Thank you and have a healthy Happy New Year. I am an African American woman and I loved Black Orpheus. I first saw the movie when I was a about ten years old, back in the ‘60s and I did not see it again until the 1990’s. The movie was just so beautiful and I got so caught up with the scenery and the culture and the feel of the country that it became one of my all time favorites. I cannot imagine how this movie would have embarrassed our president, it is a masterpiece. It was one of the only movies at that time that really explored the love between a Black man and woman without being overly comedic or superficial. And even though the movie is in black and white, the cinematography is so crisp and new, you would swear that it was made within the last few years. The Turner Classic Movie Channel did a brief tribute to the stars that passed away in 2008 and I believe that they showed a picture of the actress who played Eurydice in the movie. I logged onto this site hoping that I could confirm if it was her. Being raised in a white family, Obama may have been a little embarrassed every time a Black movie or show came on television, it may have been another reminder to him and those around him that he was different than his family members. Happy New Year to you.
Marpessa Dawn, Eurydice, did die late last September, of a heart attack. She was seventy-four. And Breno Mello, Orpheus, died a month or two before her, of an unstated cause.
An interesting discussion: our next president and his mother’s favorite movie. While Obama, in his memoir, uses BLACK ORPHEUS to make a complex point about his own search for self, I can’t help but think he is over-reaching a bit in remembering his reaction to the film. I mean, how could anyone even consider walking out on a movie with soundtrack like this one?
But he may well have had his artistic doubts about the film. It is a rather sentimental melodrama, a Greek myth dressed up by a Frenchman. And while beautifully dressed, I would suggest that it has lost a little something with time.
I first saw BLACK ORPHEUS as teenager, the year of its release, and so at a good age to be carried away by its romance and its pounding energy. But it was an important film at the time for another reason: it brought a mostly young, mostly white audience of movie-goers into an exotic black world — for many of us, for the first time. One could argue that Obama’s mother’s favorite film may have made its own, albeit very small, contribution to the slow and still evolving changes in racial attitudes that made her son’s election a reality.
That said, I most of all love this soundtrack. It was my introduction to bosa nova and I still keep Jobim at my side, the gift that keeps on giving.
The soundtrack completes me.
I’m a little late with this but Happy New Year to you too, Wendy! I’m glad to see you appreciated the film as well. The only thing I’m curious about is that the dvd I have is in color and you mention you’ve seen it in black and white. It’s possible it was colorized but I really can’t say for certain if it has or hasn’t been.
That’s really funny. I just checked out Black Orpheus at the public library and will be watching it very soon. I will post my thoughts as soon as I watch it.
That’s really funny. I just checked out Black Orpheus at the public library and will be watching it very soon. I will post my thoughts as soon as I watch it.
It helped get me into samba, and bossa nova.
Does anyone know what the difference is between the two editions being offered? The Essentials is less expensive. What’s the difference?
On Amazon the Essential Arthouse edition is only one dollar cheaper right now, 18.99 to 17.99. That being the case, I’d stick with the Criterion to be safe even through there are no special features on it. I have a copy and it’s a beautiful print. With another company you might get a nice print, you may even get the same print but it’s hard to tell especially with the absence of reviews.
Recently bought Black Orpheus after finding it at the library & falling in love,
went for the Criterion version too because i found it was actually going to be
more expensive after shipping if i bought the Essential Art House version.
The film has the finest use of color (that I’ve seen) since Umbrellas of Cherbourg.
The women are gorgeous. The music is beautiful. The performances are ridiculous.
And the ending is probably the cutest scene of all-time.
“Black Orpheus” is a charming rereading of the myth, and I usually enjoy these a great deal. I just watched “O, Brother Where Art Thou” and had a fine time, having taught the “Odyssey” many times. Both movies take the tale and transpose it into a context that fits it but is so far removed from the original that you have to know the story to appreciate the movie. In “Black Orpheus” the people are,almost without exception, beautiful; in “Brother” with the exception of the Sirens and a couple others, they are anything but beautiful. The visual creation fits the subject. I liked “Orpheus” but recognize its deficiencies.
