Marcel Camus (21 April 1912 – 13 January 1982) was a French

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

. He is best known for '' Orfeu Negro'' (''Black Orpheus''), which won the

Palme d'Or The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...

at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival and the 1960

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

for Best Foreign Language Film.

Biography

Camus was born in Chappes, in the Ardennes département of France. He studied art and intended to become an art teacher. However, World War II interrupted his plans. He spent part of the war in a German

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as Prisoner of war, prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, inte ...

. On his return from captivity, his uncle, famous novelist, Roland Dorgelès introduced him to several film-makers. Camus assisted filmmakers in France, including

Jacques Feyder Jacques Feyder (; 21 July 1885 – 24 May 1948) was a Belgian film director, screenwriter and actor who worked principally in France, but also in the US, Britain and Germany. He was a director of silent films during the 1920s, and in the 193 ...

Luis Buñuel Luis Buñuel Portolés (; 22 February 1900 – 29 July 1983) was a Spanish and Mexican filmmaker who worked in France, Mexico and Spain. He has been widely considered by many film critics, historians and directors to be one of the greatest and ...

, and

Jacques Becker Jacques Becker (; 15 September 1906 – 21 February 1960) was a French film director and screenwriter. His films, made during the 1940s and 1950s, encompassed a wide variety of genres, and they were admired by some of the filmmakers who led th ...

New Wave

In a famous photo of the

French New Wave The New Wave (, ), also called the French New Wave, is a French European art cinema, art film movement that emerged in the late 1950s. The movement was characterized by its rejection of traditional filmmaking conventions in favor of experimentat ...

filmmakers, taken on the steps of the Palais des Festivals in Cannes in 1959, Marcel Camus appears alongside

François Truffaut François Roland Truffaut ( , ; ; 6 February 1932 – 21 October 1984) was a French filmmaker, actor, and critic. He is widely regarded as one of the founders of the French New Wave. He came under the tutelage of film critic Andre Bazin as a ...

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Roger Vadim Roger Vadim Plemiannikov (; 26 January 1928 – 11 February 2000) was a French screenwriter, film director, and producer, as well as an author, artist, and occasional actor. His best-known works are visually lavish films with erotic qualities, s ...

, Jean-Daniel Pollet, Jacques Rozier, Jacques Baratier, Jean Valère,

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and

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Orfeu Negro

In 1958, at the suggestion of producer Sacha Gordine, he travelled to Brazil to adapt for the screen, with the help of Jacques Viot, a play by famous poet and diplomat

Vinícius de Moraes Marcus Vinícius da Cruz e Mello Moraes (19 October 1913 – 9 July 1980), better known as Vinícius de Moraes () and nicknamed "O Poetinha" ("The Little Poet"), was a Brazilian poet, diplomat, lyricist, essayist, musician, singer, and playwrig ...

, ''Orfeu da Conceição'', which became ''Orfeu Negro''. It was a transposition of the love story of

Orpheus and Eurydice In Greek mythology, the legend of Orpheus and Eurydice () concerns the pitiful love of Orpheus of Thrace, located in northeastern Greece, for the beautiful Eurydice. Orpheus was the son of Oeagrus and the Muse Calliope. It may be a late addition ...

to the favelas of Rio de Janeiro during Carnival. The film won over both the general public and a large proportion of the critics. The film was a worldwide success, winning several awards including the

at the 1959 Cannes Film Festival and the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

for Best International Feature Film in 1960. It introduced Europeans and Americans to Rio, Carnival and bossa nova, with unknown black actors and a tender view of Brazil. American-French actress Marpessa Dawn, who played

Eurydice Eurydice (; Ancient Greek: Εὐρυδίκη 'wide justice', classical pronunciation: ) was a character in Greek mythology and the wife of Orpheus, whom Orpheus tried to bring back from the dead with his enchanting music. Etymology Several ...

in the film, became the director's wife.

Os bandeirantes

In 1960, Camus made a second Brazilian-themed film, '' Os Bandeirantes''. This adventure film follows a French diamond miner in Brazil who, after being betrayed and left for dead by a friend, embarks on a quest for vengeance but finds himself falling in love with a Brazilian woman along the way. Twenty years after ''Orfeu Negro'', Camus returned to Brazilian themes for what would prove to be his last film, ''Bahia'' (also known as ''Otalia da Bahia'' and ''Os pastores da noite''), based on a novel by Brazilian novelist

Jorge Amado Jorge Amado ( 10 August 1912 – 6 August 2001) was a Brazilian writer of the modernist school. He remains the best-known of modern Brazilian writers, with his work having been translated into some 49 languages and popularized in film, includi ...

. These films, however, failed to recapture the success of ''Orfeu Negro''.

Last film

In 1976, he returned to the country that fascinated him and his wife, Brazil, to direct Otalia de Bahia, adapted from

's novel ''Os pastores da noite'' ( Shepherds of the Night). In 1970, Camus had a last great success with a

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

comedy, ''Atlantic Wall'', starring the well-known French comedian Bourvil. It was the second most popular film in France in 1970, attracting 4 770 962 viewers.https://boxofficestar2.eklablog.com/box-office-france-1970-a112936776 Camus ended his career working primarily in television.

Personal life

Camus married one of the stars of ''Orfeu Negro'', Marpessa Dawn, but they divorced shortly thereafter. He then married another actress from ''Orfeu Negro'', Lourdes de Oliveira. Camus and de Oliveira have two children, including the writer Jean-Christophe Camus. Camus died in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and is buried there in

Père Lachaise Cemetery Père Lachaise Cemetery (, , formerly , ) is the largest cemetery in Paris, France, at . With more than 3.5 million visitors annually, it is the most visited necropolis in the world. Buried at Père Lachaise are many famous figures in the ...

Filmography

* '' Champions Juniors'' (1951) – writer * '' Fugitive in Saigon'' (1957) – director * '' Orfeu Negro'' (1959) - director * '' The Pioneers'' (1961) - writer and director * '' Bird of Paradise'' (1962) - co-writer and director * '' Le Chant du monde'' (1965) - director * '' Love in the Night '' (1968) - director * ''

Atlantic Wall The Atlantic Wall () was an extensive system of coastal defence and fortification, coastal defences and fortifications built by Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1944 along the coast of continental Europe and Scandinavia as a defense (military), d ...

'' (1970) - director *' (1973, TV miniseries) - director * ''

Bahia Bahia () is one of the 26 Federative units of Brazil, states of Brazil, located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast Region of the country. It is the fourth-largest Brazilian state by population (after São Paulo (state), São Paulo, Mina ...

'' (1978) - writer and director * ' (co-director: , 1979, TV miniseries) - director * '' Mein Freund Winnetou'' (1980, TV miniseries) - director

References

External links

* 1912 births 1982 deaths Directors of Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award winners Directors of Palme d'Or winners French film directors People from Ardennes (department) {{France-film-director-stub