Orfeu

Rio de Janeiro in widescreen CinemaScope is quite a sight, that´s for sure, and the carnival parade with the famous escolas de samba (samba schools) do sound great in digital sound. But money (it cost some U$ 7 million, a record for Brazilian standards) and the technology it can buy does not make a good film, especially if it´s a tragic love story, like this one.

Two awful leads (Tony Garrido and Patrícia França) play Orfeu and Euridice, who are supposed to be in love, but we just have to take their word for it. Their love, and the movie, takes place in a Rio favela (shanty town), located high up in the hills of the city. It´s a fascinating set (built entirely for the shooting) which stands-in for a fascinating Brazilian inner-world, packed, in real life, with its own special rules and laws which the movie prefers to ignore.

As it is, Orfeu shows us a great set, rather than the interesting parallel society it seems to be examining. Walter Salles´ Central Station did a pretty good job at rendering its station with documentary-like accuracy. Orfeu renders its favela with soap opera-like consistency.

It´s a pity, because some of the supporting characters almost come to life. Orfeu´s parents, Zezé Motta and Milton Gonçalves, display the respect and dignity their small favela roles demand. Isabel Fillardis also makes an impression, as one of Orfeu´s women who may have had a big break after making the Playboy centerfold. But these are characters who have little screen time, although Brazilian music superstar, Caetano Veloso, does get an overlong and rather embarassing cameo appearance. You can´t miss him. He´s the animatronic-like puppet, playing a guitar on somebody´s roof.

Diegues, who made the excellent Bye Bye Brazil, in 1980, seems to be so infatuated with his toys (the movie is technically very good) that he loses it altogether, especially in a story set in the dog days of Brazilian carnival, but totally devoid of the unique atmosphere of the Brazilian carnival. A turkey.

This is one of the worst films I have seen in a long time. The acting was so bad, a better job would have been done by employing a queue of people waiting for a bus ! The script is execrable, dreadful. The direction dire, don't allow the director to control traffic anywhere, there would be a pile up ! What illegal substance was the man on ? Perhaps he got next door's cat to do the work. It would have proved a better result.

This film shows just how good the original, Black Orpheus, is. There is no need to refer to that masterpiece in case the mere mention of Orfeu might tarnish a great work.

I play in a Samba Bateria in Europe and have never been to Brasil so I was interested in the shots of Carnaval. The director seemed to have even taken away some of the magic of that event, so flat was his direction.

The drug dealer 'Lucinho' had the acting talent of a mannequin. He had obviously seen John Travolta in Pulp Fiction and tried to model his distinct lack of ability on Travolta. Well he couldn't even mimic Travolta. Orfeu was like a kid they had just pulled off the street who had been kicking a football about ten minutes earlier. They would have got a better cast if they had enrolled first year drama students in their first week of college; where their tutor was off sick and they had spent the first week in the canteen drinking coffee.

The dialogue and plot line was a joke. In fact this would be one of those films that is so bad while meant to be serious the audience end up falling about laughing. The director wanted to give the story – or lack of it, a feeling of the film City of God; not guns and roses but guns and favelas.

A very attractive girl played 'Mira' – perhaps the one redeeming feature of the film. Euridice acted like a Portuguese au-pair from up-country lost in Manchester.

The ending of the film was so dreadful I can't even bring myself to think about it. It should have been the director who was thrown off the side of a hill.

I noticed that some people from Los Angeles liked the film, perhaps they don't have any quality to measure the film against? Before I watched the film I looked on IMDb and saw that someone from the UK who has had a long interest in Brasil, complained about the film. Perhaps with this accurate appreciation, I should have avoided it; but as they say, you learn more from taking one really bad photograph than from twelve good ones.

Orfeu mixes elements of Greek mythology and classical theatre with Brazilian telenovelas. That may sound like a recipe for disaster, but to me the director actually pulled it off.

It was fascinating to me as someone from Western Europe to see how different life in the favelas is (both in good and bad ways), and to see the ancient Greek story set in such a different context. The cinematography is also great.

I can see how some would be disappointed if they were expecting to get immersed into a convincing story set in the midst of a full blown carnival extravaganza though.

The main characters Orfeu and Euridice didn't really come to life to me as genuine likable individuals that I could identify with, but more as the original Greek personas. However most other members of the cast did not have this "problem" and provided plenty of convincing drama.

Also although we are treated to some scenes of the amazing Rio carnival, the director doesn't really seem to immerse us in that world of extravagance. We are almost looking at it from a distance, as if to say it's not that important to the actual story.

To sum it all up: what makes Brazil interesting is that it is such a melting pot, and melting very different elements into a lively stew is exactly what happens in Orfeu. It may not always be that easy to digest, but boring it is not!

I just got back from Orfeu. I wish I could say this movie was good, cause I like Diegues, but it was not. His excellent movie Quilombo sold me on his historical honesty and ability to tell a story. Using the backdrop of Rio and Carival you don't even get a sense of the city and the joy of the Carnival. He uses some shots that show the beauty of the city and intricate scene shots but there just isn't enough. The acting is not good. It was poorly cast. The female roles should have been re-arranged. Mira should have played the "best dancer". The best dancer should have played Euridice and Euridice should have been eliminated and barred from the set. The lead role of Orfeu was decent enough, but he needed much more to play off of. And there was no romance. This was a disappointment.

I liked this movie. It was very well done and the director was awesome. This history can serve of an example to everybody. Sorry for my terrible English, but this movie was very good. The actuation of the actors was great. I recommend it to the lovers.