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Orphée (1950)
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Overview
User Rating:
Release Date:
29 November 1950 (USA) morePlot:
Orphee is a poet who becomes obsessed with Death (the Princess). They fall in love. Orphee's wife, Eurydice... more | add synopsisAwards:
Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. moreUser Comments:
Surreal and Poetic more (34 total)US TV Schedule:
| Mon. Nov. 16 | 2:00 AM | TCM |
Cast
(Complete credited cast) | Jean Marais | ... | Orphée |
| François Périer | ... | Heurtebise |
| María Casares | ... | The Princess - Death |
 | Marie Déa | ... | Eurydice |
| Henri Crémieux | ... | L'éditeur |
| Juliette Gréco | ... | Aglaonice |
| Roger Blin | ... | The Poet |
| Edouard Dermithe | ... | Jacques Cégeste |
| René Worms | ... | Judge |
| Raymond Faure | ||
| Pierre Bertin | ... | Le commissaire |
| Jacques Varennes | ... | Judge |
| rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| André Carnège | ... | Judge |
| Claude Mauriac | ||
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parentsRuntime:
95 min | France:112 minCountry:
FranceLanguage:
FrenchColor:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 moreSound Mix:
Mono (RCA Sound System)Fun Stuff
Trivia:
For the scene in which Orphee passes his hand through a glass pane, Cocteau used a vat of mercury to create the effect. moreQuotes:
Heurtebise: I am letting you into the secret of all secrets, mirrors are gates through which death comes and goes. Moreover if you see your whole life in a mirror you will see death at work as you see bees behind the glass in a hive. moreFAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (34 total)
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| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| IMDb Fantasy section | IMDb France section | Add this title to MyMovies |
This film is an updating of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. The film updates the action to post-war France, with Orpheus (played by Jean Marais) a famous but dis-satisfied poet.
The film focuses on the themes of love and death. Most notably Orpheus falling in love with a glamorous incarnation of Death (Maria Casares).
Writer-director Jean Cocteau turns the everyday world into a magical realm. Mirrors turn to pools which are portals to other worlds, car radios pick up coded messages from Death's World. In less talented hands than Cocteau's, the delicate fantasy could have easily become ridiculous but he handles it with brilliance and the film works perfectly.
Here Cocteau creates a truly poetic film. The story is magical and entertaining and the film is filled with wonderously surreal images (particularly striking is the frequent use of filming an action performed backwards, and then reversing it which creates a very strange impression).