their infancy and chi wasn't even a gleam in Pixar's eye so if nothing else Cocteau is to be applauded for a visually stunning movie if nothing else. But there is, of course, something else, and lots of it. In Cocteau's world a myth is as good as a mile and here he takes the myth of Eurydice and Orpheus and puts enough spin on it to bring even top-of-the-line washing machines to their knees. Okay, so his lifetime lover makes Alan Lake look competent but Francis Perrier can act well enough for both of them. Let's face it, it really IS a must-see.

Pure Film Poetry

[zeph-3 · 10/10 · 11 March 1999]

Updating the myths is often done, but not with such absolute beauty. Maria Casares' character (Death) is haunting and alluring. The contemporary beat-generation/parisian café culture only adds to this work of art's unique charms. You may also want to check out "L'Eternel Retour"...

Striking imagery in the world beyond mirrors...

[Doylenf · 7/10 · 27 September 2006]

I have to give this one a generous rating for style alone. Jean Cocteau makes striking use of imagery to tell the tale based on the Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice and the Princess of Death.

It does take awhile to get used to the jumbled style of story-telling that starts when the youth Cygeste is killed by a chauffeur driven limousine and the poet Orpheus (JEAN MARAIS) is summoned by the Princess to aid her in transporting his body. From there on the story holds your interest with its strange view of an underworld where the dead spring to life at her command and walk through mirrors to the world on the other side.

The trick camera effects are subtle and unique, always in keeping with the tone of the story and used sparingly but well.

JEAN MARAIS here gives a much more compelling, fully detailed performance than he gave as "The Beast" in Cocteau's other famous tale, and all of the other principals match him every step of the way. Especially interesting is the chauffeur played by FRANCOIS PERIER, strikingly persuasive as the conflicted man who falls in love with Orpheus' wife.

A very unique film that takes time getting used to as the strange events unfold at a slow pace, but it's well worth the payoff if you follow it to its satisfying conclusion.

I can see where this is meat for intellectuals who will undoubtedly find it thoroughly stimulating while the average movie-goer will probably be baffled and confused by the whole thing. Even so, the average movie-goer will find it hard to look away once letting himself fall under the story's magic spell.

Dazzling and inventive but flawed.

[Sergeant_Tibbs · 8/10 · 10 July 2013]

From its explosive opening where a brawl occurs at a café for poets that's "the nerve-centre of the world" to traveling through the afterlife to the very end, Orphée's mania never stops. It's an incredibly gripping and bizarre film which immediately evolves into a bad dream. It's grandest aspect is the visual treat that visionary director Jean Cocteau offers. The camera is fluid and active, whipping between characters and sets, exploring high and low angles. Though the highlight is the special effects, especially for its time even if clearly channeling Méliès, with seamless reversed shots, projections, wires and point of view shots involving mirrors. The narrative flows fluently to give a rich and inventive story, with elements of innovative humour, with double meanings and exaggerations, and tragedy redeemed. With its ambiguity between reality, dream or fantasy world, it could even be argued that there is no reality and it begins right in the fantasy, though the expert use of foreshadowing renders that aspect irrelevant in cinema.

Despite it having a very compacted story, there's not enough emotional or thought-provoking ideas there for me to understand why it's considered a masterpiece, especially due to its consistent tension, rather than an ideal fluctuating tone. The characters, besides the surprising supporting character Heurtebise with a subtle performance from François Périer, there is little chemistry between the actors, who for the majority of the time give melodramatic performances solely for the camera. As it's a story trying to be about love, this only comes across as a sidenote to the spectacle. There is, however, the fascinating idea of how an artist can be so enamoured with inspiration that they neglect their real life and purpose of why they're creating their art. It also does not show any of the deaths, the films other main theme, which dramatically decreases their potential power. There is an incidental scene where the Inspector is talking to people in his office in which it has a brief flashback while a man is talking of what he's talking about - a technique Hiroshima Mon Amour later innovated. With the dazzling and inventive direction, Orphée is a great film, but too often doesn't take itself seriously enough.

8/10

Strange, unusual and imaginative that can appeal to anybody who has an open mind.

