Carmen

Before launching into whether this film is worth your time or not, I should inform you I've never seen another adaptation of Carmen, so if you're looking for a review on how it ranks amongst others, this might not be of much use to you.

The only time I've come across Carmen was on the car stereo when driving through Spain on a family holiday when I was a teenager. I didn't pay much attention to it because I didn't like opera at the time and I didn't know any better. The story has been around for 150 years or so. Do I feel I've missed out after seeing this movie? Yes, mainly due to the plot, but also because if all the actresses who played Carmen looked like Paz Vega, I would have all the adaptations happily sitting in my DVD collection.

Directed by Vicente Aranda (who also co-rewrote the story with Joaquim Jordà), the story is told through the eyes of the original author Prosper Mérimée, a French writer making his way through 19th century Spain. He comes across José (Leonardo Sbaraglia), a delinquent soldier and one of many men who fall in love with Carmen (Paz Vega), a sultry, sexy, bedazzling gypsy woman, who has the mouth of the devil, the temper of a 'toro' and who recklessly leads men to their doom. The moment she meets José, she is attracted by his stand-offish behaviour. But she hooks him, reels him in and lets him go, many-a-time. Until one day, José is wanted for murder. Carmen persuades him to join her band of gypsy smugglers. They seem to be settling, she's fallen in love with him, but she meets the charming Escamillo, the bullfighter. Can José hold his jealousy in check, or does it destroy him?

It's a beautiful,seductive story, something that resembles, almost, a Shakespearian or Ovid plot, with the portrayals of immense passion and emotion that can make or break us and transform us to do things out of character. It's poetic, fiery, and above all, slutty. I was left hanging on, I didn't know which way it was going to turn. I always hoped that José might change Carmen's dirty little ways. I won't tell you if he succeeded or not.

The above synopsis is what I took away from the film, but I was not impressed by the film itself. It was only after I watched it that I dug a little deeper into the story and I realised how much of a missed opportunity Aranda had made of retelling Mérimée's classic. It was a shallow, slutty period-drama blunder, that saw Paz Vega spend a lot of the time partially or completely naked (not that I'm complaining about this in particular!).

First of all, the acting was poor. I was not impressed by Sbaraglia as José. I'm still unsure whether he was a weak actor or José was supposed to be a weak character, I've not read the book. He's supposed to be a man who with burning desire for Carmen, but he spends much of the time looking confused, jealous and a bit dim. Paz Vega was slightly better as Carmen. I was convinced by her hardened, wicked character, although I have seen more convincing performances by her in other films, such as Zapping and Lucia y El Sexo. She seems too pretty to play a gypsy woman (not that I've come across many Andalusian gypsy women), so in a way, the role didn't really fit her. The other actors in the film weren't great either. They seemed to do everything half-heartedly. The story is passionate, emotive – they looked half-arsed, as if they couldn't wait to get out the tight 19th century costumes they were wearing.

However, the costumes, I was impressed with - one of the redeeming factors of the film. I like Spanish culture, I liked the soldiers' uniforms, the top-hats and the women's Flamenco dresses. They fitted the time well. That's all I can really say about that. Sorry, back to the criticism.

The script, as stated above, was co-rewritten by Vicente Aranda and Joaquim Jordà, and done so badly, so much that it would leave Mérimée turning in his grave. It was boring. It didn't make best use of José's intense passion for Carmen (or maybe that was just the acting). There were cheesy lines piled upon one and other, Satan and devil connotations everywhere, amongst the millions of swear words. I know the Spanish are partial for the odd swear word, but the film was littered with puta, 'whore', in literally every line Maybe it was realistic in 19th century poverty-stricken Seville, but the story itself didn't need it.

The editing and camera work was dull and ordinary. There was only one bit I actually liked, and that was when the camera follows a fly close-up in mid-air, which lands on Carmen's face. That was good. But the rest? Boring.

To conclude, it is sad to see such a great story go to waste with unconvincing acting and directing. If you're a literature teacher, by all means let your class watch this adaptation to get an idea of the story. However, only the male half of the class will be paying any interest to the film, thanks to Paz Vega. Otherwise, stick to the opera version (even though I hate musicals). I give this film 4, just for the fact I love the storyline! And Paz Vega!

