Orpheus

1950 1h 35m FR

🙌

7.7

BANGER

🔥

97%

CERTIFIED FRESH

⭐

7.8

IMDB

★7.7TMDB · 310🍅97%Rotten Tomatoes★7.8IMDB · 14,165

RomanceFantasyDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A famous poet in postwar Paris, scorned by the Left Bank youth, is in love with both his wife Eurydice and a mysterious princess. Seeking inspiration, the poet becomes obsessed and follows the princess from the world of the living to the land of the dead.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

HBO Max Amazon ChannelSubscription

Criterion ChannelSubscription

HBO MaxSubscription

ArtifySubscription

ArtifyRent

Cast

Jean Marais
Orphée
François Périer
Heurtebise
María Casares
Death
Marie Déa
Eurydice
Henri Crémieux
Editor
Juliette Gréco
Aglaonice
Roger Blin
The Poet
Édouard Dermithe
Jacques Cégeste

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Jean Cocteau
Writers: Jean Cocteau
Languages: French
Countries: France

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 7

ERA

Did you know

76 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

CRAFT

Did you know

Part of the "The Orphic Trilogy" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Jean Cocteau, shot by Nicolas Hayer. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Georges Auric. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Jacqueline Sadoul shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Jean Marais and François Périer and María Casares carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0041719 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Jean Cocteau directs. Nicolas Hayer behind the camera. Georges Auric scores. Jacqueline Sadoul cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in France. Dialogue in French.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

176 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Part of the "The Orphic Trilogy" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
3Directed by Jean Cocteau, shot by Nicolas Hayer. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Georges Auric. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Jacqueline Sadoul shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Jean Marais and François Périer and María Casares carry the top of the cast.
7IMDB entry: tt0041719 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Nicolas Hayer
Original score: Georges Auric
Editing: Jacqueline Sadoul
Production design: Jean d'Eaubonne
Costume design: Marcel Escoffier
Makeup / hair: Alexandre Marcus
Runtime: 95 min · 1h 35m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: FR
Certification (US): NR
IMDB: Orpheus (1950)
Rotten Tomatoes: 97% 🍅 Fresh
IMDB rating: 7.8/10 · 14,165 votes
MPAA: Not Rated

Awards

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award2 nominations total

Part of

The Orphic Trilogy

Decadent, subversive, and bristling with artistic invention, the myth-born cinema of Jean Cocteau disturbs as much as it charms. Cocteau was the most versatile of artists in prewar Paris. Poet, novelist, playwright, painter, celebrity, and maker of cinema—his many talents converged in bold, dreamlike films that continue to enthrall audiences around the world. In "The Blood of a Poet," "Orpheus," and "Testament of Orpheus," Cocteau utilizes the Orphic myth to explore the complex relationships between the artist and his creations, reality and the imagination.

Also by

Jean Cocteau

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2024-02-05
★ 7/10
Accomplished poet "Orphée" (Jean Marais) is sitting in a café with a friend one afternoon when a fracas breaks out with some local students that necessitates the intervention of the police and causes a tragedy to occur. A woman in a Rolls Royce turns up and asks her aides to put an injured man into her car. Shen then rather bossily requires the writer to accompany her as a witness. He assumes they are going to hospital, but it turns out the man - "Cegeste" (Edouard Dermithe) is already dead and that she (María Casares), well she is certainly not the "princess" she purports to be. If you're at all familiar with the "Orpheus" episode from Greek legend then you will be able to guess much of the rest of this as he finds himself embroiled in the plottings of Death. The complication here is that she takes a bit of a shine to him, and her chauffeur "Heurtebise" (Francois Périer) falls in love with his wife "Eurydice" (Marie Déa). My what a web we do weave. Now all in the underworld, a tribunal of death rules that things have not gone to plan and that the husband and wife are to be returned to their world - but only for so long as he doesn't look at her - else back she goes. A little unfair I thought given they'd done nothing wrong and weren't on the hit list in the first place - but that was the deal. Can they make it work? Now, do they even want to? I found Marais could be quite wooden at times, indeed he might have made for a decent "Tarzan" - but here he gels well with both Déa and with a strikingly effective Casares. Cocteau manages to integrate the ancient mythology within a modern day setting in a fashion that cleverly uses simple visual effects - and mirrors - to achieve the concept of a parallel world of "Hades" without making it all look ridiculously fake. He also manages to remove just about all the gooey sentiment from this romance, too. Next time you look at a pair of rubber gloves, though - best beware!

Production companies