This is an unusual adaptation of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice which is transposed to contemporary France and becomes a surreal romantic fantasy.
Orphee (Jean Marais) is a renowned poet who sees a rival mown down by two motorcycle riders. Also present is a mysterious 'Princess' (Maria Casares) and Orphee becomes obsessed with her. She is actually one of the forms of Death and developing feelings for the poet, she wrongfully claims the soul of his wife Eurydice (Marie Dea). Orphee heads into the Underworld to retrieve her.
This is essentially a love triangle film with some added fantasy elements. Orphee loves Death, Death loves Orphee and Death's chauffeur loves Eurydice. I didn't love this side of things, not least because Eurydice is essentially tossed aside in favour of Death which feels unnecessary and loses some of the passion in the original myth.
I did though really like the fantasy elements. It felt like it deliberately tried to be modern rather than just relying on old depictions of Death and the afterlife. There was something unsettling about the motorcycle riders who literally bring Death to people by running them down. I liked that the underworld was accessed through mirror and the depiction of it with it's wandering glaziers, inhabitants who aren't sure if they are dead and a court ruling over Death.
The fantasy stuff is also a technical triumph here. There's so many great tricks that work well to bring it to life. There are sequences where the chauffeur moves through the underworld without appearing to walk whilst Orphee struggles to walk which works well. I also thought going through the mirrors looked amazing, aided by some close up shots of vats of mercury to create the illusion of the glass rippling.
I felt like this was leaning a bit too much toward the avant-garde to be entirely my taste but it's an interesting film not least for it's incredible technical achievements.
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