I post this every year – because I can and also because I get a chance to tout a favorite movie from back in the day, “Black Orpheus”.
The music, the floats, the dance troups, the beads – Mardi Gras, February 13, 2024. I don’t think of Shrove or Fat Tuesday without having this terrific movie “samba-ing” across my mind.
“Black Orpheus”, 1959, by French director Marcel Camus is the classic Greek romantic tragedy, transplanted to Brazil, of Orpheus (Breno Mello) and Eurydice (Marpessa Dawn) set against the back drop of a high energy, high drama, dance troupe.
The costumes, the songs of Rio de Janeiro, the dancing, and all those pretty people being chased by a man in a skeleton mask – fabulous.
Even if you haven’t seen this film, you are probably familiar with its great music by Antonio Carlos Jobim, including “Manhã de Carnaval” (written by Luiz Bonfá).
So, if you can’t get to a Mardi Gras near you, put on some feathers and sequins, watch “Black Orpheus” and Samba!
FYI ~ “Black Orpheus” won the Palme d’Or prize at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival, the 1960 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and the 1960 Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film.
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