spellbound
My Great Guilt
- Apr 25, 2026
- 83
This thread is an analysis of the amazing, visionary and beautiful film Orpheus (1950) by Jean Cocteau. Why post it here ? First off because I have no one else to talk about this to so I hope y'all don't mind, but also because it closely align with my personal belief when it comes to suicide.
Ill quickly recap the film while leaving out events irrelevant to my interpretation of the film.
(Spoilers, obviously)
So Orpheus is a famous Parisian poet, and he and his wife Eurydice are madly in love. Their couple is described by many as "perfect". He meets a princess, which happens to be the personification of Death, and he becomes completely obsessed with her. Death, who seemingly loves him back, kills Eurydice by jealousy. Orpheus ventures in the underworld to try to find his wife as well as Death, and finds that Death is being put on trial for the killing of Eurydice. The judges decide that Eurydice will be allowed back into the world of the living, but Orpheus will be forbidden to look at her. If he does, she will go right back to the underworld (which is the premise of the original Greek myth). After some time, he does end up looking at her and send her to her doom, and Orpheus dies for unrelated reasons. Back in the underworld, he finds the princess and swears to her his undying love. But the princess Death decide to sacrifice herself and send Orpheus and Eurydice back to the living world, having completely forgotten everything and loving each other as much as they always did. Roll credits.
So, how does this tie in with my personal philosophy ? It is simple: if you love Death truly, Death will love you back.
It is important to note that I don't consider Orpheus' love toward Death as cheating on his wife. Throughout the whole movie, he loves his wife with the purest, most romantical feelings. But Suicide mesmerises him. He even offers Her his undying love. And because of this allegiance, Death rewards him.
But, how did Death reward him with life ? Well, that's the thing, I think the ending is only metaphorical. I think the ending represents his and Eurydice's pure, absolute love for each other. Such perfect harmony can only exist in one place: Suicide. When one embraces suicide, he becomes one with everything. There is no more "I". Only pure harmony, and love, as Cocteau seems to suggest. Their love aims to represent this state of being.
In short, Death (or Suicide, interchangeably) can offer you a true state of non-duality, a state of being one with the universe. A state of pure love. But for that, you have to love Her back, and give up all your worldly possessions.
I have to add, if any cinephiles are reading this, that this film is a must watch. The visuals perfectly represent the surreal, hypnotic nature of Death, with very innovative filming techniques (most notably the use of reversed clips), the acting is phenomenal, and the cinematography has surgical level of thoughts put into it.
If you're not the kind of person that a 1950 film scares off, then I highly recommend it.
"It's all part of the same dream, the same nightmare. But I will wake up. Someone wake me up, please" (Orpheus)
Ill quickly recap the film while leaving out events irrelevant to my interpretation of the film.
(Spoilers, obviously)
So Orpheus is a famous Parisian poet, and he and his wife Eurydice are madly in love. Their couple is described by many as "perfect". He meets a princess, which happens to be the personification of Death, and he becomes completely obsessed with her. Death, who seemingly loves him back, kills Eurydice by jealousy. Orpheus ventures in the underworld to try to find his wife as well as Death, and finds that Death is being put on trial for the killing of Eurydice. The judges decide that Eurydice will be allowed back into the world of the living, but Orpheus will be forbidden to look at her. If he does, she will go right back to the underworld (which is the premise of the original Greek myth). After some time, he does end up looking at her and send her to her doom, and Orpheus dies for unrelated reasons. Back in the underworld, he finds the princess and swears to her his undying love. But the princess Death decide to sacrifice herself and send Orpheus and Eurydice back to the living world, having completely forgotten everything and loving each other as much as they always did. Roll credits.
So, how does this tie in with my personal philosophy ? It is simple: if you love Death truly, Death will love you back.
It is important to note that I don't consider Orpheus' love toward Death as cheating on his wife. Throughout the whole movie, he loves his wife with the purest, most romantical feelings. But Suicide mesmerises him. He even offers Her his undying love. And because of this allegiance, Death rewards him.
But, how did Death reward him with life ? Well, that's the thing, I think the ending is only metaphorical. I think the ending represents his and Eurydice's pure, absolute love for each other. Such perfect harmony can only exist in one place: Suicide. When one embraces suicide, he becomes one with everything. There is no more "I". Only pure harmony, and love, as Cocteau seems to suggest. Their love aims to represent this state of being.
In short, Death (or Suicide, interchangeably) can offer you a true state of non-duality, a state of being one with the universe. A state of pure love. But for that, you have to love Her back, and give up all your worldly possessions.
I have to add, if any cinephiles are reading this, that this film is a must watch. The visuals perfectly represent the surreal, hypnotic nature of Death, with very innovative filming techniques (most notably the use of reversed clips), the acting is phenomenal, and the cinematography has surgical level of thoughts put into it.
If you're not the kind of person that a 1950 film scares off, then I highly recommend it.
"It's all part of the same dream, the same nightmare. But I will wake up. Someone wake me up, please" (Orpheus)
