It takes a long time to get going and the principal actors are unconvincing... if Jacques Demy had managed to persuade Johnny Hallyday to play Orphee that would have been really interesting. Also Demy had to cast a Japanese actress (who couldn't speak French) as Eurydice in order to secure the finance for the movie. Jean Marais and Marie-France Pisier are excellent and the film perks up when they are on screen. I always enjoy Michel Legrand's music and the lighting effects in the movie are excellent. But it is not one of this director's better efforts.
3 Reviews
Orpheus descending
dbdumonteil20 July 2008
Warning: Spoilers
After "the pied piper" ,which was his last great movie,Demy's career became unfocused.There were only five movies between 1973 and 1990 (his death),none of which recalling his best works ("Lola" "les Parapluies de Cherbourg" "les Demoiselles De Rochefort" "The pied piper of Hamelin" and of course "Peau D'Ane".)
Like "Peau D'Ane ",this film is a tribute to Jean Cocteau:hence the presence of Jean Marais (Demy is the ONLY "Nouvelle Vague" director who cast the great actor in his works) who had made few movies since "Peau D'Ane" (1970).Like the precedent user mentioned ,Demy updated Cocteau's "Orphée ,but this myth was often filmed :actually some scenes reminds me more of Marcel Camus's "Orfeo Negro" (1959)or even Jean Delannoy's "Les Jeux Sont Faits" (from Sartre);on the other hand Delon's production "le Passage"(1986) with its computers owes a good deal to Demy.
Francis Huster's juvenile look is rather effective ,but there are problems in his character:making him a bisexual ,why not,but the part of his male lover(Pierre Mallet) is so underwritten their relationship is hardly believable.As for the girl,the choice of a Japanese ,(a "conceptual artist?) is downright bewildering :might it be possible that Demy thought of John Lennon and Yoko Ono?After all,like in the Greek mythology,Orpheus is a (pop jazz) singer in the movie and he is killed by someone in the crowd of his fans.
As for the songs,it did not seem that Michel Legrand found the subject very inspiring:there's only one very good song in the musical (almost every Demy movie is a musical): "Entre Lune (sic) et L'Autre Mon Coeur Balance " is rather peppy and displays some poetry.
"Parking" got unanimous thumbs down when it was released.As far as I am concerned ,I think it's probably the best of the five final movies ;it's not in the same league as the sixties efforts but it's somewhat better than "L'Evenement Le PLus Important...." and "Lady Oscar" .It's more intriguing than "Une Chambre En Ville" and more original than "Trois Places pour le 26" which,while flattering Montand's ego had a screenplay recalling "les Demoiselles de Rochefort" notably.The idea of a parking as Hell antechamber is certainly as smart as the elevator used by Jacqueline Audry ("Huis Clos",1954) and Alan Parker ("Angel Heart" 1987).And, in the end,it's the supporting cast who walks away with the honors :Jean Marais and Marie -France Pisier.
Like "Peau D'Ane ",this film is a tribute to Jean Cocteau:hence the presence of Jean Marais (Demy is the ONLY "Nouvelle Vague" director who cast the great actor in his works) who had made few movies since "Peau D'Ane" (1970).Like the precedent user mentioned ,Demy updated Cocteau's "Orphée ,but this myth was often filmed :actually some scenes reminds me more of Marcel Camus's "Orfeo Negro" (1959)or even Jean Delannoy's "Les Jeux Sont Faits" (from Sartre);on the other hand Delon's production "le Passage"(1986) with its computers owes a good deal to Demy.
Francis Huster's juvenile look is rather effective ,but there are problems in his character:making him a bisexual ,why not,but the part of his male lover(Pierre Mallet) is so underwritten their relationship is hardly believable.As for the girl,the choice of a Japanese ,(a "conceptual artist?) is downright bewildering :might it be possible that Demy thought of John Lennon and Yoko Ono?After all,like in the Greek mythology,Orpheus is a (pop jazz) singer in the movie and he is killed by someone in the crowd of his fans.
As for the songs,it did not seem that Michel Legrand found the subject very inspiring:there's only one very good song in the musical (almost every Demy movie is a musical): "Entre Lune (sic) et L'Autre Mon Coeur Balance " is rather peppy and displays some poetry.
"Parking" got unanimous thumbs down when it was released.As far as I am concerned ,I think it's probably the best of the five final movies ;it's not in the same league as the sixties efforts but it's somewhat better than "L'Evenement Le PLus Important...." and "Lady Oscar" .It's more intriguing than "Une Chambre En Ville" and more original than "Trois Places pour le 26" which,while flattering Montand's ego had a screenplay recalling "les Demoiselles de Rochefort" notably.The idea of a parking as Hell antechamber is certainly as smart as the elevator used by Jacqueline Audry ("Huis Clos",1954) and Alan Parker ("Angel Heart" 1987).And, in the end,it's the supporting cast who walks away with the honors :Jean Marais and Marie -France Pisier.
Postscript to Andrew Lloyd Webber...
madsagittarian31 July 2003
The concept is there: Jacques Demy updating Cocteau's ORPHEUS up to the 1980's, whereas Orpheus is now a rock musician, and, in an interesting bit of casting, Eurydice is played by an Asian actress. He even hired matinee idol Jean Marais (star of the original film) to play The Devil (and by the way, Hades is an underground parking garage!).
But the promise basically ends on that note. Demy is certainly the perfect choice for realizing this material, but his flair for colour, rhythm and tone -best seen in DONKEY SKIN (in which Marais also starred), LOLA, and of course, THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG- has shockingly vanished. Instead, this film is flat, and rather depressing. Too bad.
But couldn't you just picture this updated material being redone as a stage musical today? With Paul Stanley as Orpheus, co-starring Gene Simmons and Marie Osmond? Plus Elton John and Tim Rice doing the music of course...
But the promise basically ends on that note. Demy is certainly the perfect choice for realizing this material, but his flair for colour, rhythm and tone -best seen in DONKEY SKIN (in which Marais also starred), LOLA, and of course, THE UMBRELLAS OF CHERBOURG- has shockingly vanished. Instead, this film is flat, and rather depressing. Too bad.
But couldn't you just picture this updated material being redone as a stage musical today? With Paul Stanley as Orpheus, co-starring Gene Simmons and Marie Osmond? Plus Elton John and Tim Rice doing the music of course...
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