January 14, 2001

BLACK ORPHEUS (ORFEU NEGRO) France/Italy/Brazil, 1959. Color. Subtitles. Not Rated. 98 Minutes. Directed by Marcel Camus. Starring Breno Mello, Marpessa Dawn, Lea Garcia.

An Oscar winner as the best foreign-language film of 1959 and the winner of the Golden Palm at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival, this lyrical retelling of the Greek legend of Orpheus and Eurydice is set in Rio de Janeiro during Carnival. Amid the exuberant music and dance, the skimpy but colorful costumes, and the unrestrained celebration, a streetcar conductor/guitarist named Orfeo (Breno Mello) tries to rescue a newcomer to the city named Eurydice (Pittsburgh-born dancer Marpessa Dawn). Eurydice is pursued by a mysterious stranger who has followed her to Rio and donned the costume of Death for the Carnival. Mick Martin and Marsha Porter give Black Orpheus five stars (their highest rating) and comment: "A Portuguese-French coproduction, it has all the qualities of a genuine classic. Its stunning photography captures both the magical spirit of the original legend and the tawdry yet effervescent spirit of Brazil."