Of Orpheus

I found Orpheus to be a very visually stimulating and groundbreaking film. Not only were the effects ahead of their time but the two primary special effects were profound motifs for the narrative, one of which is also portrayed as a foreshadowing for the movie's ending.

In Orpheus, mirrors are the portals used to travel to the underworld. Additionally, mirrors are the major objects that the special effects revolve around; whether it be the characters walking through them or mirrors breaking in a stunning reverse film effect. There could be several reasons why mirrors are portrayed as portals to the underworld. One explanation could be mirrors are a symbol of Orpheus' egotistical personality and how his selfishness resulted in the death of Eurydice. Another symbol can relate to the themes in the film that deal with beauty and love after death.

The other major special effect is the using of reversing film. When a mirror breaks, Orpheus puts on gloves or when Death asks a recently deceased character to rise, the film goes in reverse creating an intriguing visual trick. The presentation of images being shot in reverse is a foreshadowing to the end of the film where Death sends Orpheus back to an alternate past where Eurydice never died and the two are in a much happier marriage than before.

The masochistic tendencies discussed by Naomi Greene are somewhat understandable through Orpheus, mainly through the relationship between Orpheus and Death. Orpheus becomes obsessively interested in Death where even when his wife dies, he only traverses through the underworld to find Death not Eurydice. The idea of becoming obsessed and eventually falling in love with Death not only has masochistic but homoerotic undertones.

This is due to the fact that when one looks at Death's portrayal in other films, Death is almost always male. Additionally, even if Death was a woman in Orpheus she still had the atypical "alpha male" qualities through her superiority complex of always having to control the situation and manipulate those she considered to be below her. Even in the beginning of the film, Death forced Orpheus to stay in her home despite the fact he wanted to leave, as if almost trying to kidnap him. Whenever Orpheus questioned Death in this segment, she tersely disregarded his questioning in a bossy manner. This personality of Death as one who is controlling and assertive gives her this "alpha male" like attitude, alluring to the idea that Orpheus falling in love with Death is his way of expressing his homosexual tendencies.