Orfeu

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.

ORFEU is a good reworking of the Orpheus story. It has been remade using all of Vinicius de Morais' criteria for an updated version. Among the criteria was adding the modest modern forms of the art. ORFEU does that wonderfully in depicting the current underworld ruling the favelas (poor shanty towns), and the modern trends in language and music, including Brazilian rap. It is definitely an updated version of the late 50's "Black Orpheus." Now, whether one prefers the comparatively nostalgic '50s ORPHEUS or not is another matter. And that should not be the yardstick on which this film is rated. Understandably, a lot of people have problems with accepting rap in Brazilian samba, overt sexuality (which is rampant even on Brazilian prime-time TV) and the nuanced acting of Brazilian telenovelas, which, like it or not, is what the people are used to, and the popular standard for acting in Brazil. Whether this style of acting is good or bad is definite subjective. Regular people in Brazil overact more than those in the movie have been accused of doing. Go there and see people in a normal discussion, then argue about who overacts. I therefore assure you that ORFEU delivers what it intended, and with fabulous sound and cinematography, state of the

art. Whether you preferred the "innocent" days of the 50s to today's rougher climate is of course your choice, but it's not fair to vent your anger or to criticize the film for it. Criticize society, whomever. But not the artists in this movie. They are representing things as they are right now, whether you like it or not. It's unfortunate that since most don't like the general state they take it out on the movie. The movie is definitely worth watching. It only reflects society, and kind of sanitized at that. The acting is the best you'll get from a bunch who have to master Samba dancing, singing, looking wonderful, and seeming realistic, just for starters. They do that and more in this movie.

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.

I was 18 when I became enchanted by all things Brazilian and held a lifelong ambition visit that beautiful country. This admiration of all things brazillian was the result of a visit to a London cinema with an older cousin to see the masterpiece Black Orpheus.

This was a truly magnificent film, based on the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice, and set among the slum dwellers of Rio at carnival time. I did not see this film again until quite recently when I purchased the DVD. The film retains it's magical qualities after all these years and can be watched over and over again.

While looking for Black Orpheus, I became aware of the modern version Orfeu which I also purchased on DVD. I must say that this film fails miserably on most counts. The characters are wooden, the acting average, and the music can not live with the score of the 1959 film. On top of this the symbolism does not work, and the whole film lacks poetry. I have asked many friends to watch both of these films and the result is unanimous praise for Black Orpheus and a Luke warm reception for Orfeu.

I visited a favela last year and it is true that the modern version is much more true to life, but that misses the point. This is a comparison between a work of art, and a very average remake.

Director Carlos Diegues knows how to capture atmosphere with his camera and effects and when that atmosphere is the splendid garish gaudiness of Carnival in Rio de Janeiro there is plenty to entertain the eye. 'Orfeu' as a story, supposedly a re-interpretation of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth updated to current times and set in the slums (favelas) of Rio, is just not there.

The title character Orfeu (handsome and talented singer Toni Garrido) does sing and play his guitar, his playing ends the night and serenades the rising of the sun, but here he a quasi-Rap star, beloved by his townsfolk of the hillside favela, and by all the women who come into his view. Eurídice (Patrícia França) enters his life, as she comes to Rio after the death of her parents in the provinces, and the meeting results in instant love. There is violence from the police invasions of the slums, drug lords such as Lucinho (a disastrously misused Murilo Benício who happens to be one of Brazil's biggest stars), female envy from Orfeu's many ex-lovers (Isabel Fillardis, Maria Ceiça), and parental concern from Orfeu's parents Conceição (Zezé Motta) and Inácio (Milton Gonçalves). But the story, or at least a semblance of one, gets buried in all the extravagant production of police raids and the Carnival parades: it just ends without much point - except that there is a reprise of the musical theme from 'Black Orpheus' to carry you back down memory lane.

Though the quality of acting is generally substandard by comparison to most great films out of Brazil, the style of acting is supposedly the accepted norm for the popular Brazilian novellas on television. And the sensual presence of Toni Garrido does raise the quality of the movie. But if the art of 'Black Orpheus' or Jean Cocteau's 'Orphee' is what you are expecting, this film will not satisfy. If you are looking for a colorful, splashy extravaganza about Rio during Carnival, here is your ticket! Grady Harp