Watching Black Orpheus
Friends came by tonight and we watched Black Orpheus. It is a movie of which I never tire. I’ve seen it 10 times or more, alone, with my kids, with friends. It never fails to reduce me to a puddle.
It’s hard for me to pinpoint exactly why I find it so brilliant and so moving. The music, the relentless drumming, the incredible movement, the visual beauty, the clever way in which the story is adapted, the joy, the beauty of the performers, the picture of a world in which people are always dancing, the sad loneliness, the way Orpheus realizes after she dies how much Eurydice has changed him, the exquisite simplicity, the children singing and dancing at the end…
…all of the above…?
I have recently read criticism of Black Orpheus saying that the characters are drawn shallowly, or that there is inauthenticity in the depiction of Carnaval. Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion. But I find myself unable to be critical about this movie. It hits me where I live.
