Black Orpheus
Short description
Black Orpheus is set in Rio de Janeiro during the annual Carnival. Eurydice, a young woman newly arrived from the countryside, meets Orfeo, a tram conductor and guitarist admired in his neighbourhood for his music and dancing. Orfeo is already engaged to the lively Mira, yet he and Eurydice fall in love. A mysterious figure who has followed Eurydice to the city pursues her, and Mira, jealous and set on revenge, adds further pressure. The story transposes the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice into the streets of the city, drawing on Vinicius de Moraes's play Orfeu da Conceição and blending everyday life with fantasy.
Marcel Camus directed the film from a screenplay by Jacques Viot, with Sacha Gordine producing. Breno Mello and Marpessa Dawn lead the cast as the lovers, alongside Lourdes de Oliveira as Mira, Léa Garcia as Serafina, Adhemar Ferreira da Silva as Death and Waldetar De Souza as Chico. The film was a co-production between Brazil, Italy and France, and its soundtrack, with music by Luiz Bonfá and Antônio Carlos Jobim, helped bring bossa nova to audiences well beyond Brazil.
The film won the Palme d'Or at Cannes and the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film. On IMDb it holds 7.4/10 from around 13,000 votes, while on TMDB it stands at 7/10 from roughly 245 votes. A critics' rating of 8/10 from 72 reviews places it noticeably above the audience scores on both platforms.
What's left behind the scenes
- Excerpts from the film were used to create the visuals for the music video of the song "Afterlife" by the Canadian band Arcade Fire.
- Filming on location was not without its problems. Already working with a limited budget, director Marcel Camus (1912-1982) soon found himself out of money. Eventually, he was forced to economize even on food, and the film crew and cast soon moved from the hotel to live on the beach.
- The young man who dances and plays the pandeiro subsequently won the national competition for playing this percussion instrument and began touring the world.
- Ademar Ferreira da Silva (1927-2001), who played the role of Death, won gold Olympic medals in the triple jump in 1952 and 1956.
- The film was shot entirely in Brazil, and the technical crew and cast were almost entirely local.
- Brino Mello is a footballer who had never acted in films before. Marcel Camus stumbled upon him on the street in Rio de Janeiro.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
