Orpheus. The Man. The Myth. The...Mirrors, I Guess? - Bryan Cabral
Not gonna lie, from the beginning of this film I was a little skeptical to see how the production value of this film would turn out. I figured one would, considering that the prelude of the film told the audience that the part of the myth to which the film takes place is up to our interpretation, followed up with a modern (at the time) take on the setting and costume design. I was left immersed and curious as the film picked up.
I was familiar with the basis of the Orpheus myth. I was
also familiar with the fact that there are many different versions or alternatives
to which the myth was told. Now that I think about it, I suppose Cocteau was familiar
with that notion as well, hence, the inference of Death taking on the
appearance of María Casares
being that Death comes in many forms; just like the many forms of queerness conveyed,
such as Orpheus’s poet occupation and his sensual interactions with the mirror
that struck me as feelings of longing. I like how the wardrobe of Death and her
subjects would later inspire the leather culture amongst queer men, as
mentioned in the reading. Not only would it be the inspiration, but the fact
that those are the kinds of entity that appears from the other side of the mirror
does a fantastic job in specifying that whatever forces lie within is to be of
a forbidden nature.
Speaking of mirrors, my goodness, the special effects of
this movie were so impressive for its time! I very much enjoyed the contrast of
relationships that Orpheus and Death had with the mirrors, each bringing to
them their own set of aesthetics. I bought the fact that Orpheus had to wear
gloves in order to enter Hell gave it sense of ambiguity, as if the gloves are
to maintain his purity, only to give in to his desires for Death later on.
Overall, I thought this
film was creative, immersive world building, and does a very stylish take on
the myth that may garner a lot of conversation. Kind of like the one that I’m
inviting to you now. Tell me your thoughts!
Hello Bryan,
ReplyDeleteI definitely was skeptical about this film as well when it first started because I was not really sure what to expect. I did enjoy how it took on a modern interpretation of this Greek myth and thought that the illusions and special affects that were used were very good for the time this was filmed. I also did really enjoy the comparisons and relations that death had with the mirrors. I also thought it was very clever of the director to use an elegant women in tight clothing and corset as a representation of death because it is different than what you would think death would be represented as.
Totally agree with what you said about the special effects! They were INSANE! I honestly don't know how they did some of these. The walking into the mirrors, and they way they had all the stuff reversed was super cool. It honestly kind of reminded me of Tenet, it makes me wonder if this was a movie that Christopher Nolan saw and used as inspiration. Either way, it was incredible the way the made everything happen!
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