The story of Merimée, in which inspired Bizzet for his famous Opera, tells us of a Gitana (Gypsy,Romaní) from Echalar, a small village to the North of Navarre, north of Spain. According to the Merimée fiction, Carmen and his mad lover spoke basque. So, this is not a mistake of the film, which, in many ways deserves, certainly, criticism: the film lack rhythm, and the actors are very bad indeed. I think, the opening scene, when all the women appear in the cigar factory, is great, a scene of great tension and furious wild force. Unfortunately, the "great expectations" this opening create on the spectator, are certainly not accomplished. The film goes wandering, without connection, without unity: the camera looks to too many stories and places, been not able to relate them to each other.

Even for the non-opera loving public the name CARMEN is immediately recognized as an opera by Bizet about a gypsy girl whose capricious loves destroy men. But as much as the opera is now considered a staple in every opera house repertoire, the real story of the wild gypsy lass as created by Prosper Mérimée in 1845 has never been told as well as in this cinematic version by the abundantly gifted Spanish director Vicente Aranda ('Juana la Loca AKA Mad Love','Amantes', 'If they tell you I fell', etc.). Incorporating the author of the novel as a main character seeking the story of Carmen from one of her lovers - José - provides just the right vantage for the story of this famous gypsy wild lady to be told.

Carmen (the amazingly beautiful and talented Paz Vega) works in a cigar factory in Seville, a factory adjoining the military station where the very proper José (Leonardo Sbaraglia) is stationed. Carmen is tempestuous and in a fight instigated by a fellow factory worker bringing attention to the fact that Carmen is a gypsy, Carmen murders the co-worker and is arrested. José is physically attracted to the voluptuous Carmen and when Carmen flirts with him he consents to allow her to escape - his payback is the promise for a night of passion with Carmen. Carmen keeps her pact, providing José with his first sexual encounter, and José is doomed. His lack of military discipline results in his losing his rank and being imprisoned for a while, but at his release José encounters Carmen again, kills a fellow officer, and in fear runs off to the hills to live with the smugglers and gypsies that are Carmen's people. Many incidents occur to try the passionate bond between the lovers, but when Carmen's real husband is released from prison, destructive behaviors take over, behavior's that include Carmen's infatuation and affair with a bullfighter and the passion of Carmen and José comes to a tragic end.

One factor that makes the story (as adapted for the screen by director Aranda and Joaquim Jordà move so well is the role that Prosper Mérimée (Jay Benedict) plays: his questioning of José completes the story that Bizet's opera only outlines. The acting is superb, the cinematography by Paco Femenia and the excellent musical score by José Nieto contribute enormously to the success of this very fine film. This is a must for lovers of the opera Carmen, and a splendid action drama for those viewers who admire historical pieces. Highly recommended. Grady Harp

Based on the melodramatic novel by writer Prosper Merimee, Carmen is the classic tale of forbidden passion between a young man , sergeant named Jose (Leonardo Sbaraglia) and a spoken-for woman, Carmen (Paz Vega). A beautiful but amoral gypsy , marvellous Paz Vega, falls in turbulent love for a soldier , ever-so-handsome Leonardo , but things go wrong when his superior , becomes involved into the twisted affaire. It is told in flashback as the young soldier, stripped of his decorations, explains all in a prison cell to writer Prosper Merimee (Jay Benedict). José tells of the love he had for Carmen and how it proved to be destructive. As Carmen is victim and protagonist of a fatalist chain of events , passional romance and tragedies . Aranda splendidly casts the Spanish main actress of the moment , Paz Vega (The Spirit , Spanglish, Lucia y el sexo) , to play the immortal figure of Carmen in the kind of steamy role she revels in , with one of the most important players in Latin American Cinema today, Leonardo Sbaraglia (Intacto, Utopia) playing the character of José. To want her was Torture.. to love her meant death ! A story of beauty and savagery.. love and hate.. splendor and shame...