[jordondave-28085 · 7/10 · 23 April 2023]

(1950) Orpheus (In French with English subtitles) ART HOUSE FANTASY

Written and directed by poet, novelist, painter, playwright, set designer, and actor by the name of Jean Cocteau who explains to viewers what to expect beforehand, which is telling a current story by using a mythical setting. After an unexpected scuffle happen at a cafe parlor, infamous poet Orphée gets asked from a radiant looking lady calling herself the "Princess" (María Casares) to join her for a ride, to serve as a witness from an apparent hit and run of another poet. It is soon revealed that it was only a tactic, so that she can spend time with him even though Orphée is already married. The movie becomes even more strange after it was soon reveled that the lady called Princess is really "Death", except that Orphée becomes infatuated by her, creating a complicated situation. Strange, unusual and imaginative that can appeal to anybody who has an open mind.

Orpheus the Orifice

[disinterested_spectator · 5/10 · 3 January 2015]

This movie begins in The Poet's Café, where a bunch of hoodlum poets hang out. Orpheus is hated by the rest of the poets in the café, because his poetry is so much better than theirs. A fight breaks out among the poets, just the way you and I might get into a fight over some poems we had written. Other poets join in, and it becomes a riot. Orpheus is almost arrested, but the policeman lets him go when he realizes who he is. In fact, he is surprised he didn't recognize Orpheus, since there are lots of pictures of him in his wife's room (Oh brother!).

Anyway, Orpheus is a grouch who is mean to his wife, but we are supposed to understand that he is a genius who has his moods, and so that makes it all right. Death (in the form of a hot babe) kills Orpheus's wife, Eurydice, but instead of being grief stricken, Orpheus falls in love with Death. But he can't get rid of his wife that easily. The old ball-and-chain is allowed to follow Orpheus back to the surface as long as he does not look at her. Well, he never seemed to want to look at her when she was alive, so I don't know why he would want to look at her now, but he does. In fact, he cares so little for her that I suspect he looked at her on purpose so he could be free to make it with Death, the hot babe.

And it almost works, except that we are then treated to an outrageous narrative rupture, in which Orpheus and Eurydice live happily ever after.

Surreal and Poetic

[RobertF87 · 20 September 2004]

This film is an updating of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. The film updates the action to post-war France, with Orpheus (played by Jean Marais) a famous but dis-satisfied poet.

The film focuses on the themes of love and death. Most notably Orpheus falling in love with a glamorous incarnation of Death (Maria Casares).

Writer-director Jean Cocteau turns the everyday world into a magical realm. Mirrors turn to pools which are portals to other worlds, car radios pick up coded messages from Death's World. In less talented hands than Cocteau's, the delicate fantasy could have easily become ridiculous but he handles it with brilliance and the film works perfectly.

Here Cocteau creates a truly poetic film. The story is magical and entertaining and the film is filled with wonderously surreal images (particularly striking is the frequent use of filming an action performed backwards, and then reversing it which creates a very strange impression).

Fantastic

[gbill-74877 · 9/10 · 17 January 2021]

"What does marble think when it's being sculpted? It thinks, 'I am struck, insulted, ruined, lost.' Life is sculpting me. Let it finish its work."

A re-imagining of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice that I found highly creative and simply brilliant. The clever use of mirrors and filming in reverse produced special effects that are wonderful both in their simplicity and how elegantly Cocteau devised them. The story is shifted considerably from the original to reflect the conflict between an all-consuming passion for one's art (or I suppose more generally a career) and having a happy personal life, though it has layers and is certainly subject to interpretation.

María Casares is great as the Princess who is somewhere in the hierarchy of agents of Death in the underworld, a supernatural middle manager if you will who says "Perhaps you expected to see me with a scythe and a shroud?" Jean Marais is soulful as Orpheus, a poet who has achieved a certain amount of fame, but also backlash with the younger, hip poets in the café all hating him. Perhaps seeing the writing on the wall, that eventually his fame will not only pass but his reputation will suffer in the generations to come, he's compelled to tap into a mysterious source for fresh inspiration (strange radio broadcasts replacing a traditional muse) and to seek immortality as an artist. He also turns away from his wife and toward the Princess romantically, perhaps symbolizing how such drastic decisions in life or a work/life balanced tilted towards work are a form of faithlessness to one's partner.

All of this is made more interesting by the Princess and her minion/chauffeur Heurtebise (François Périer) each having human feelings themselves, the Princess for Orpheus, and Heurtebise for Eurydice, and the fact that this imagining of the underworld is both cool and ambiguous in how it all works. I'm not sure if I loved the ending since it seems to imply Orpheus can have it both ways, but it had a touching sweetness to it. Regardless, less successful was the character/subplot of Eurydice's friend, played by Juliette Gréco; despite her considerable screen presence, she isn't given enough to do. Overall though, quite a film! And very enjoyable.

