Orfeu (1999)

Carlos Diegues's Orfeu brings the Orpheus myth (by way of the Vinicius De Moraes play, which also inspired Marcel Camus's gorgeous Black Orpheus) into the modern world of laptops and hip-hop, cell phones and street crime. Orfeu (Toni Garrido), Rio de Janeiro's samba king and a kind of god to his neighbors in the labyrinth of slums on Carioca Hill, is humbled by his love for Euridice (Patricia França), a sweet and stunningly beautiful girl from the provinces. Shot on location at Rio's fiery Carnaval celebrations and on a dynamic recreation of Carioca Hill's slums, Diegues's dazzling mix of musical extravaganza, romantic tragedy, and gangland crime drama drops the myth into the poverty and violence of slum life. The drama gets stifled in silly romantic entanglements, but Brazilian pop star Garrido and lovely França have charisma to burn, and the stunning canvas of exploding color is never less than enthralling. --Sean Axmaker Amazon.com

Dazzling Cinematic Production with Minimal Story

Director Carlos Diegues knows how to capture atmosphere with his camera and effects and when that atmosphere is the splendid garish gaudiness of Carnival in Rio de Janeiro there is plenty to entertain the eye. 'Orfeu' as a story, supposedly a re-interpretation of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth updated to current times and set in the slums (favelas) of Rio, is just not there.

The title character Orfeu (handsome and talented singer Toni Garrido) does sing and play his guitar, his playing ends the night and serenades the rising of the sun, but here he a quasi-Rap star, beloved by his townsfolk Eur?dice, and by all the women who come into his view. Eur?dice (Patr?cia Fran?a) enters his life, as she comes to Rio after the death of her parents in the provinces, and the meeting results in instant love. There is violence from the police invasions of the slums, drug lords such as Lucinho (a disastrously misused Murilo Ben?cio who happens to be one of Brazil's biggest stars), female envy from Orfeu's many ex-lovers (Isabel Fillardis, Maria Cei?a), and parental concern from Orfeu's parents Concei??o (Zez? Motta) and In?cio (Milton Gon?alves). But the story, or at least a semblance of one, gets buried in all the extravagant production of police raids and the Carnival parades: it just ends without much point - except that there is a reprise of the musical theme from 'Black Orpheus' to carry you back down memory lane.

Though the quality of acting is generally substandard by comparison to most great films out of Brazil, the style of acting is supposedly the accepted norm for the popular Brazilian novellas on television. And the sensual presence of Toni Garrido does raise the quality of the movie. But if the art of 'Black Orpheus' or Jean Cocteau's 'Orphee' is what you are expecting, this film will not satisfy. If you are looking for a colorful, splashy extravaganza about Rio during Carnival, here is your ticket! Grady Harp, April 06
April 6, 2006

interesting, lively, sensual, colorful, sad

You get a decent roller coaster of sights and emotions from the film. The best part of the movie for me is how the main character is forced between his mother's pagan world view, or his father's born again view. He is at the prime of his life and only wanting to have fun, but a death makes him confront his beliefs and start taking life seriously. March 4, 2006

Ouch! What a disappointment...

Like a few other reviewers, I really wanted to like Orfeu. I am fascinated by Brazilian culture, especially the spectacle that is Carnaval. And, who could pass up listening to a soundtrack by the wonderful Caetano Veloso?

Having seen City of God, however, I believe that director Carlos Viegues presents an overly-romanticized version of life in the favelas. I can take a little bit of fantasy, but come on! In present-day Brazil, wealthy urbanites take helicopters from their houses to the city in order to avoid contact with the poor. How are we to believe that the character of Orfeu, who has supposedly gained famed and fortune through his musical talents, can walk the streets without getting mugged? Call me a cynic, but I just could not get past this detail.

Another unfortunate aspect of the film, to which others have referred, is the acting. With a few exceptions, most of it is melodramatic and thus hard to take seriously. The romance between Orfeu and Eurydice seems hurried - they fall madly in love with one another after one or two brief encounters. Then there's the police raids of Orfeu's neighborhood, during which the sargent strolls about the streets amidst the sprays of gunfire. It just doesn't seem realistic that real cops, whether in Brazil or other countries, would be so careless.

To sum it up, I would recommend Orfeu only to those who are looking for pure fantasy. Apart from the film's portrayal of Carnaval, there is not much to be learned here. I suspect that Marcel Camus's original Black Orpheus is a much better movie.

August 26, 2005

How Can You Mend A Broken Remake?

I really wanted to like this movie. Black Orpheus is one of my favorite foreign films. First of all I liked the brilliant colors and the cinematography was spectacular. The problem I had with the film is that the actress playing Euridice gave a lackluster performance. The actress that played Mira should have played Euridice. Secondy, if you're going to bring the story into the 21st century writing is important. The film while sticking with the basic story line left out some really important components such as the macumba scene in the original. I guess modern day Brazilians aren't as spiritual as they were 45 years ago. And also it seemed that the focus was more on the violence in modern day Rio than the myth and love story. Which in my opinion took a back seat. The characters weren't the central focus of this movie. Very poor direction here. I will have to say that Toni Garrido is an exellent singer and has an immense amount of presence which was wasted in this movie. November 28, 2004

Not as good as the original but very close...

This was a pretty well done film. Although it is not as good as the original (1959's "Orfeu Negro") it comes pretty close. I would recommend renting both this and the original to compare the two first. This version definitely appeals to a younger crowd than the older version, but it was still produced in a very tasteful, well crafted way. Also, the soundtrack to this film was quite impressive, so if you enjoy the movie be sure to check the music out as well. Unlike a lot of movie soundtracks which don't include tracks from the movie, the soundtrack to this film does a pretty good job of including the music from all the memorable scenes. Overall, this movie is definitely worth checking out. January 20, 2004

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