Carmen & Lola

Two women fall in love within a culture/community that condemns lesbians. Said community is moreover itself discriminated as a whole: gitanos (gypsies) in Spain.

Found the execution of such thorny abstract not only realistic, also truly poetic. Specially the very last scenes, to the very last millisecond of footage. Both visually, and also sound-wise. Measured, exquisitely beautiful, flooring.

Some emotional reactions and storms, as well as very spontaneous, joyful moments, feel almost like parts of a documentary. They ended up captured quite naturally, non-pretentiously. Surprised to learn afterwards that the actors (at least some?) were non-professionals. Many other movies with professional actors do not approach the level this one does. Imho it gives you that sense of having just witnessed a true work of art.

Exposing conservatism in cultures and communities with the example of the Gypsy community in Spain, repression due to religious fanatism and addressing social problems with hints of sexism and racism. Occasionally over-dramatized in terms of directing and acting, and somewhat stale in terms of screenwriting. Nevertheless, the film gives a very relevant and necessary perspective on regressive communities.

The Spanish film Carmen y Lola was shown in the U.S. with the translated title Carmen & Lola (2018). The movie was written and directed by Arantxa Echevarría.

The film stars Zaira Romero as Lola, a young Roma woman. (We use the word "Roma," but apparently in Spain they still use Gitana or Gypsy. The Roma in Spain use a word for non-Roma that the subtitles call "Whiteys.") Rosy Rodríguez portrays Carmen, another young Roma woman.

Carmen is settled within the Roma community, willing to play out the traditional lifestyle of daughter, wife, mother. Lola doesn't want to break from the community, but she wants to be a teacher, which is unsettling to her parents.

Lola knows that she's a lesbian. Carmen doesn't know that she even might have lesbian tendencies until she meets Lola. The plots starts at that point.

Both Romero and Rodriguez are excellent actors, and they are both confident and comfortable in the roles they play. It's a pleasure to watch them act. The supporting cast is excellent as well.

We saw this film at The Little Theatre, as part of Rochester's wonderful ImageOut LGBT Festival. Carmen & Lola has a pretty good rating of 7.1. I think it's better than that, and I recommend it.

This movie is perfect for anyone looking for a love story that will not only break your heart but fix it up at the same time. 'Carmen Y Lola' tells the story of two young gypsy girls in Madrid who eventually fall in love despite their families' religious viewpoints and societal expectations of their daughters. Their parents expect them to get engaged, get married, be a wife, and have babies for the rest of their life all while devoting their lives to God. This love story makes you really root for their romance to succeed, and takes you through their journey of keeping their relationship secret. You will feel the story tug at your heartstrings as they deal with society's views on a lesbian relationship and how they don't fit in with their expected roles set by their gypsy heritage. There is a lot of tension between their culture and their nonconforming relationship and relationship with their parents. As a sad yet happy film all in one, I would recommend this film to anyone willing to get fully invested in the story of the characters and fall in love with them.

Zaira Romero is Lola. When her cousin gets engaged, it starts conversations about what gypsy women do when they get married and start families. But Lola doesn't want to be a housewife. She doesn't want kids. She wants to be her own person and go to school for a degree and have her own career. The girl she likes happens to be her cousin's fiancee, Carmen (Rosy Rodríguez ). They spend time alone together, but Carmen has doubts. Will she have the courage to call off the wedding and spend more time with Lola? This was released in 2018, but of course this was still a huge deal in her culture. A great performance by Lola's mom... you can really feel the pain as her parents yell and make a scene in the town square when they find out. Of course, most of the LGBTQ community went through this rejection, to some degree; some parents handle it with more kindness than others. It's good, if a little dated. Spain was the third country to legalize same sex marriage, back in 2005. Written and directed by Arantxa Echevarría. Showing on hbomax streaming channel... it won numerous awards at the film festivals.