According to Sandy

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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French film, A Prophet (Un Prophète, 2009) directed by Jacques Audiard struck me as a cautionary tale for wayward youth. It details the experiences of 19 year old Malik (Tahar Rahim) as he serves his 8 year prison sentence for refusing to cooperate with police.

A product of juvenile detention facilities, incarceration in an adult prison matures him, not in the way usually meant. Instead of rehabilitation, “learning his lesson” while repaying his debt to society, etc., prison teaches him questionable survival skills and he toughens. What he learns in prison far surpasses what he could have learned on the streets.

Surviving alone may work on the outside, but in captivity, being part of a group is vital, and being the top dog in that group is prime, doing whatever it takes to get there. Malik adapts to the inhumanity that surrounds him and prospers.

You get drawn into the story and after awhile, you start to root for this young man and want him to rise above somehow. Which perhaps is a testament to both the acting and writing because Malik does some evil stuff, but you still want him alive and freed after his 8 years. (It’s not so much that you want him to “win”- but you want him to survive, to live long enough to discover another way of being in the world.)

But, what lingering effects will violent actions and experiences have on a kid? Are they difficult to erase like tattoos? Is he branded forever? I don’t know.

Fascinating movie.

BTW:  Un Prophète (2009) won the Grand Prize at Cannes Festival, 2009

I cannot think of Shrove Tuesday (today 2/16), Mardi Gras or Carnival without thinking of that terrific movie “Black Orpheus”.  The costumes, the music of Rio de Janeiro, the dancing, and all those pretty people being chased by a man in a skeleton body suit – fabulous. 

“Black Orpheus”, 1959, was made in Brazil by French director Marcel Camus. It is the classic Greek romantic tragedy of Orpheus (Breno Mello) and Eurydice (Marpessa Dawn) set against the back drop of a high energy samba troupe.

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).

Rent the DVD,  put on some feathers, add a couple of sequins and Samba!

Per WikiPedia: “Black Orpheus” won the Palme d’Or prize at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival as well as the 1960 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and the 1960 Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film.”