“Black Orpheus” is a charming rereading of the myth, and I usually enjoy these a great deal. I just watched “O, Brother Where Art Thou” and had a fine time, having taught the “Odyssey” many times. Both movies take the tale and transpose it into a context that fits it but is so far removed from the original that you have to know the story to appreciate the movie. In “Black Orpheus” the people are,almost without exception, beautiful; in “Brother” with the exception of the Sirens and a couple others, they are anything but beautiful. The visual creation fits the subject. I liked “Orpheus” but recognize its deficiencies.
I am 65. A couple of weeks ago as a Black History Month presentation at work I showed the film ‘Ile Aixe ( The House of Life )’ a 1989 film on Candomble’ by David Byrne. ‘Ile Aixe’ is beautiful and as a lagniappe to those who attended I sent the following ‘review’ of Black Orpheus: "In the early 60ies there was the Bossa Nova craze which passed over the world. Out of Brazil came this music – such delightful melodies – such driving percussion – strange but catchy beats. Bossa Nova breathes life. And it was this film which launched the craze. A friend – who had the joy of life of Orpheus himself – raved about this film and alerted me to it finally coming to an art house in Columbus. The Macumba scene where Orpheus goes to try to commune with the soul of his beloved Eurydice was my first encounter with Candomble ( in its Rio variant ). That scene is as good as any about Candomble that I have seen since. This 1959 film is still the best I have seen on Brazil, its music and dance and the spirit of its people.’
I think that Obama will regret his comments about Black Orpheus. He does not want the public to know what he is really like, because that would make him unelectable. As his first autobiography clearly shows, Obama is a man filled with anger and hate. He revealed that his hatered for the white race began with his hatered for his mother, which began when he went with her to see Black Orpheus. In Obama’s description of how his mother behaved in the theater, he was disgusted by his mother’s lust for the black Brazilian actor who played Orpheus. Only a year after Obama’s mother saw Black Orpheus for the first time, she lusted for the African student who became his father. The thought of his father with a white woman was utterly repulsive to young Obama’s newly-discovered racist sensibilities.
“John Foster,” you’re a dribbling subliterate troll, and don’t belong here.
I just purchased this for the awesome price of $11.49 (the Criterion version of course)!
Does anyone know if 1.33:1 is the original aspect ratio?
I am a 10th grade English teacher, and I have to take points off of John Foster’s post for spelling. Like Foster, however, I was disturbed by President Obama’s description of the episode in the theater in “Dreams of my Father.” While our beloved President may be the be greatest Chief Executive ever, I think that he is badly in need of psychological help. When I read about what happened between the President and his mother, I was shoched, and thought that the name of his book should be changed to “Black Oedepus.”
great fucking movie.
those are my (drunken) thoughts.
watch it
This is one of the free movies available in the Cannes Winners festival here on the auteurs. I’d highly recommend it especially for fans of world music.
Well Jay, thanks for the info. I finally saw Black Orpheus in its entirety for Free here. I have seen it briefly at the end when it came on TCM; when they used to show Foreign movies late at night years ago. I enjoyed it. I love Greek Myths, and Orpheus though being a sad story at endpoint, was something that fascinated me. There are so many versions of films dealing with Orphean legend, the Jean Cocteau ‘50 version, the aforementioned Marcel Camus’ ‘59 version, and the Carlos Diegues’ versions (Subway to the Stars and Orfeu). It was a bit slow in parts, but I got so carried away with the color Cinematography and the bossa nova/samba music is a ‘wow’. A real lively affair indeed. I can’t wait to own this by Criterion. They have great taste in movies in my opinion.
This is my first post here at the Auteurs, and I’m glad to be here.