One other great quote: "Mirrors are the doors through which Death comes and goes. Look at yourself in a mirror all your life and you'll see Death at work, like bees in a hive of glass."

Beyond the mirror

[cafescott · 8/10 · 22 March 2014]

I enjoy the enthusiasm from user reviewer Dave G ("One of the truly great masterpieces of cinema", Dave G from Sheffield, England, 25 January 2000). Also, from peterehoward ("The closest cinema has come to poetry", peterehoward, United Kingdom, 13 November 2005).

Good background information can be found from rdoyle29 ("A timeless fantasy classic", rdoyle29 from Winnipeg, Canada, 17 September 2000). In addition, Ed from NY, NY ("the most poetic of all films", Ed from New York, NY, 23 May 2002) does a good job in figuring out a perplexing plot turn near the end.

Jean Cocteau's "Orpheus" (1950) is a bizarre, dream-like journey to the Underworld and back. It is surprising not only because of the depth of its madness, but also because it came out of seemingly buoyant, post-war France. By today's standards the pacing is a little slow; and it is occasionally soporific. However, if you have the patience for it the feeling is this is a cinematic masterpiece that demands repeated viewing.

Cocteau's nightmarish retelling of the Greek legend featuring poet Orpheus, his frequently-ignored wife Eurydice and the Princess of Death borrows from personal memories of the director as well as Francophile war experiences. For example, the cryptic radio personality that Orpheus obsesses over is regarded to represent the BBC communicating coded words to the French Resistance. In addition, the mob that will assault Orpheus is derived from early intellectual critics of Cocteau's art.

The actors are first-rate. Cocteau's former lover, Jean Marais, is convincing as a celebrity who can compel others with his magnetism. However, two other cast members are exceptional. Maria Casares is mesmerizing as the Princess of Death. François Périer is also note-perfect as the chauffeur Heurtebise. Ms. Casares, who steals all of her scenes, speaks (the frequently insane) lines of her underworld character with total conviction; she is a principal source of the pervasive horror. Périer's Heurtebise is another character who appears at times to be speaking from another world.

Visually, Cocteau is interesting throughout. As a writer he creates a grotesque universe. This is a great way to escape mundane human existence--and perhaps, a look at what is coming in the afterlife.

a visual treat

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 2 March 2005]

It's a shame that Director Cocteau's works are relatively unknown in this country. Few of his films are available and I would LOVE to see more of his films. I have only a few of his films (including Beauty and the Beast, Blood of a Poet and a couple others) but was absolutely stunned by the cinematography and artistry. It's as if his films are less movies than Surrealistic works of art--meant to confuse and delight.

To describe the plot would be difficult other than to say it is a faithful modern retelling of the Greek myth of Orpheus and his trip to the Netherworld to retrieve his beloved. Just watch it and see for yourself.

PS--Since first writing this review, I have seen several more Cocteau films and am always in search of more. Unfortunately, Cocteau didn't direct or write that many. BLOOD OF A POET was pretty strange and was more like a short Avant Garde film you'd see in an Art House than a commercially viable film, whereas the other films I saw were like Orphée in that they had some odd imagery but still maintained a traditional style of storytelling.

Like Twin Peaks the Return but made nearly 60 years earlier.

[bretttaylor-04022 · 8/10 · 5 November 2021]

This is strange and dreamlike and just like with David Lynch's more abstract work you learn to stop worrying about the plot and follow as if it was a dream. Death who is a woman plots to fall in love with a poet Orpheus. It is full of extremely bizarre dreamlike sequences and is set in a world between our own and death. It must have been groundbreaking in 1950.

Orpheus

[CinemaSerf · 7/10 · 5 February 2024]

