My BFI Player choice this week is a Brazilian classic
that won the Palme d'Or at Cannes, and the award for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars
and the Golden Globes
Described as 'a very simple love story for all times, for all places'
'with humour, fear, horror and magic'
it’s a carnivalesque whirl of love, passion, and mystery
'Black Orpheus'
Based on a play by Vinicius de Moraes
'Black Orpheus' transposes Greek legend to the modern streets of Rio
in the lead-up to the colourful festivities of ‘Carnaval’
Here, a guitar-playing streetcar conductor, engaged to marry a beautiful woman
falls instead for a country girl
who is being followed by a nightmarish stalker
What follows is a metaphorical journey to the Underworld
Driven by the infectious songs of Brazilian composers Antônio Carlos Jobim and Luiz Bonfá
For his actors, French director Marcel Camus turned to street casting
recruiting Breno Mello as his lead
a soccer player with no previous acting experience
who just caught the filmmaker’s eye while walking through Rio
Now although his singing voice would be dubbed
Mello’s acting chops are remarkable
As for the figure of Death
he was played by Olympic triple jump gold medallist Adhemar da Silva
Boasting spectacular scenery and teeming street-bound set pieces
'Black Orpheus' became a worldwide hit
that continues to be cited by a dizzying array of viewers and commentators
Barack Obama said that it was his mother’s favourite film
- although the President himself had some ideological problems with it - 
While artist Jean-Michel Basquiat named it as one of his earliest musical influences
It even inspired the 'Reflektor' album
by Canadian Indie rockers 'Arcade Fire'
Now that’s what I call influential!
