Orfeu Negro 1959

Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune: One of the great musicals. Read more

TIME Magazine: It is an amazing creation. Read more

Bosley Crowther, New York Times: Swarms of sinuous girls and children shimmy and race to the samba beat, which is insistent through most of the footage. That's what makes the picture alive. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: [The film has] swirling color, the excitement of samba and the accessible joy of a fabled city, not to mention a charming Orpheus in the young Brazilian Breno Mello, and a dazzling Eurydice in the American-born dancer and actress Marpessa Dawn. Read more

Wesley Morris, Boston Globe: Even when the streamers, confetti, and brass bands aren't there, you can see and hear them. Read more

Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader: This sort of thing was considered high art not so long ago; now it seems forced and ponderously symbolic. Read more

Trevor Johnston, Time Out: A mixed bag then, but the highlights are memorable. Read more

Variety Staff, Variety: Pic is somewhat cerebral, being mainly helped by the fresh playing of the cast. Read more

Michael Atkinson, Village Voice: An almost irrationally infectious retelling of the Orpheus-Eurydice chestnut set during carnival and feverish with hip-swiveling hustle, exploding local color, and sleeve-worn heart. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: A riotous, rapturous explosion of sound and color. Read more