Accomplished poet "Orphée" (Jean Marais) is sitting in a café with a friend one afternoon when a fracas breaks out with some local students that necessitates the intervention of the police and causes a tragedy to occur. A woman in a Rolls Royce turns up and asks her aides to put an injured man into her car. Shen then rather bossily requires the writer to accompany her as a witness. He assumes they are going to hospital, but it turns out the man - "Cegeste" (Edouard Dermithe) is already dead and that she (María Casares), well she is certainly not the "princess" she purports to be. If you're at all familiar with the "Orpheus" episode from Greek legend then you will be able to guess much of the rest of this as he finds himself embroiled in the plottings of Death. The complication here is that she takes a bit of a shine to him, and her chauffeur "Heurtebise" (Francois Périer) falls in love with his wife "Eurydice" (Marie Déa). My what a web we do weave. Now all in the underworld, a tribunal of death rules that things have not gone to plan and that the husband and wife are to be returned to their world - but only for so long as he doesn't look at her - else back she goes. A little unfair I thought given they'd done nothing wrong and weren't on the hit list in the first place - but that was the deal. Can they make it work? Now, do they even want to? I found Marais could be quite wooden at times, indeed he might have made for a decent "Tarzan" - but here he gels well with both Déa and with a strikingly effective Casares. Cocteau manages to integrate the ancient mythology within a modern day setting in a fashion that cleverly uses simple visual effects - and mirrors - to achieve the concept of a parallel world of "Hades" without making it all look ridiculously fake. He also manages to remove just about all the gooey sentiment from this romance, too. Next time you look at a pair of rubber gloves, though - best beware!

Original and unique, that's for sure.

[Boba_Fett1138 · 8/10 · 16 July 2012]

Quite surprised this movie is being listed as a science-fiction movie as well, since this movie really gave me a sci-fi kind of vibe, which was surprising, considering that this is a 1950 movie.

It's definitely hard to compare this movie to anything else, since it's being such an unique and also definitely unusual one. It's an old mythological story being set in 'modern' time, making references to currently hot and relevant subjects.

I of course can understand some people ending up not liking this movie. It's definitely not a movie that is just for everybody but those who can enjoy and appreciate something completely different and original will most likely end up really liking this movie.

The story is being told greatly atmospheric and perfectly mysteriously, which definitely also makes this a tense movie at times. You don't always know what is going on exactly, which keeps you invested all the more in the movie because you want to piece certain aspects together and let things make sense. That's probably what I foremost liked about the movie. It's a thought provoking movie, that perhaps also requires you to have an healthy doze of fantasy.

It's a pleasantly told movie. Nothing too pretentious about it but simply a story with a good pace to it and that never gets too heavy or serious. It's not always an easy story to follow but it at least doesn't ever get annoying, or simply just unpleasant to watch in any way.

The movie its interesting visuals also help a lot to keep things going and to keep you interested. The movie uses some great early effects and overall the black & white cinematography provides a great atmosphere and style for the movie.

Overall a greatly and unique movie, that is not just one for everybody though.

8/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

Myth on Film

[gavin6942 · 6/10 · 18 January 2016]

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.

Orpheus, a story of love, longing, and loss

[pontifikator · 8/10 · 18 June 2009]

Jean Cocteau's heartbreaking story of love and longing is based on the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice updated to 1950, when the film was made.

Cocteau favorite Jean Marais plays the title role, Marie Dea plays his wife (Eurydice), and Maria Casares plays his death. Cocteau was a brilliant filmmaker and screenwriter, and he chose his subjects well. See the paragraph below* for a summary of the ancient myth on which the film is based.

In 1950, Orpheus is a poet who has no following. He accepts a ride from a princess and listens to the radio in her car. During World War II, many people used broadcast radio to send coded messages to underground cohorts or spies in other lands. The princess's radio picks these up, and Orpheus transcribes them as his poetry, to great initial success. Things take a turn for the worse, though, as he's charged with plagiarism and the princess sends Eurydice to the underworld before Eurydice's time on earth was up. The princess is death, and her premature action leads to consternation in the underworld, giving Orpheus the opportunity to plead his case for the return of Eurydice.

A poet of considerable talent himself, Cocteau uses "Orpheus" to examine creativity, bureaucracy, and remorse. In his youth, Orpheus was a national hero for his poetry, but he's older now, and the young poets are replacing him with blank pages - absurdity for its own sake is better than being thought absurd for what you've written. Cocteau was 60 when he wrote and directed this film, and he could look back on fame and its ephemerality with more equanimity than his character Orpheus could.

Cocteau creates a remarkable array of special effects for Orpheus's trip below. Without computers and without much in the way of trick photography, Cocteau manages to persuade us that Orpheus can pass through mirrors and walk backwards through the underground passages. As with "Beauty and the Beast," the effects are the servant of their master, adding to the story, never overpowering it, never intruding.

The princess's costumes are amazing. The costumes of the motorcyclists that are her outriders are fairly accurate renderings of motorcycle police uniforms, but they mirror her waist-cinched gowns very effectively. Watch the changes in her gown as she becomes infatuated with Orpheus and comes and goes through the mirror-portals. Cocteau was such a genius, as was his costumer, Marcel Escoffier.

