Orphée (Orpheus)

Movie Information

In Brief: Hardly the most prolific of filmmakers, Jean Cocteau at least hit the cinematic gong twice in such a way that it rattled the fabric of film for all time. The first was La Belle et la Bete (Beauty and the Beast) in 1946 and the second was Orphée (Orpheus) in 1950. It's a hard call — and maybe an unnecessary one — to say which is the greater film. Both are quite perfect in their own ways, though as I get older I'm slightly more inclined to the mysteries of the latter. This modern (1950 modern) take on the ancient myth is less straightforward, more experimental, if you will. It is certainly a far stranger film — perhaps because it hasn't the same distancing effect that the earlier film boasts with its period flavor and fairy tale basis. Whatever the case, it is one of the most hypnotic and wonderful movies ever made.
Score:

Genre: Fantasy
Director: Jean Cocteau
Starring: Jean Marais, François Périer, María Casares, Marie Déa, Edouard Dermithe
Rated: NR

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“The legend of Orpheus is well known. In Greek mythology, Orpheus was a troubadour from Thrace. He charmed even the animals. His songs diverted his attention from his wife, Eurydice. Death took her away from him. He descended to the netherworld and used his charm to win permission to return with Eurydice to the world of the living on the condition that he never look at her. But he looked at her and was torn away from her by the Bacchantes. Where does our story take place and when? A legend is entitled to be beyond time and place. Interpret it as you wish.” So begins Jean Cocteau’s Orpheus (1950), as perfect a film as you’re likely to find — a retelling of the Orpheus myth set (despite the disclaimer) in the art world of Paris at the time it was made, allowing the film to be as much a critique of that world as a version of the story.

 

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As such, it becomes more than a modern-dress variant of the myth; it becomes a statement about art, the art world and Cocteau’s place in it. It’s not entirely free of self-criticism, either, since Cocteau most clearly relates to the “too famous” poet of the title, whose fame has won him the adulation of the public and the scorn of his peers. In that role, he allows himself to be lectured that “no excess is absurd,” while taking up the challenge to “astonish us.” And that’s exactly what he spends the remainder of the film doing in a series of increasingly beautiful and atmospheric scenes of surrealist poetry on film. Cocteau’s vision remains unmatched, and when you see characters pass from one world to another through mirrors — via the simplest effects imaginable — you see true artistry that puts today’s CGI “wonders” to shame. Few films are as magical, and none are more haunting than this monumental work.

Classic World Cinema by Courtyard Gallery will present Orphee (Orpheus) Friday, Jan. 30, at 8 p.m. at Phil Mechanic Studios, 109 Roberts St., River Arts District (upstairs in the Railroad Library).  Info: 273-3332, www.ashevillecourtyard.com

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About Ken Hanke
Head film critic for Mountain Xpress from December 2000 until his death in June 2016. Author of books "Ken Russell's Films," "Charlie Chan at the Movies," "A Critical Guide to Horror Film Series," "Tim Burton: An Unauthorized Biography of the Filmmaker."

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