★ 7 / 10
Accomplished poet "Orphée" (Jean Marais) is sitting in
CinemaSerf
Accomplished poet "Orphée" (Jean Marais) is sitting in a café with a friend one afternoon when a fracas breaks out with some local students that necessitates…
Accomplished poet "Orphée" (Jean Marais) is sitting in a café with a friend one afternoon when a fracas breaks out with some local students that necessitates the intervention of the police and causes a tragedy to occur. A woman in a Rolls Royce turns up and asks her aides to put an injured man into her car. Shen then rather bossily requires the writer to accompany her as a witness. He assumes they are going to hospital, but it turns out the man - "Cegeste" (Edouard Dermithe) is already dead and that she (María Casares), well she is certainly not the "princess" she purports to be. If you're at all familiar with the "Orpheus" episode from Greek legend then you will be able to guess much of the rest of this as he finds himself embroiled in the plottings of Death. The complication here is that she takes a bit of a shine to him, and her chauffeur "Heurtebise" (Francois Périer) falls in love with his wife "Eurydice" (Marie Déa). My what a web we do weave. Now all in the underworld, a tribunal of death rules that things have not gone to plan and that the husband and wife are to be returned to their world - but only for so long as he doesn't look at her - else back she goes. A little unfair I thought given they'd done nothing wrong and weren't on the hit list in the first place - but that was the deal. Can they make it work? Now, do they even want to? I found Marais could be quite wooden at times, indeed he might have made for a decent "Tarzan" - but here he gels well with both Déa and with a strikingly effective Casares. Cocteau manages to integrate the ancient mythology within a modern day setting in a fashion that cleverly uses simple visual effects - and mirrors - to achieve the concept of a parallel world of "Hades" without making it all look ridiculously fake. He also manages to remove just about all the gooey sentiment from this romance, too. Next time you look at a pair of rubber gloves, though - best beware!
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★ 9 / 10
The delightfully lithe work of an artist!
HenryHextonEsq
It was fantastic that I got to see this film, yet odd that it had to be from the video selection of my English faculty library. So, headphones it was, on a…
It was fantastic that I got to see this film, yet odd that it had to be from the video selection of my English faculty library. So, headphones it was, on a typically cold English February day, in a place of learning.
I quickly took to this spirited, ambitious film; a heady concoction that blends fantasy and reality beautifully. This is truly one of the aesthetically wondrous films one could ever wish to see... it has a visual poetry that beguiles the eye, as well as the verbal poetry of a fine script. This is a Cocteau film in which he goes a bit deeper into his characters; while the acting is 'stagy' (in quite an appealing manner) the use of location firmly grounds the piece in an initial contemporary, provincial French town. Cocteau's camera takes in all that is necessary and no more, in conveying his lucid dream visions. That the realism so convinces, in its way of establishing a sleepy, unremarkable French town, really helps the fantasy to come across within a richly plausible context.
Many touches seem audacious and visionary - the very fact of translating this ancient myth to contemporary France, the brilliant device of having Orpheus enraptured by at times otherworldly, at times mundane messages conveyed through a crackling car radio... the imagery of a mirror turning watery as it is passed through; this is sublime, artful stuff, of a heavily metaphysical, cerebral yet enjoyable nature. Maria Casares is absolutely splendid as the "Princess", an aspect of Death; beautifully sleek and stern, with a suppressed tenderness brought out later in the film. Casares brilliantly conveys the sense of a timeless creature of the ages, despite her being only in her 27th year when it was made. Jean Marais is wonderfully theatrical in his acting; a good portrayal of the flawed artist - in this case 'poet', chasing after inspiration rather than worldly happiness. The overlaps with Cocteau himself, autobiographically, add a little extraneous interest... certain scenes seem to refer to Cocteau's position in France, and interestingly also the occupation, with the leather clad motor-cyclists and absurdist underground tribunals...
I should mention the character Heurtebise, treated deftly by Cocteau; who seems to find most to relate to in his male leads, Orpheus and Heurtebise. While the very feminine Death is portrayed exceptionally, Maria Dea's Eurydice is I feel, seen as quite insignificant, though Dea does her best. It's a shame Juliette Greco gets such short shrift in her role as Aglaonice; much is hinted at early on, regarding her antagonistic character, that is not followed up. Francois Perier is wonderful as Heurtebise; along with Casares the most memorable performance here. Perier really makes you believe in and sympathize with this character, as well as having a matter-of-fact eccentricity comparable to Marius Goring's Conductor in "A Matter of Life of Death".
Auric and Hayer do a superb job fine-tuning and moulding Cocteau's tantalizing vision of art, death and love. The film is technically brilliant, the trick shots superbly pulled off and the atmosphere always compelling, involving the viewer, despite the latent abstract quality of the film.
This really is a film to lose yourself in; a lyrical feat of visual poetry with the majestic sense of dream. It is film fantasy as it all too seldom has been; sublimely imaginative and fluidly inventive.
Rating:- **** 1/2/*****
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★ 9 / 10
One of the best I have ever seen
sanat
I saw the movie, or most of it, around the age of eight or nine. It made a deep impression on me, and I have wanted to watch it again. Now that I have been…
I saw the movie, or most of it, around the age of eight or nine. It made a deep impression on me, and I have wanted to watch it again. Now that I have been able to find out the name and the director, I soon will!
The special effects in the film, as I recall them, must have been fabulous for the time, and were quite dazzling even by the standards of the eighties. The movie is surreal, and though it sounds trite, this is perhaps the best description. It left one with a delicious feeling, and even after almost twenty years I feel quite thrilled when I think about it. I found the notion of being in love with death, who is portrayed by María Casarès, and whom I found incredibly attractive, was overwhelmingly wonderful. That was my interpretation at that time. I am curious to see what I would think of it now.
Certainly a terrific film for a child. I think I would still find it wonderful.
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97%
TOMATOMETER
· 33 reviews
89%
AUDIENCE
· 2.5K ratings
7.8/10
14.8K
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masterpiece !! thx