Orpheus (film)
A modern retelling of the Orpheus myth.
Orpheus (released in the UK under the same title, and in French as *Orphée*) is a 1950 French film that blends romance, fantasy, and tragedy. Directed by Jean Cocteau, it stars Jean Marais and forms the middle chapter of Cocteau’s Orphic Trilogy, coming between *The Blood of a Poet* (1930) and *Testament of Orpheus* (1960). The story reworks the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, setting it in modern-day Paris, and draws partly from Cocteau’s own 1926 play of the same name. The plot follows Orpheus, a celebrated poet, who one night visits the Café des Poètes. There, a woman known as the Princess arrives with a handsome young poet named Cégeste, whom she supports. Drunk, Cégeste starts a fight. When police try to arrest him, he escapes but is struck and killed by two motorcyclists. The Princess orders the police to put Cégeste’s body in her car and insists Orpheus come along as a witness. Inside the vehicle, Orpheus realizes Cégeste is dead. They drive to a chateau, accompanied by the motorcyclists, while abstract poetry plays on the car radio. At the ruined chateau, the Princess revives Cégeste into a zombie-like state. She, Cégeste, and the motorcyclists—who are her henchmen—then vanish into a mirror, leaving Orpheus alone. He wakes in a barren landscape and meets Heurtebise, the Princess’s chauffeur, who has been waiting for him. Heurtebise drives Orpheus home, where Orpheus’s pregnant wife Eurydice, a police inspector, and Eurydice’s friend Aglaonice (the leader of the “League of Women,” a nod to the Maenads, and apparently in love with Eurydice) are discussing his mysterious disappearance. Orpheus refuses to explain the night’s events to his wife or the inspector. He invites Heurtebise to live with them and store the Princess’s Rolls-Royce in the garage. When Eurydice tries to tell him she is pregnant, he brushes her off. As Heurtebise falls in love with Eurydice, Orpheus becomes fixated on the abstract poetry broadcast only through the Rolls’s radio. It becomes clear that the Princess is an incarnation of Death. When Death’s henchmen kill Eurydice, Heurtebise offers to guide Orpheus into the Underworld to bring her back. Orpheus admits he has fallen in love with Death, who has appeared in his dreams. To enter the afterlife, he puts on surgical gloves and steps through a mirror.
Quick Facts
- Director
- Jean Cocteau
- Producer
- André Paulvé
- Starring
- Jean Marais / François Périer / María Casares / Marie Déa
- Music
- Georges Auric
- Cinematography
- Nicolas Hayer
- Editing
- Jacqueline Sadoul
- Distributor
- DisCina
- Released
- 29 September 1950 · France · 1950 · 11 · 29 · United States
- Runtime
- 95 minutes
- Country
- France
- Language
- French
- Gross
- 1,149,396 admissions (France)
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The film follows Orpheus, a famous poet, who becomes entangled with a Princess who is an incarnation of Death. After witnessing the death of the young poet Cégeste, Orpheus is led to a ruined chateau where Death reanimates Cégeste. Orpheus becomes obsessed with abstract poetry broadcast from the radio of Death's Rolls-Royce, while his pregnant wife Eurydice is killed by Death's henchmen. Heurtebise, Death's chauffeur, proposes to lead Orpheus into the Underworld in order to reclaim her. Orpheus admits he has fallen in love with Death, who has appeared in his dreams. To enter the afterlife, he puts on surgical gloves and steps through a mirror. He and Heurtebise then cross the Zone, a ruined city filled with people apparently unaware that they are dead. In the Underworld, a tribunal interrogates all parties involved in the death of Eurydice. The tribunal declares that Death has illegally claimed Eurydice, and returns her to life on condition that Orpheus never look at her again. Orpheus agrees and returns home with Eurydice and Heurtebise.
Reader's Guide
Orpheus is Jean Cocteau's most acclaimed cinematic work, winning the International Film Critics Award at the 1950 Venice Film Festival. The film is noted for its practical and post-production effects, including liquid mirrors represented by mercury, landscapes filmed in negative, reverse sequences, superimposition, and mirrors spontaneously breaking. Cocteau preserved unplanned sound effects from passing locomotives as a 'natural echo of the modern world.' The film explores themes of the successive deaths a poet must pass through, immortality, and mirrors as portals to death. Critic Roger Ebert added Orpheus to his 'Great Movies' list in 2000, praising its simple but ingenious special effects. The Lexikon des Internationalen Films notes the film's artfully crafted labyrinth of poetic symbols and mythological allusions, while Reclam's Film Guide highlights how Cocteau creates a world where mirrors become doors to the afterlife and black-uniformed motorcyclists become messengers of death.
Did You Know?
- The film's special effects included close-ups of a vat of mercury to represent liquid mirrors.
- Cocteau preserved the sound of passing locomotives during filming as a 'natural echo of the modern world.'
- Director Jean-Pierre Melville appears in the film as a hotel manager.
- The film is the central part of Cocteau's Orphic Trilogy, which also includes The Blood of a Poet (1930) and Testament of Orpheus (1960).
More in French fantasy films 25-40
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