Orfeu

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!

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.

I actually liked this movie, though others I know found it alright. We actually watched it in my Intro to Film and Video class...at first I didn't know if I would be able to follow it as well, since I had to read the subtitles (in English), however I quickly got engrossed in the setting and use of night and day. Though I found the "drug lord" character not to be the best actor, nor some of the other characters in the film, I found the music to be the key for this film. The use of awesomely bright colors and loud pulsating music brought the Carnival scene to life for me as a viewer. The love attraction of Orfeu and Euridice was a little weak, but the imagery is well done. Though the story at times strays from the original Greek myth it was based on, it was an interesting twist on it. I think some of you will enjoy it, and others not. It sort of feels like the modern day Romeo and Juliet with Leo DeCaprio (sorta). So if you found that interesting, you might like this film too!

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.

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.