french avant-garde?
Jeremy Wilson
My friend is doing her senior project on a multi-disciplinary tracing of
the Orpheus myth and any sources, lectures or personal comments
pertaining to either/both of these films would be appreciated.
2) Is anyone interested in exchanging homemade video footage or film
footage transferred to video? I'm thinking about my project for next
year and I want to incorporate found footage into my piece. If so send a
description of the footage to jw...@bard.edu and I'll write you back and
tell you what I have.
thanks, jer-
Lukia Costello
to say that I have seen it and it's excellent. Hollywood doesn't make films
anywhere near as good as this. At least not anymore.
LC
Alex Ellerman
2) Is anyone interested in exchanging homemade video footage or film
footage transferred to video? I'm thinking about my project for next
year and I want to incorporate found footage into my piece. If so send a
description of the footage to jw...@bard.edu and I'll write you back and
tell you what I have.
thanks, jer-
****
jer,
I know just the place to get what you're looking for. Send an e-mail to:
cut...@aol.com
Naturally,
Alex
Chris Smith
> 1) Is anyone familiar with Cocteau's "Orphee" or Camus's "Black Orpheus?"
> My friend is doing her senior project on a multi-disciplinary tracing of
> the Orpheus myth and any sources, lectures or personal comments
> pertaining to either/both of these films would be appreciated.
I have seen Cocteau's "Orphee." It is a re-working of the myth
in modern dress. Modern being the early 50's (I think) when it was
made.
SPOILER
Cocteau's interpretation involves having Orphee (Jean Marais)
fall in love with the personification of Death, a mysterious black-
garbed Princess (Maria Casares), so the emphasis is decidedly away
from the Eurydice character. Orphee needs to regain his poetic
voice by dying to all his attachments - especially to the Princess.
He fails in his first attempt, but when he loses Eurydice and then
is killed himself, he makes another trip to "The Zone" and is
redeemed by the Princess who allows time to go backwards so that
Orphee can regain all he is lost.
As you can see, an attempt at a short plot summary in this case
veers close to gibberish. It seems to me that Cocteau's method is
only partially successful - at times his symbolism is confusing
and the incongruities in tone are too jarring. Suffice it to say
that his version of the myth sees Orpheus primarily as a symbol of
the artist, and that he sees a necessity for the artist to die to
all conventional attachments in order to be reborn in the fullness
of his art, while at the same time returning to an original "ordinary"
state.
The most memorable aspects of the film for me were its visual
tricks and textures: Orphee traveling with his guide into the Zone,
where they seem to be staning still facing the camera while the
scenery moves in a very surrealistic fashion; the use of backwards
motion, trick photography in the case of the mirror, and the sudden
shifts in editing, including jump cuts. There are some scenes of
quite delicious visual beauty. But there also may be a tendency to
laugh at the poetic symbology which can seem pretentious. Not as great
as "Beauty and the Beast" or "Les Enfants Terrible" but a very
striking personal statement and well worth seeing at least once.
Chris Dashiell
edwin jahiel
Is anyone familiar with Cocteau's "Orphee" or Camus's "Black Orpheus?"
>My friend is doing her senior project on a multi-disciplinary tracing of
>the Orpheus myth and any sources, lectures or personal comments
>pertaining to either/both of these films would be appreciated.
>thanks, jer-
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=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
Orphee (references to) abound in most film books, from general to=
specialized (eg on surrealism, French film, Cocteau, etc.)
My own contention is that although Cocteau had already done much=
surrealistic work in all genres, including films,it was the mass success of=
"Orphee" (and the relatiue ease to understand it) that really popularized=
certain forms of film surrealism. A long, big subject.
Camus references are fewer but most self-respecting books mention "Orfeu Neg=
ro"
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=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
To help, here are, copied from Cinemania, 2 items:
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=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=20
Marcel Camus
(1912 - 1982)
Biography from Baseline's Encyclopedia of Film
Occupation: Director
Born: April 21, 1912, Chappes, France
Died: 1982
The work of Marcel Camus is characterized by a lyricism which, although =
central to his fine films of the 1950s and 60s-FUGITIVE IN SAIGON (1957),=
BLACK ORPHEUS (1959) and VIVRE LA NUIT (1968)-later deteriorated into=
superficial sentimentality.=20
Camus was a professor of painting and sculpture before breaking into film as=
an assistant to Alexandre Astruc, Georges Rouquier and Jacques Becker,=
among others. During this period he made his first film, a short=
documentary called RENAISSANCE DU HAVRE (1950).=20
Like many French filmmakers whose first chance to direct a feature came in=
the postwar era, Camus chose to deal explicitly with the issue of personal=
sacrifice in the context of war. But unlike most of his colleagues who=
quite naturally dealt with WWII, Camus took as his subject the war in=
Indochina. Based on a novel by Jean Hougron, FUGITIVE IN SAIGON depicts a=
village caught between two fronts. Its only possibility of survival=
involves the destruction of a dam on which it depends.=20
Camus then embarked on three films in collaboration with scenarist Jacques=
Viot. The first, BLACK ORPHEUS, brought him international acclaim. Winner=
of the 1959 grand prize at Cannes and an Academy Award as best foreign=
language film, this exotic modern adaptation of the Greek legend portrays=
its Orpheus (Breno Mello) as a streetcar conductor who meets his Eurydice=
(Marpessa Dawn) and lives out his legendary destiny during the Carnival in=
Rio de Janeiro.=20
The next two Camus-Viot collaborations, OS BANDEIRANTES (1960) and DRAGON=
SKY (1962), were generally well received, but neither lived up to the=
expectations created by BLACK ORPHEUS. VIVRE LA NUIT (1968), an affecting=
portrait of nocturnal Paris, proved successful, but UN ETE SAVAGE (1970)=
was generally recognized as an inauthentic and superficial evocation of=
young people on vacation in Saint-Tropez.=20
Camus then returned to the subject of war, this time with a gentle comedy=
about a Normandy restaurant owner who becomes a hero of the Resistance in=
spite of himself. LE MUR DE L'ATLANTIQUE (1970) offered a rich role for=
comic actor Bourvil, but was essentially a routine commercial product. This=
unfortunate trend continued with OTALIA DE BAHIA (1977), a spaghetti=
western titled TRINITA VOIT ROUGE (1975) and some unexceptional work for=
French TV.=20
Black Orpheus
Brazil-France (1959): Drama
CineBooks' Motion Picture Guide Review: 3.5 stars out of 5
103 min, No rating, Color, Available on videocassette and laserdisc
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. =20
Orfeo (Breno Mello) is a streetcar conductor and guitarist engaged to Mira=
(Lourdes 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 (Marpessa Dawn-oddly enough, a dancer born in Pittsburgh),=
personified here as a newcomer to Rio who arrives in town to visit her=
cousin Serafina (Lea Garcia). Eurydice has fled her hometown because she=
was being followed by a mysterious stranger, one who has followed her to=
Rio and who 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. =20
=46rom 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 sound track sings, and the costumes=
swirl in an explosion of color and light. Besides its exhilarating style,=
however, the well-acted film also works as an effective translation of the=
classic Greek myth into a Brazilian romance. =20
More successful as a travelogue of Brazilian scenery than an exploration of=
the country's folk culture, BLACK ORPHEUS was the second film from Marcel=
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.
Edwin Jahiel, University of Illinois