Synopsis
Black Orpheus (Orfeu Negro, 1959) is available to watch online on iFILM — a Brazilian-French melodrama by director Marcel Camus that transplants the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice into the favelas of Rio de Janeiro during Carnival.
Orfeu (Breno Mello) is a tram conductor whose guitar playing, neighbourhood legend insists, is what brings the sun up each morning. He falls for Eurydice (Marpessa Dawn), just arrived from the countryside, on the very day he is supposed to finalize his engagement to someone else. A figure costumed as Death tracks Eurydice through the dancing crowds. The ancient arc — love, loss, descent — stays intact; Camus simply swaps Olympus for the spirit world of the favelas.
The film sent bossa nova into the wider world. The score came from two young Brazilian composers: Luiz Bonfá and Antonio Carlos Jobim, before Jobim became a global name. It took the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1959, then the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Stream Black Orpheus in full online on iFILM.
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