Orpheus (Orphee)
Directed by Jean Cocteau
Written by Jean Cocteau
1950/France
Andre Paulve Film/Films du Palais Royal
First viewing/Criterion Collection DVD
234 of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
[box] Heurtebise: I am letting you into the secret of all secrets, mirrors are gates through which death comes and goes. Moreover if you see your whole life in a mirror you will see death at work as you see bees behind the glass in a hive.[/box]
I’m the wrong person to review this critically acclaimed classic. It didn’t grab me and I can’t claim to have understood it.
The Greek myth of Orpheus and Euridyce is moved to a modern dreamscape. Orpheus (Jean Marais) is a famous poet. He is married to Euridyce who is pregnant with their first child. While Orpheus is sitting in a cafe one day, his friend points out his eighteen-year-old rival poet. The rival is killed, but Orpheus is not aware of this. Death (Maria Casares) orders Orpheus to accompany her and the boy in her car. The car starts spouting bad poetry at Orpheus. He becomes obsessed with Death and the bad poetry.
His obsession causes him to neglect Euridyce. Orpheus and Death fall in love. Euridyce dies. One of Death’s assistants show Orpheus how to reunite with Euridyce. The price for this is that he cannot look at her or touch her. Orpheus tries hard to obey these commands but a rear-view mirror trips him up so Euridyce is returned to the underworld. In an uncharacteristic act of self-sacrifice, Death saves the day.
This is ravishing to look at and I’m sure would reward careful viewing and reviewing. I’m not up to that at the moment and got nothing out of this film. Beauty and the Beast is the only Cocteau film I have liked. I think that is because that film has a straightforward narrative to accompany the surrealist imagery.
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