Orpheus - John Cunningham

 Orpheus was quite the experience for me, to say the least. Not only was it in French (giving way to many rapid glances between subtitles and the film), but I found the story to be rather cryptic in nature.

Orpheus the poet seems to have garnered a very large following (ultimately to his detriment), so much so that he is mobbed in public, fans riot over his influence, and the media seeks to tarnish his name. Now, I'm going to be straightforward here: this movie confounded me, so bear with my logic. It could very well begin to crawl into the territory of blind speculation. When the film began, I thought Heurtebise (probably absolutely butchered this spelling) carried himself in a rather gay manner and, coupled with that, he was company to a man and a woman (Orpheus being the man), who I assumed to be a couple. There, my mind fell into the trope trap. As the film went on, I was proven quite wrong, as Heurtebise eventually professes his love to Orpheus' wife in "hell" (I forget what they called it in the film) before the judges. Towards the end of the film, after rescuing his wife from the mirror hell, Orpheus is no longer able to look directly at her face and vice versa. The two accidentally make eye contact in Orpheus' car through the rear view mirror and she is banished from this plane of existence. Perhaps this represents the existing love between those of queer persuasion and their inability to express it openly during that time? Again, please pardon my stretches in logic.

Overall, this film was intriguing. The concept of the personification of Death being able to travel between hell and the living world using mirrors is very interesting, and I liked the depiction of that limbo world behind the mirror quite a bit. The ancient ruin aesthetic made it feel rather melancholic, yet the place was abuzz with activity of the guards and other such personnel.