The Criterion Collection
Aug 30, 2011 — “It is much less a film than it is myself,” Jean Cocteau wrote to a friend at the time he was making Orpheus (1950), “a kind of projection of the things that are important to me.” As with many of...
Essays
Apr 24, 2000 — PREFACE Aman who dozes, his mouth half open, in front of a wood fire, lets slip some secrets from that night of the human body that is called the soul, over which he is no longer master. The sentry of...
Essays
Jun 7, 1999 — From the moment of its first appearance, at the Cannes Film Festival in 1959—where it won the Palme d’Or—it was clear that Black Orpheus was a very special film. Taking the ancient Greek myth of a youth who travels to...
The writer, director, and producer praises Black Orpheus and Killer of Sheep as his favorite works of Black cinema, talks about the influence of Risky Business on his film House Party, and admires the depth of Bruce Lee’s performance in...
The composer, producer, and performer shares what he learned from La Bamba, talks about seeing his community reflected in Menace II Society, and praises the vibrancy of Black Orpheus.
The musician, producer, filmmaker, author, and actor reminisces about discovering Black Orpheus through Prince, shares his love for concert films like Monterey Pop and Gimme Shelter, and talks about how Spike Lee’s films have always been ahead of their time.
The legendary French auteur talks about the intimacy of discovering yourself in cinema, shares her lifelong connection to Viridiana and Black Orpheus, and praises directors whose work continues to inspire and transport her, from Elia Kazan and David Lynch to...
While in New York to promote her film The Woman King, the director stopped by our office and picked up some of her favorite movies, including Black Orpheus and Broadcast News.