Review of Orpheus (1950) by Nancy The Shieldmaiden — 26 Aug 2008

Orpheus(Orphe'e)" is a masterpiece. Jean Cocteau is french poet laureate of cinema, when Luis Bunueul was working on confrontational surrealist assaults like "Un Chien Adalou", Cocteau was developing his own surreal film making language, one just as arresting and startling, but with a poetic and mythic cohesiveness where Bunuel would place an absurdity. Visually, I really cant say enough, it was just stunning even by modern standards, I had to rewind several parts, just to see them again before I could go on. The marriage between poetry, comedy, surrealism is blurred her into a distinct hybrid myth and fairy tale.

A poet discovers Death or at least an agent of Death has fallen in love with him and wants to take him to other side, he resists of course, and eventually his wife is taken, leading to a journey into the world of mirrors (for in mirrors one can see Death's hand working).

A great film that resonates on numerous levels and glows with intriguing concepts, mesmerising trick photography, and a mythic scope funneled through a modern landscape. Brilliant.