Though unadmitted, The Testament of Orpheus has far greater ambitions and implications than its modest format indicates. And in this resides its particular significance. (p. 23)

Testament is too deliberate and lucid a work to be dismissed as an old man's self-indulgent gratification—as many critics chose to do. Wanting or capricious though it may be, Testament is neither pointless nor irrational and, least of all, senile. To the extent that this controversial film fails, as it ultimately does, it is for nobler reasons than pretentiousness, incompetence or declining power….

[It] is not only one of the great confessional documents of our time but probably the most original and audacious. The question remains, however, whether it has a chance to survive on its inherent merit, with the answer depending on the position one adopts toward the film as primarily a work of art or a poet's self-portrait. Of course...