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Orpheus

Play trailer Poster for Orpheus 1950 1h 35m Fantasy Play Trailer Watchlist
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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 10/18/2018
5/5
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. Go to Full Review Variety Staff Variety 03/26/2009
Jean Cocteau's scripting and directing give the film its proper key of unworldliness. Go to Full Review David Parkinson Empire Magazine 04/01/2006
5/5
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. Go to Full Review Eddie Harrison film-authority.com 01/23/2024
4/5
...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... Go to Full Review Carson Timar ClapperCast 08/17/2023
Just like a great play, the flow of dialogue here is excellent and there are so many strong concepts throughout the feature. Go to Full Review Jean-Luc Godard Cahiers du Cinéma 04/06/2022
A magical film where each image, like the lark in the mirror, reflects only itself, that is to say, us. Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Kalissa H @kali_416 Jul 27 Beautifully filmed. I liked how the story was made its own. See more Shioka O Jun 1 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. See more Tom F Apr 19 A beautiful dream of a rock star poet confronting death and life. See more Logan D 09/24/2023 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. See more David D 06/29/2023 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 See more elana k 02/13/2023 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. See more 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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