Film· 1950· Fantasy

Orphée (Orpheus)

by Jean Cocteau

Orphée (Orpheus): it draws on 2 recorded sources.

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  • Greek mythology

Jean Cocteau's film sets the myth of Orpheus in postwar Paris: a celebrated poet who follows Death into the underworld through a mirror to bring back his wife.

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About the work

Orphée (Orpheus)

Set in the Orphic Trilogy universe.

A poet in love with Death follows his unhappy wife into the underworld. It is the central part of Cocteau's Orphic Trilogy, alongside The Blood of a Poet (1930) and Testament of Orpheus (1960). Set in contemporary Paris, the film is a variation on the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, and is partially based on Cocteau's 1926 play of the same title.

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