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Orpheus

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97% Tomatometer 33 Reviews 89% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
At the Café des Poètes in Paris, a fight breaks out between the poet Orphée (Jean Marais) and a group of resentful upstarts. A rival poet, Cègeste (Edouard Dermithe), is killed, and a mysterious princess (María Casares) insists on taking Orpheus and the body away in her Rolls-Royce. Orphée soon finds himself in the underworld, where the Princess announces that she is, in fact, Death. Orpheus escapes in the car back to the land of the living, only to become obsessed with the car radio.
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Orpheus

Orpheus

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Critics Consensus

Heavy with symbolism and deliberately paced, Orpheus may not be for everyone -- but as an example of Jean Cocteau's eccentric genius, it's all but impossible not to recommend.

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Critics Reviews

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Peter Bradshaw Guardian It has the mystery and elasticity of a dream, and all the farcical comic horror of chancing across the intricate contents of the Blessed Virgin's lingerie collection. Rated: 5/5 Oct 18, 2018 Full Review Variety Staff Variety Jean Cocteau's scripting and directing give the film its proper key of unworldliness. Mar 26, 2009 Full Review David Parkinson Empire Magazine Cocteau's visual imagination, leading us through mirrors into a bomb-scarred dreamworld governed by the femme fatale of Death, is enduringly magical and strongly cinematic. Rated: 5/5 Apr 1, 2006 Full Review Eddie Harrison film-authority.com ...this sublime original offers mystery and magic in gloopy, ric, black and white images that feel like the fevered opium dream of their esteemed creator... Rated: 4/5 Jan 23, 2024 Full Review Carson Timar ClapperCast Just like a great play, the flow of dialogue here is excellent and there are so many strong concepts throughout the feature. Aug 17, 2023 Full Review Jean-Luc Godard Cahiers du Cinéma A magical film where each image, like the lark in the mirror, reflects only itself, that is to say, us. Apr 6, 2022 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Shioka O Filmed in 1950 and still inspirational and sophisticated. you'll keep watching until the end. only thing I put -0.5 star is that the main character deserves no sympathy. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 06/01/25 Full Review Tom F A beautiful dream of a rock star poet confronting death and life. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 04/19/25 Full Review Logan D A woman coerces a poet to escort the corpse of a fellow poet to her home. He is soon drawn into a world of unexpected reality. Full of symbolism, the film is paced at a slow tempo. The special effects, which I'm sure were exceptional at the time, still impress. It's a very well crafted work, maybe not for everyone, but certainly a magical film worthy of study or enjoyment. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 09/25/23 Full Review David D Very distinctive version of classical legend. I've just seen it for the first time and it saddened me how anti-intellectual our culture has become. Inconceivable that anything as challenging could be made now Rated 4 out of 5 stars 06/30/23 Full Review elana k Its fun to simply enjoy a work art, an art film such as this. One need not dwell too long on its symbolism and/or interpretations. It is fine to simply behold the eccentricities of the filmmakers mind, to revel in and the form and style. First I found myself lost in my questions, then the experience gave way to the enjoyment of cinema and the performances, the mystery and the absurdity. And now I want to watch it again. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 02/13/23 Full Review Christopher B Another poetic and beautifully lensed film from Jean Cocteau on a subject he is very fond of both professionally and personally. This is his take on Orpheus set in 50s Paris and featuring some eerie and gorgeously gothic imagery much like his version of Beauty and the Beast. A great symbolic and meditative film to be absorbed and thought upon. From a refined time and place by an amazing and gifted Director. This is cinema of a by-gone age that feels just like a dream, much the same as the film itself encapsulates. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 10/23/22 Full Review Read all reviews
Orpheus

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Cast & Crew

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Jean Cocteau

Director

Jean Marais

Orphée

María Casares

The Princess

François Perier

Heurtebise

Marie Déa

Eurydice

Juliette Gréco

Aglaonice
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Orpheus

Orpheus (1950) Orpheus (1950) View more photos

Movie Info

Synopsis At the Café des Poètes in Paris, a fight breaks out between the poet Orphée (Jean Marais) and a group of resentful upstarts. A rival poet, Cègeste (Edouard Dermithe), is killed, and a mysterious princess (María Casares) insists on taking Orpheus and the body away in her Rolls-Royce. Orphée soon finds himself in the underworld, where the Princess announces that she is, in fact, Death. Orpheus escapes in the car back to the land of the living, only to become obsessed with the car radio.
Director
Jean Cocteau
Screenwriter
Jean Cocteau
Production Co
Andre Paulve Film
Genre
Fantasy
Original Language
Canadian French
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 15, 2020
Runtime
1h 35m
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