Orpheus (Orfe)

Orpheus is a 1950 French black-and-white fantasy drama film written and directed by the poet and filmmaker Jean Cocteau, starring Jean Marais. Drawing partly on Cocteau's 1926 play of the same name, it transplants the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice into contemporary Paris, forming the central chapter of his Orphic Trilogy alongside The Blood of a Poet (1930) and The Testament of Orpheus (1960).

The story follows Orphée, a famous poet who feels eclipsed by a younger generation, after he meets a mysterious Princess who embodies Death. When his neglected wife Eurydice dies in an accident, he crosses into the underworld through mirrors to bring her back. Maria Casarès plays the Princess, Marie Déa Eurydice, and François Périer the chauffeur Heurtebise. Shot by cinematographer Nicolas Hayer with music by Georges Auric, the film was nominated for the BAFTA Best Film award in 1951 and screened in Turkey for the first time at the 2000 Istanbul Film Festival.