Rating: 
Summary: This is one of the greatest films ever made! Bossa Nova!
Review: Quite simply, Marcel Camus' sublime "Black Orpheus" is the best representation of the Greek myth of Eurydice and Orpheus ever attempted by an artist. By filling the romantic tragedy with the wonderful music of Brazil and the carnival in Rio de Janeiro, he uplifts the audience into a state of blissfull glee. The film, which won the Grand Prize at Cannes in 1959, is a one-of-a-kind experience, with Death (in a magnificent costume) chasing Eurydice at the Carnival and Orpheus trying to save her. The transfer is absolutely perfect, and the music by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Luis Bonfa is magical, rhythmic and out of this world. It was soon after the release of this perfect film that the Bossa Nova and the Samba were introduced to the world and of course, the rest is history, and the Brazilian music is justifiably known worlwide. Here is your chance to own one of the great classics of international cinema, and one that lends itself to repeated viewings. As usual, the Criterion Collection outdoes itself, giving the world the difinitive, director's cut of "Black Orpheus." The disc also offers improved subtitle translation and remastered sound. In Portuguese with English subtitles.
Rating:
Summary: This is one of the greatest films ever made! Bossa Nova!
Review: Quite simply, Marcel Camus' sublime "Black Orpheus" is the best representation of the Greek myth of Eurydice and Orpheus ever attempted by an artist. By filling the romantic tragedy with the wonderful music of Brazil and the carnival in Rio de Janeiro, he uplifts the audience into a state of blissfull glee. The film, which won the Grand Prize at Cannes in 1959, is a one-of-a-kind experience, with Death (in a magnificent costume) chasing Eurydice at the Carnival and Orpheus trying to save her. The transfer is absolutely perfect, and the music by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Luis Bonfa is magical, rhythmic and out of this world. It was soon after the release of this perfect film that the Bossa Nova and the Samba were introduced to the world and of course, the rest is history, and the Brazilian music is justifiably known worlwide. Here is your chance to own one of the great classics of international cinema, and one that lends itself to repeated viewings. As usual, the Criterion Collection outdoes itself, giving the world the difinitive, director's cut of "Black Orpheus." The disc also offers improved subtitle translation and remastered sound. In Portuguese with English subtitles.
Rating:
Summary: Life and death, day and night, this movie hits for the cycle
Review: Retelling of Greek Myth, set in 1958 Rio. Orpheus,a legend in the poverty stricken hills above the beautiful city, prepares for Carnival. Music and Carnival provide a respite from the spirit crushing life of the poor-but even amid this mirage of anticipation, for Carnival, essential truths of life will manifest themselves. As the masses prepare for carnival, Orpheus persues Eurydice, a woman he has just met. She is persued by death, and Orpheus and Eurydice are both persued by Orpheus' vengeful fiance. Powerful message of the nature of life and the fact that, in the end, the cycle of life is beyond man's ability to change or affect it. Timeless, this film is as true today in it's relevance as when it was released in 1959. It will always be one of the finer films for those that want to think about what life means.
Rating:
Summary: A classic of world cinema
Review: The classic film that brought Brazil's bossa nova music to the world outside, this was a wry modernist update of the classical Greek myth of Orpheus and Euridyce, the starcrossed lovers whose passion could not be denied, even by all the powers of Hell. The film is adapted from a bold stage play written by Brazilian poet Vinicius De Moraes, who enlisted a then-unknown Antonio Carlos Jobim to compose the classic bossa tunes that stud the films soundtrack. In this version, Hell is a blend of the futurist modernism that created Brasilia, the sterile and unappealing new capital of Brazil, and the heedless bacchanalia of Carnaval; Vinicius's vision of the lower rings of Hades as a bureaucrat's office is a stroke of pure genius. I first saw this film when I was in high school; viewing it again as an adult steeped in Brazilian popular culture, I certainly got a lot more out of it. Although some Brazilians (prominently, Caetano Veloso) chafe at the fact that this version was directed by a European, director Marcel Camus, I think it's still safe to say that it is a brilliantly made film. Heavy on the textual symbolism and, yes, a bit voyeuristic in its depictation of the happy natives dancing to their catchy samba rhythms, but brilliant nonetheless. It also captures a moment in time -- Brazil's transition into a modern nation, and the heady days before the 1964 coup -- in a way that is precious and ineffable.
