The film, Black Orpheus, commences with the notion that he film influenced by European insights on the South American culture, by looking at the symbolic representation of the white sculptures (signs) ; “pale shadow of predominantly European influence” can be a simple description of the very beginning of the film.
Rio de Janeiro, the geographical area itself, is portrayed as the background scene with much dancing, exhilarating ambience to fulfill the set. When the one of the main female characters come into play walking across a ‘common day’ in the village, children playing and women carrying diverse objects, can be seen from the very beginning of the film: the mundane lifestyle of how the South American village community incorporates music, dances, positive vibes, and the way people uplift each other is portrayed. The scene in the city market is where the viewers are able to realize how the people in Latin America values festive ambience and positive vibe; events like carnivals are quite common in Latin American culture, I can definitely tell many people enjoy and appreciate the outgoing energy in the city. However, one scene with the loud, vibrant, and bright is contrasted with a scene that is quiet, dark, and rather sad ‘side’ of the society are visible; it may be important to dissect the dichotomous aspect of the dynamic of two very different vibes raises the social issues among the community. It was interesting for me to see that when Orpheus and his “soon to be” wife, Mira, walk into the official building where the office to declare marriage was located gave me an interesting code of humour by the officials in Rio de Janeiro. Right after the scene, the girl comes out dancing and enjoys the feeling of attention from others.
Hi Brian… This is a bit of a short comment; do please try to write more in future, though again I stress that you can write fast and you don’t have to worry too much about “quality.” What counts it putting your thoughts and impressions down.
And though I agree that there is indeed a quite vibrant energy represented, I’d add that we already see the signs that under the surface, or perhaps even entangled with this energetic optimism, there are other things going on. For instance, from the moment at which the young kid seems to lose control of the kite, which starts heading down towards the city; or when Eurydice bumps into the blind seller of trinkets, and is clearly on edge; or even the people in the market, who could be viewed as threatening as well as festive. There’s a dark side to this “bright and interconnected” display.