Orpheus

This officially licensed release from South Korea is 4:3 Full Screen display in Black & White, with Dolby Digital Sound in the ORIGINAL FRENCH language with optional (removable) English or Korean subtitles...Product DescriptionThis is the second part of the Orphic Trilogy written and directed by Jean Cocteau. PLOT SUMMARY: Orphee is a poet who becomes obsessed with Death (the Princess). They fall in love. Orphee's wife, Eurydice, is killed by the Princess' henchmen and Orphee goes after her into the Underworld. Although they have become dangerously entangled, the Princess sends Orphee back out of the Underworld, to carry on his life with Eurydice. Product Description

Intriguing, Captivating, Haunting

Visually and audibly enchanting. Cocteau magically portrays the life cycle of the poet in the most poetic of films. Each scene is stunning from the plot to the music to the special effects to the dialogue. Unpretentious and brilliant, Orfeé never trivializes or attempts to abstract answers. The film is a brilliant display of the possibility of just asking. Cocteau's thoughts on the multiple deaths of poets, mirrors as signs of aging and ultimately our deaths, and immortality of a poet through sacrifice of another are expressed psycho automatically. Most impressively, Cocteau maintains a linear plot while creating overlapping worlds of life, death, love, and desire. Artistically much of the film can be superficially comprehended without knowledge of Orpheus or of Cocteau himself. His use of the Orpheus myth as a skeleton for his thought brings both Orfee and Eurydice into a modern light and into the viewers' eyes. This film strongly influenced my idea of the breadth and width of film as an art. This piece of art is truly a genius orchestration of music and dialogue set against thousands of incredible still frames. Beyond the visual intricacies of each shot, his use of special effects and backward playing film create art all of their own. Cocteau has said this is a realistic film which is why it is particularly relevant. While his cinematography is fantastic it is a tool used to express truth apparent to Cocteau. The result of this knowledge is a three dimensional masterpiece of literature. November 24, 2007

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