Rating:
Summary: Spicy
Review: This 1959 adaptation of the Greek myth thrilled me.It is quite rare that I am entertained by books turned into movies. Even though the setting (in Rio de Janeiro,Brazil at Carnival)undeniably differs from the original, I truly admire this film.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Greatest films Ever Made
Review: This fabulous film is one of the greatest ever made combining three powerful strands of the human experience. First, the basic plot is drawn from the classical Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Second, the film production is basically French drawing on a great tradition of world class, sophisticated cinema. Third, the detail elements of the story are drawn from the cultures of Africa as they were transposed to the new world.As part of the African diaspora myself, I fell in love with this film as a college student in the 1960's. It was my first visual exposure to the black culture of Brazil. The beautiful skin, the beautiful faces, the beauty of the setting of Rio de Janiero combined to overwhelm my visual sensation, while the incredible lilting sounds of Brazilian speech seduced my aural sensibility and the rythms of samba took my heartbeat to my feet. Twenty years later on the dance floor I realized I could dance samba because I'd seen this film twice, and every time I hear samba I think of this film. This film does not age, does not need to be remade, has never been surpassed.
Rating:
Summary: Timeless Classic
Review: This film is a must,a cornerstone for any fan of Brazilian film,samba, bossa nova. It truly gives viewers an insight into life in the favelas, the stark poverty, but the happiness that carnaval brings, once a year. The only negative point about the DVD, is the new English tranlations. If you speak Portuguese, watch it with the subtitiles off. I found that there were mistakes in the translations, English words misspelled, and portions that were not translated, ( but had been previously in the video version) Even though the translation on the video version might have seemed a bit antiquated, it stayed true to the meaning of what was being said.
Rating:
Summary: Heartbreakingly beautiful, bosa nova, carnival!
Review: This film is a re-telling of the Orpheus legend, set in Rio during Carnival (Brazilian Mardi Gras). An unremitting stream of bosa nova rhythms serves as a pulsebeat, quieted only during interludes of lyric beauty -- and a few of numbing horror. Not everyone is captivated by the film, however. It's a bit clumsy in its translation of the myth, and the sentiment verges at times on the sentimental. For those open to the charms of an innocent love story, ravishing music, and a dazzling carnival setting, Black Orpheus is an unparalleled experience. PS -- Important to see the subtitled version, rather than an earlier English dubbing; the sound of Portuguese, spoken and sung, is essential to the film's "music." -- JJR
Rating:
Summary: The Greek myth in the middle of Brazil!
Review: This film is a triumph of the imagination . To think and translate with such incisiveness the ancient myth in the tawdry and effervescent spirit of Brazil was a poetic knack .
The ill fate destiny of two lovers imprisoned by the memory has been in a certain way a perpetuum mobile in so many tales .
There are two fundamental aspects to remark ; the first one is linked to the otherness ; Jean Cocteau used the mirror as an excellent and smart device to descend to hell in search of her lover ; but the carnival is a real metamorphosis which occurs just in four days every year where the human being is free of certain conventionalisms and is literally far of inhibit , that is why it is so appropriate the location and the place in the world where perhaps the carnival still keeps the strong mythical accent . The vanishing in search of the lost happiness .
In the other hand we have the memory and its fatal consequences . The memory is stretched with the maternal matrix , this comfortable temperature makes you feel so good but beware with this placebo . When you are so associated with the memory you are frozen , so you can not act , just think in those happy days ; this is the real essence of Faust in search of his lost youth, Oedipus is a victim of a celestial nasty trick and his tragedy will be the final consequence of an impossible effort to fight against his fixed destiny or Sara the wife of Lot in the middle of Sodom . Orpheus acts are ruled by the memory he turns back and wants to change the designs , and that will be his unforgivable sin the real motive to be punished and destroyed.
And beware if you think the story is not related with us : Perhaps the photograph albums and the films are not just technological devices to preserve the actual moment from the unavoidable time pass and its irresistible corruption in our bodies ?
Luigi Pirandello stated once the time was just only an army of barefoot demons who spied behind our doors making us every day weaker ?
Acquire this sublime and classic film .
The absolute masterpiece of Marcel Camus .
Rating:
Summary: Pure Magic
Review: This film is not a perfect film in some respects, but it is a magical film. The story of Orpheus set again the backdrop of Carnival in Rio is terrific. The music is first rate.
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