Black Orpheus

Black Orpheus (Orfeu Negro) is literally what its title suggests: a retelling of the "Orpheus and Eurydice" legend enacted by black performers. This time the setting is the annual Carnival in Rio de Janeiro. Orpheus (Breno Mello) is a streetcar conductor; Eurydice (Marpessa Dawn) has just jilted her ...more

Black Orpheus was something of a phenomenon of its time, an international success with a best-selling soundtrack that was crucial to launching a bossa nova craze in the United States. It won the Palme d'Or at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival and the 1960 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Since then, the novelty of seeing Rio de Janeiro's Carnival played out backed by the strains of seductive Brazilian jazz has worn off, revealing a winningly energetic movie with some noticeable faults. ...more