Black Orpheus

The Orpheus myth is transplanted onto the soil of Rio de Janeiro during Carnival--the one time of the year that calls for unrestrained celebration, music, dance, and costumes.

Orfeo (Mello) is a streetcar conductor and guitarist engaged to Mira (de Oliveira), an exotic and vivacious woman who lives as if every day were Carnival. However, anyone familiar with the legend of Orpheus (as the man in Rio's marriage office is) knows that he is destined to love Eurydice

(Dawn--oddly enough, a dancer born in Pittsburgh), personified here as a newcomer to Rio who arrives in town to visit her cousin Serafina (Garcia). Eurydice has fled her hometown because she was being followed by a mysterious stranger, one who has followed her to Rio and has disguised himself as

Death for Carnival. In order to save Eurydice, Orfeo must travel into the Underworld and bring her back to the world of the living.

From the opening shot, in which two Brazilian musicians literally burst through the frame, one can sense the explosiveness of BLACK ORPHEUS. Like Carnival, the film frame dances, the soundtrack sings, and the costumes swirl in an explosion of color and light. Besides its exhilarating style,

however, the well-acted film works as an effective translation of the classic Greek myth into a Brazilian romance.

More successful as a travelogue of Brazilian scenery than an exploration of the country's folk culture, BLACK ORPHEUS was the second film from Camus, a Frenchman who traveled to Brazil to make this picture and would never again repeat its success. BLACK ORPHEUS received instant international

acclaim and was honored with the Golden Palm at Cannes and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film.