This romantic costume adventure strikes some strong sparks and uncontrollable passions . It is a decent movie , though corny and extremely erotic at times , but still entertaining to see sparks fly between Carmen/Paz Vega as the wonderful vixen and an always angry and jealous José/Leonardo Sbaraglia . Paz Vega in her real splendor plays an immoral gypsy hussy who ruins life of a young Spanish officer. The free, enigmatic nature of a woman called Carmen , her southern beauty , she's the complete and gorgeous starring displaying jealousy , bloodshed and doom . Paz Vega looks brilliant and stunning as the tempestuous gypsy , but also Leonardo Sbaraglia as a Spanish dragoon is pretty well , playing a passionate, impulsive character turning into into the victim . Support cast is pretty good , such as : Jay Benedict as Merimee who on a journey through Spain is forced by fate to be the witness of a story of passion , Antonio Dechent as the jealous bandit , Joan Crosas, Ismael Martínez, Ginés García Millán, Maria Botto, Josep Linuesa , Susi Sánchez, Paula Echevarria, Julio Vélez , among others . And Georges Bizet music might have helped a bit, rather than the rousing soundtrack provided by José Nieto. Adding a glamorous and picturesque cinematography by Paco Femina. The motion picture was well directed by Vicente Aranda .

There are several versions based on Prospero Merimee tale : First silent retelling ¨Carmen¨ 1915 by Cecil B De Mille with Geraldine Farrar, Pedro de Córdoba, Wallace Reid. ¨The Loves of Carmen¨ 1943 by Charles Vidor with Rita Hayworth , Glenn Ford , Ron Randell. ¨The loves of Carmen¨ with Dolores Del Río, Don Alvarado. ¨Carmen¨ 1944 with Vivían Romance , Jean Marais. ¨The Devil made a woman¨ 1959 by Tulio Demicheli with Sara Montiel, German Cobos , Amadeo Nazzarí. ¨Man, Pride and vengeance¨ 1967 by Luigi Bazzoni with Franco Nero, Tina Aumont, Klaus Kinski. ¨Carmen Jones¨ by Otto Preminger with Harry Belafonte , Dorothy Dandridge . ¨Carmen¨ 1983 by Carlos Saura with Laura del Sol, Antonio Gades .¨Carmen de Bizet¨ 1984 by Francesco Rosi with Julia Migenes , Placido Domingo, Ruggiero Raimondi . And this ¨Carmen¨ 2003 by Vicente Aranda with Paz Vega , Leonardo Sbaraglia, Antonio Dechent . Rating : 6.5/10 . Better than average . Worthwhile watching.

There are several ways to misunderstand this movie and a couple of them have been shown in some of the past comments. This is a movie to be analyzed as a free recreation of a known subject and therefore not to be compared with the opera, the book or other Carmen movies seen before. It just stands for itself and I must say that this Carmen does it very well. It is a mistake to compare because that is the first step to deny movies the chance to be autonomous creative works of art. Vicente Aranda is a master of atmosphere and the art direction, the costumes and the photography are extremely well put together to achieve a pleasing aesthetic experience. Let's take it as it is.

And that brings us to the next misunderstanding. Someone complains about the typical Spanish clichés in the movie. Well, historically the movie is extremely well researched and you can see the results of that very serious work in every scene. It is not only an accurate portrait of the "black Spain" of knife and espadrille that Goya portrayed so vividly, but it's also of that part of history as seen by a foreigner fascinated with the folkloric side of that society. Honestly, anyone who doesn't want to see any cliché about Spain shouldn't buy a ticket to see Carmen, but in this case those clichés are presented before they became one and the way to see them is getting rid of our own prejudices.

Another important requirement to understand this movie properly is to speak the language. It is not acceptable to criticize any actor performance for not having understood his or her lines. If all the rest of the audience did, the problem most likely lies somewhere else. Paz Vega has an immaculate diction with her Andalusian accent and all she says is understandable and credible. Her Argentinian partner, Leonardo Sbaraglia, gives also a convincing portrait of the Basque officer that became a "bandolero", and her accent is very well learned.

No less important is to have a minimally open approach to the material. To say that Paz Vega is "horrible" suggests that the author of the phrase entered the theater for the wrong reasons. We already had in Spain a critic in one of the most prestigious papers that used to recommend us pictures he found homosexually arousing, without mentioning it explicitly. And that was not totally fair for the rest of us, especially for the ones that hadn't detected that the man was writing with parts of his anatomy that many readers didn't necessarily had to care for. I'm not suggesting at all that the reviewer had the same motivation, but the expectations must have been different as the ones of those among us that went to see a talented and beautiful actress play an almost classic role, because that's what we got. Paz Vega IS Carmen, and an excellent one, in Vicente Aranda's movie.