The role of death in "Orpheus" struck me as downright morbid, which sounds like an obvious statement, but hear me out.
From early on, we get a sense that death is to be treated as a separate entity from life -- not the end of life, but the beginning to something else. This is portrayed by a series of signals. Early on with the death of Cegeste, I was immediately thrown. What caught me off guard was the way he was carried away, with no one supporting his sulking head. The gruesome way it bobbed reminded me that usually when a body is carried away, full support is given to the head. This alerted me that what I was watching was taking place in more than just the realm of life but the a realm of bizarre afterlife as well.
Death certainly serves as a character, not just literally, but as a prominent presence in the "Orpheus." I believe this to be linked to the idea of dreams, as we discussed in class, and I think the inconsistencies of afterlife in Orpheus, in both plot and and delivery -- "Death's" starkly shifting feelings toward Orhpeus, from hate to love, the inexplicable radio-voice of dead Cegeste that we hear while he is alive in the beginning of the film -- are meant to imitate the frequent inconsistencies of dreams.
As for the reading, I was intrigued by Naomi Greene's assertion that poets in "Cocteau's universe" have a power similar to homosexuals in Western society. That "he is a prodigous consumer of signs" and that "exclusion from the common code impels the frenzied quest" certainly relate to the poet who seeks greater meaning with words -- meaning of a different dimension even. "Orpheus" takes place in two dimensions, and we are left to interpret the signs of that bizzarre dimension as newcomers. This might be the reason why the meaning of "Orpheus" is said to really set in only after multiple views.
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The death of Cegeste bothered me too with the bobbing head and the fact that no one was supporting it. Then again there were a lot of really odd moments about that scene that caught me off guard, particularly how it felt like Death was kidnapping Orpheus. She just brought him along and didn't even bother explaining why. Then there were Death's servants who weren't seen or referred to ever again in the film. That whole scene felt almost dream-like and ultimately, perplexing since we didn't know the woman was Death yet.
ReplyDeleteI really like your statement on how "death is to be treated as a separate entity from life -- not the end of life, but the beginning to something else." It just struck me cause it made me think of how surreal the whole movie truly is. Cocteau's vision of Death and the way she interacts with Orpheus is very interesting. I liked how Phil said that it wasn't explained by Death why Orpheus was being taken around by her-- that's surrealism for you.
ReplyDeleteI like your idea on why we heard Cegeste on the radio at the beginning and comparing it to the infrequencies of dreams. My original thought was that it was sort of Death's calling card, in that it would always play right before someone died. That would also explain why it played multiple times throughout the film, but I like your idea more i think haha.
ReplyDeleteI am just digging the phrase 'no one supported his sulking head.' The idea that Cegeste is sulky even as a corpse works really well, given how he was characterized.
ReplyDeleteI also really like this sentence: >>"Orpheus" takes place in two dimensions, and we are left to interpret the signs of that bizzarre dimension as newcomers.
I wanted you to really begin your essay here, but you stopped too soon! What is it that we are left ot interpret, and how does the dual-dimensionality you note set the stage for htat interpretation?