As in the myth, death is overcome by love. When death becomes passionate for Orpheus, she knows for the first time the meaning of love, longing, anger, and remorse. She acts for the first time on her own accord, to have Eurydice die so the princess can have Orpheus. The gods are taken aback that death would act without their authority, and they reverse her decision, returning Eurydice to life. Heurtebise, death's chauffeur, has fallen in love with Eurydice, but still he follows death's command and returns to the couple to life at the time of their greatest happiness. The sacrifice of the princess and her chauffeur (played by Francois Perier) is unexpected, and the resulting happiness of Orpheus and Eurydice is heartbreaking when witnessed through the Heurtebise's eyes.

Georges Auric's score is spare, but majestic. You can hear some of it in this YouTube clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91cniSsNwz8 and watch some of Cocteau's effects as Heurtebise takes Orpheus back to the real world. I would contrast Auric's use of percussion with Bernard Herrmann's snare drums in "Taxi Driver." In both films, the music is an integral part of the story.

Cocteau comes as close as any soundfilm director to the beauty of cinematography in silent films. "Orpheus" is a beautiful film.

*In Greek myth, Orpheus was the son of Apollo and Calliope (the most gifted of the nine Muses) and a gifted poet and musician. The Greeks rhapsodized about his powers with song and lyre, and I recommend reading some of their myths about Orpheus. When his wife, Eurydice, died, Orpheus played and sang so sadly that the gods wept and allowed him to go to the underworld and beg Hades for her return. His songful wish was granted (Hades himself being reduced to tears), but as ever there was a catch. Eurydice was to follow him, and if he turned to see if she were there she would be swept back to the underworld. (Do you trust your gods?) Of course he couldn't stand it and looked to see if she were there. (What is it about us mortals that we can't follow clear directions and not look back? Story at 11:00 by our senior correspondent, Lot's wife.) There are variations on the story (Greek myths changed with the times and needs of its peoples). In some stories she vanished forever, leaving him bereft. In others, the gods won Eurydice's partial release for six months - giving us spring and summer when she returns to the surface, then fall and winter upon her descent. It's a wonderful story and well worth searching out. And if you've ever been to The Orpheum, now you know the origin of the name.

Beyond time and place.

[brogmiller · 7/10 · 7 March 2022]

Jean Cocteau's strong identification with the Orpheus of Greek legend bore fruit in his Orphic trilogy of which this is the second and most substantial. It is based upon his play of 1926 which has been given a new dimension through the medium of film. Indeed it is the filmic tricks that linger longest in the memory, most notably the reverse photography and magical mirror moments whilst the leather-jacketed motorcyclists and inspired use of the bombed out military barracks of St. Cyr to represent the Underworld add to the film's mystique.

Cocteau has successfully mixed the modern with the mythological so that Jean Marais in the title role is caught between the real and the imaginary. It must be said that under his mentor's direction his character is not particularly likeable and is obviously annoyed at the younger generation of poets snapping at his heels which could easily reflect Cocteau's own feelings at this time. He also epitomises the self-centred, self-absorbed artiste who neglects his wife Eurydice in favour of deciphering cryptic radio messages. She is played by the lovely Marie Déa who does her best in a pretty thankless role. She is loved by the excellent Francois Périer as Heurtebise whose character assumes greater importance as the film progresses. Further complications ensue when the poet falls in love with the princess who happens to represent Death. It is the performance in this role by Maria Casares that has attracted the most comment, mostly positive. Critic Roger Ebert considered her too slight and insignificant to be effective. Slight in build she may have been but her charisma is undeniable and Cocteau has made the most of her magnetic eyes. Being dressed to resemble a Dominatrix does not exactly diminish her appeal!

A slight weakness in the film is the under-developed sub-plot featuring the mythical Bacchantes, here known as the 'League of Women'. This at least gives an early role to chanteuse Juliette Greco, pre-nose job.

Poorly received on its release this unique film has acquired cult status with the passage of time. Whether it fully deserves its elevated reputation is a matter of opinion but it is a piece that defies definition and has succeeded in being 'arty' without being pretentious.

Orpheus review

[JoeytheBrit · 4/10 · 2 July 2020]

The second of Jean Cocteau's Orpheus trilogy employs impressive special effects to tell a contemporary version of the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, but fails to engage on an emotional level. The intellectual remoteness of his artistic vision has invited - and received - a broad range of analytical interpretation, none of which has adequately deciphered whatever meaning he might have wished - or claimed - to impart.