LOVE, LOSS, AND SAMBA...

A review of Black Orpheus (1959, PG)

Black Orpheus is a 1959 film made in Brazil based on the play Orfeu de Conceicao by Vinicius de Moraes, which itself is an adaptation of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. This ancient Greek myth (well documented in the famous Metamorphoses of Ovid) of the two lovers, Orpheus and Eurydice, outline basic archetypal patterns of life, love, and death. Orpheus is “the father of songs” and his mother is the infamous Muse, Calliope (beautiful-voiced daughter of Zeus and also the source of inspiration for Homer’s Iliad). Eurydice is an oak nymph, daughter of Apollo, god of light and rationality.

On the wedding day of these two cherished lovers, Eurydice was, unfortunately, bitten on her ankle by a venomous viper. The poison so strong, Eurydice descended straight to the realm of the Underworld, the domain of Hades (also named Pluto, god of riches and the Underworld). There, Eurydice remained. But Orpheus’ love beckoned him into the depths of the dark netherworld to rescue his beloved and young wife—Orpheus would not let Eurydice perish; not if he could help it! Orpheus, playing his lyre (an ancient Greek stringed instrument with an attached turtle shell for resonance) and serenading the gatekeepers as a sort of vehicle of descent, finally reaches the wretched Pluto in the black Underworld.

Pluto is consistently undivided in his dealings with those who sink into his lifeless territory: once a mortal enters his world, they are ne’er to return. But Orpheus, his heart and voice imbued with inspiration from his mother and muse Calliope, convinces Hades to let him lead Eurydice back up to Earth until she is old and ready, at last, for her final admittance into the Underworld.

Hades, quick and clever, agrees with one exception: on their journey up to Earth, Orpheus must not look back to check if Eurydice is still following. So off they go… But in his struggle towards Earth’s surface, anxiety, like each day’s inevitable nightfall, overcomes Orpheus. He can’t bear to think that Eurydice has already fallen away. He mustn’t be toiling in vain!

On the last step of their journey into the light of the bountiful Earth, Orpheus glances backwards… And as quickly as his eyes fall backwards, Eurydice slips away, falling miles and miles down into the grim, gated Underworld. “Farewell, my love!” she shouts as the arms of Orpheus fail to catch her before she’s gone forever. Thus ends Ovid’s classic Greek myth.

Black Orpheus weaves the simultaneously tender and mournful songs of Brazilian bossa nova music with the beauty of Rio de Janeiro to enrapture the viewer with the joyous yet terrible love that leads Eurydice and Orpheus on their dangerous journey. The movie portrays the myth surprisingly accurately even as all the cultural specifics of Greece are translated to the intense customs (dancing, samba drumming, and flashy outfits) of Brazil during its fall harvest festival, Carnaval.

A saying of Joseph Campbell, world-renowned author and mythologist, is that “The sign of a good myth is that it begs to be retold.” Black Orpheus is just that: a worthy retelling of the ancient Greek myth. Orpheus illustrates just how relevant Greek myths can be even in 2013, regardless of cultural and geographical boundaries. Set in a modern context, this film is a perfect introduction to the Greek myth of old.