 Orfeu Negro (Black Orpheus) (1959, 100 min.) adapted by Marcel Camus, Jacques Viot from the play "Orfeu do Carnaval." directed by Marcel Camus. Recontexualizing the Greek Myth  In 1959 Castro
became the dictator of Cuba, the Sound
of Music opened on Broadway and Marcel Camus introduced the world
outside
of Brazil to the experience of Samba music through his Palm d’or
winning
film Black Orpheus. Samba music
is commonplace to us now; we know both how it sounds and feels.
However, put yourself in the place of people
who had never been to Brazil nor heard this music in 1959, and you see
what all
of the commotion was about: this music was different. Some critics say that the music takes on its own character in Black Orpheus and that that is what Camus intended for the music. I do not see it myself, but I do agree that the music plays a prominent, almost overbearing role in this film. Samba functions so much more than merely providing an underscoring; it is used often as an impetus to action, guiding the experiences and actions of what many characters feel or do. Black Orpheus is a film that recontextualizes the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus. The first recorded story of the Orpheus myth can be found in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Book X. There are other records of the character of Orpheus, among them The Argonautica, in which Orpheus uses his musical skill to help Jason retrieve the Golden Fleece. However, his role in this myth is minimal. The story that lies behind Black Orpheus is the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, the story most often associated with Orpheus.  In
this recounting, Orpheus is the son of Apollo and the muse
Calliope. It could be said that music ran in the
family, so to speak. Apollo, seeing his
son’s talent as a musician, gives to Orpheus his own lyre to play
upon. Orpheus’ music takes on supernatural
attributes, being capable of calming wild animals and even causing
trees and
rocks to move, all at Orpheus’ will. On
one particular day, Orpheus catches sight of Eurydice, a beautiful
maiden, with
whom he immediately falls in love. Not
long after, the two of them are married.
However, on their wedding day a shepherd by the name of Aristaeus sees
her and falls in love with her. He chases her through a meadow so
that he
might make her his own. But during the chase Eurydice is bitten by a
snake and
killed. When Orpheus hears this, he
mourns his newlywed wife until he simply cannot endure the pain any
longer. He decides that he will descend
into Hades’ realm and take her back. He
finds his way through the many different corridors until he finally
comes to
the gate guarded by Cerberus, the three-headed dog that stands guard
over the
gate into the realm of the Dead.
Orpheus plays upon his lyre and calms the dog so that he might walk
past. He finally finds himself before
the lords of the underworld, Hades and his wife Persephone.  Orpheus
speaks to Hades and his wife of the untimely death of his
bride, of his deep love for Eurydice and how he longs to have her
back. Then, he sings upon his lyre a song of such
feeling that all of the tormenters and tormented cease in their work
and pain
to listen to the song. Hades consents
to allow back Orpheus his bride under one condition: he is not allowed
to look
back at her until they return to the world of the living. Orpheus
agrees to this arrangement. They have almost made it to the world
of the
living when Orpheus turns around and loses his bride forever. The
only words he hears her say as she
disappeared are “Farewell, love.”
Orpheus mourns the loss of Eurydice again until he dies and returns to
Hades to be reunited with his love, Eurydice.
Not together in life, they live together for all eternity in the other
world. History has shown us that transplanting myths and mythical heroes into a different historical context is rarely successful, especially in film. Camus, however, puts his particular version of the myth in the context of Rio de Janeiro’s “Carnaval”: a brilliantly colorful celebration that incorporates lively dancing with ornate costumes and parade floats, all choreographed and underscored by the fast beat of Samba. This is where one might expect to find Orpheus, were he a modern day hero: participating in his own creation, that of music that demands one to dance and enjoy living. It is this setting that sells this strange tale. Moreover, samba music finds its origins in occult, voodoo practices of communicating with the dead. In fact, the West African word, “Semba”, means: “invoking the spirits of the ancestors.” While it is true that Carnaval is celebrated in connection with Mardi Gras and the Lenten season of the church, the samba element of Carnaval is anything but Christian. This fact lends itself nicely to the darker moments and symbolic elements of the film, such as Death’s relentless pursuit and ironic success in the end.  The film starts with
the character
of Eurydice arriving in Rio and being pulled onto a street trolley by
its
operator, Orpheus. He takes her to the
end of the line where he is met by his fiancé, Mira.