Marina you misspelled Shocked- forgive me, since you took points off of John Foster’s post, I have to take a few off yours (in a loving way of course). I’m going to agree, that upsets me, especially considering that Black Orpheus was probably the first film to portray the African race in a respectable and beautiful way, Gone With the Wind is a good example of the use of African American’s in cinema, they were always portrayed as mindless high pitched nuisances, I’ve always been offended by that, they were almost always maids and servants. Black Orpheus is possibly my all time favorite film simply because it brings me so much joy. It’s more of a celebration than it is a film. I imagine Obama in the theater stale and already determined to despise it- if you’re caught up in gloom, you’re going to hate Black Orpheus. It was made for the joyous few who love a good sweat. Saw this at a local viewing a few years back and was looking forward to sharing it with some friends, it would have been so much more enjoyable if the whole theater was dancing and just having a good time, most were frigidly nailed to their seats- in a way it kind of upset me, I wanted to dance. Brilliant film.
I can see where the President found moments in the film stereotypical (because there are quite a few.) Any time you graff on one culture’s vision onto another there are disconnects that happen. But ultimately the films endures because the music is powerful, the people are gorgeous, and the land is magical. When ever you see images of black folks made by white filmmakers (particularly in films made before the ’80s), there are gonna be parts that make black folks uneasy.
Here’s the quote: “The storyline was simple: the myth of the ill-fated lovers Orpheus and Eurydice set in the favelas of Rio during carnival, in Technicolor splendour, set against scenic green hills, the black and brown Brazilians sang and danced and strummed guitars like carefree birds in colourful plumage. About halfway through the movie I decided I’d seen enough, and turned to my mother to see if she might be ready to go. But her face, lit by the blue glow of the screen, was set in a wistful gaze. At that moment I felt as if I were being given a window into her heart, the unreflective heart of her youth. I suddenly realised that the depiction of the childlike blacks I was now seeing on the screen, the reverse image of Conrad’s dark savages, was what my mother had carried with her to Hawaii all those years before, a reflection of the simple fantasies that had been forbidden to a white, middle-class girl from Kansas, the promise of another life: warm, sensual, exotic, different.”
I think is point is that he finds the exoticism, extreme kindness, and carefreeness way the brazilians are shown rather condescendent.
If that’s what he wrote, I’m quite surprised, that’s not offensive in any way, he was just to naive to enjoy it.
I wanted to like the film and at some points I did, the three children at the end is a beautiful sequence. I felt there was something missing, but I can’t put my finger on it.
I was wondering if anyone knew where to find the soundtrack for this movie’s slam-a-lam-a-ding-dong awesome music?
Any ideas?
Amazon has the soundtrack.
And here’s the key to Obama’s dislike:
“the depiction of the childlike blacks I was now seeing on the screen”
He felt the depiction was condescending, symplistic & stereotyped. No need to probe deeply into psychology or claim he was too naive to appreciate the film.
I think the score is great but the film is not. The performances are a mess. Just a lot of commotion. It is a very pretty looking movie but I left the theatre unmoved. It says something that the director never had another film of any distinction. The two stars, especially Marpessa Dawn, have magnetism, but they are performing in a void.
I just saw it and thought it was great. I normally don’t care for musicals but this is definitely an exception!
I don’t understand why Obama would find offense to this film.
Jay Leighty
I think this may have been the first Criterion dvd that I bought. I really love the film. It has great cinematography, memorable music, beautiful women and a simple and moving story. I read in Obama’s (1st) memoir that he watched it with his mother and found the film stereotypical, embarrasing even and was ready to walk out on it when he noticed her reaction and imagined that the sense of wonder she got from it, might have been the same thing that inspired her to leave home for distant locales and embrace different cultures. I admire Obama very much and I was surprised that it offended him. Personally, I have trouble watching something like ‘Gone with the Wind’ for the racist caricature therein but saw this as nothing more than an elegant fairy tale from a lovely place I’d love to visit, much like his mother I imagine. Did anyone else find it stereotypical? Anyone else think it was a great film?