Marcel Camus’ Black Orpheus
Viewing Questions
1.
Marcel Camus sets his retelling of the Orpheus myth at Carnival in Rio de
Janeiro.
This, of course, renders the streets of the
favelas
(Brazilian slums) as a
kind of “land of the living.” How does choice of setting begin to make you think
about the myth?
What does positioning the land of the living as a holiday place
out of time do to our understanding of the story?
2.
Black Orpheus
’ principal contribution to American popular culture was its
introduction of the
bossa nova
to dancing.
Indeed, the film is noted for a
relentless and continuous music score: how does continuous music shape your
encounter with the story and film?
3.
Again, Black Orpheus
, like Cocteau’s Orpheus
, expands the cast of characters to
include Orpheus’ friends, Eurydice’s family, and a number of other important
secondary characters.
Why? What does this expansion do to the things we look
for (and at) in the film?
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- Fall '08
- Williams
- Ode, Rio de Janeiro, Orpheus, Bossa nova, Black Orpheus, Marcel Camus
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