Black Orpheus - Orfeu Negro (Essential Art House, 2 DVDs) (1959)

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Interwoven with the spectacle, madness and vibrancy of the Rio de Janeiro carnival, comes the multi-award winning retelling of the classic legend of Orpheus and Eurydice. Black Orpheusis awash with intoxicating samba music, frenzied dancing and violent costumes, as French auteur Marcel Camus unfolds the melancholy tale of love and tragedy for two people who fall rapturously in love during the annual carnival. From the moment of its first appearance, at the Cannes Film Festival in 1959 - where it won the Palme d Or and went onto win an Oscar and Golden Globe - it was apparent that Black Orpheus was a very special film. Inspired by the ancient Greek myth of a youth who travels to the land of the dead to bring back the woman he loves, but set amongst the slums of modern-day Rio de Janeiro, this bittersweet romantic tragedy has charmed audiences worldwide with its sheer colour, joie de vivre and especially its music. From the opening shot of an ancient frieze of the lovers, Orpheus and Eurydice, and a guitar softly strumming the chords of the film s main musical theme to the fast-moving shots of dancers preparing for Carnival to the convulsive, infectious beat of the Latin American bossa nova beat, Black Orpheus is simply a feast of sound and vision that all movie lovers will admire.

Marcel Camus`s Black Orpheus took the art-house world by storm in 1959 with its stunning color photography of the Brazilian Carnival celebration and sultry bossa nova beats, winning both an Academy Award and the Palme d'or at Cannes. Transplanting the tale of Orpheus and Eurydice to the slums of Rio de Janeiro, Black Orpheus brings Greek mythology to vivid, frenetic life.