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Carlos Diegues, director, Orfeu , motion picture, 1999, cinematic adaptation of Vinicius de Moraes' Orfeu da Conceiçao (Orpheus from Conception), written by João E. Carneiro, C. Diegues, and P. Lins.

Orfeu is a musical superstar with far-reaching mythic/mystical powers in a squalid favella in modern Rio de Janeiro; Eurydice arrives from afar and falls almost instantly in love with Orfeu. The wildly sexy Mira, other women in the favella, and the drug-lord Lucinho, all threaten Eurydice's eventual happiness with Orfeu. Against the backdrop of Rio at Carneval, Eurydice and Orfeu strive for everlasting love with on another.

This 1999 adaptation of Vinicius de Moraes' play diverges decisively from the French-made work of Camus, Orfeu Negro (1959). One can say with certainty that the favellas that Camus had glamorized are considerably more squalid and dangerous — i.e. authentic? — in Diegues' hands.

Appealing is the strong-willed / socially-activist Eurydice of the film's first half, though her progressive resolution seems to flag mid-way, even before her death by Lucinho's Aristaean bullet to the gut. This creative adaptation is worth closer consideration, even if it does seem in the end worthy of the IMDB ranking of 5.5/10-stars.