Eurydice is in Rio running from a mysterious stranger who is
trying to kill her for what appears to be no reason. In fact, we
never know why exactly she is being hunted by this
mysterious, masked, symbolic figure that comes to be known as
“death.” Eurydice has a cousin, Sarafina, who lives
in one of the cliff shantytowns above Rio.
Sarafina is one of the main characters in their samba school’s entry
into the Carnaval parade, as is Mira.
Orpheus, of course, is the leader of this school. The children in
the town tell of how Orpheus
raises the sun every morning with his guitar and song. It turns
out that Orpheus fell in love the
second that he saw Eurydice and that is why he pulled her onto his
trolley. He, however, does not explain
this to Mira, whom he never seemed too inclined to marry in the first
place. Eurydice overhears a song of Orpheus’ one
day and falls in love with him. At
rehearsal, the night before Carnaval, Mira notices that Orpheus is
ignoring her
and spending much of his time with Eurydice.
She does not like this at all and makes it known that she will not
stand
for it. Eurydice notices that the character,
Death, has found her. She runs but is
cornered away from the village. Orpheus finds them and wards off death,
away
from Eurydice. At Carnaval, the next
day, Eurydice takes the place of Sarafina, who plays the “Queen of Day”
so that
she and Orpheus can continue their romance in disguise, to keep it more
secret
from the increasingly jealous Mira.
Mira eventually becomes aware of the ruse and exposes Eurydice for who
she actually is. The outcome of this,
other than a brief fight with Mira, is that Eurydice has now been
unmasked and
shown to “Death” who will now hunt her down through the crowds as she
runs away
from Mira. He tracks her down to the
trolley station where, in an attempt to escape, she jumps onto one of
the
electrical wires that powers the cars.
Orpheus, following them here, turns on the electricity to see and
inadvertently electrocutes Eurydice. The blast knocks him unconscious. When he awakens, he finds that Eurydice is dead and has been taken to the morgue. He does not believe them and runs to the bureau of missing persons where he discovers a janitor that takes him to a place where people are attempting to communicate with their dead ancestors. Orpheus sings his song and Eurydice answers through the vessel of an old woman who sits behind him. She warns him that if he should turn around, he will lose her forever. He becomes suspicious and turns on her, sending her back down to death once more. In the end, he retrieves her body from the morgue to bury her in the village. When he returns to the village, Mira throws rocks at him in anger and sends him over the cliffs that have threatened danger throughout the entire film. As in the original, only in death are the two lovers allowed to be together undisturbed. The parallels between the two myths are easily seen. Orpheus’ supernatural musical ability, the love story between the two, the journey into the underworld, the singing of the song to call forth Eurydice, the mistake of Orpheus sending Eurydice away from him and the paradoxical tragic/happy ending that kills Orpheus but reunites him with Eurydice so that they are both together. Moreover, it seems as though Camus tries to show that there is no reason for sadness in the end by his interjection of the children playing Orpheus’ guitar and dancing around the cliffs as if they offer no threat. The setting of Carnaval works for the film due to the believability that these characters could exist in such a setting. Orpheus and Eurydice both dress in costumes that have an ancient Greek flare to them, the music, much like that of Orpheus, transports the audience to another level of reality and the character of Death pursuing Eurydice with no known motive seems able to blend into the frenzy that is Carnaval. It is worth mentioning that Camus changes the status of his heroes. The original Greek heroes were wealthy and godlike whereas the Carnaval heroes are lowly and poor. However, the placement of the story on the cliffs that surround the metropolitan area below provides a beautiful backdrop to compliment the love story that unfolds on them. Moreover, it is as though Orpheus and his followers have a “god’s eye view” from upon these cliffs, as though they look over the affairs of the humans that live below them. Black Orpheus coordinates beautiful colors and movement with lively music and ethereal setting. The story that is told is one full of symbolism that keeps the audience both entertained and involved in a constant dialogue with the film to uncover what truths are being told to us, once more, through this ancient myth. Essay © Matthew Ryan Key - a student at Fuller Theological Seminary working towards a degree in Worship, Theology and the Arts. He considers himself to be a student of the narrative form. He has studied the art medium of film at the Los Angeles Film Studies Center where he took classes in screenwriting and producing. Matt has also studied Literature and Theology at his Alma Mater, Southern Nazarene University. He is currently a script reader at Promenade Pictures, helmed by Cindy Bond and Frank Yablans. |
