Black Orpheus

Pros: Camus' Direction, Script, Cinematography, Locations, Music, & Cast.
Cons: None.

The Greek tale of Orpheus & Eurydice was a legend of an ill-fated couple that was one of the most renowned tales in mythology. In 1959, French director Marcel Camus released a new, modern-day version of the story. This time set in the tropical ...

Pros: Bursting with the life-affirming energy and Bossa Nova rhythms of Rio Carnaval
Cons: Plot inconsistencies; mostly amateur cast; subtitles

Talking about top ten lists -- on my list of Top Ten Brazilian Remakes of Classic Greek Tragedies, Black Orpheus (Orfeu Negro) has to be número um (that’s Portuguese for “number one”, in case you had any doubt – ...

Pros: The story and the actors are beautiful.
Cons: That you can't see them together forever.

I had the fortune to see “Black Orpheus” in a movie theater and consider that a highlight of many movie-going experiences.

It is very rare to see a movie about black people that makes scant mention of any political context of “why” their...

Pros: soundtrack, cinematography, costumes, unusual setting
Cons: comic relief, story has holes

The surprise sensation at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival, Black Orpheus won the prestigious Golden Palm award. It also won an Academy Award, for Best Foreign Language Film.

Black Orpheus was a low budget film with an amateur...

Pros: gorgeous old color stock, great last 20 minutes
Cons: dated, takes some patience

Somebody liked it (winner of the 1958 Cannes Palm d'Or and the Oscar for Best Foreign Film).

It's not the plot, since this is a bald, almost diagrammatic retelling of the Greek tragedy set in the favelas of Rio. (Mighty attractive slums they...

Pros: music, dance, love and carnival!!
Cons: may seem dated to a 21st century audience

This is my favorite film of all time. It engages on so many levels - emotional, intellectual, cultural, and never fails to disappoint. This film won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film in 1959. It is something of a cultural icon, which I realized when Bill...

Pros: Great Music and Dancing
Cons: None

Orfeo Negro is a modern classic deserving a “valeo”, or a cheer. This movie was filmed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in the 1950s. The setting is in a shanty town above the “copacobana”, or beach. The film is based on the Greek myth Orpheus, but adapted...