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Carmen (2003 film)
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Wikipedia article
'Carmen' is a 2003 Spanish drama film directed by Vicente Aranda. The script was written by Aranda and Joaquim Jord adapting the classic romance of the same name by Prosper Mrime. Director Vicente Aranda based the plot on Mrime's original 1847 novella about jealousy and passion, not its famous operatic adaptation by Bizet from 1875, changing some details about the love story between Carmen (Paz Vega) and Jos (Leonardo Sbaraglia). As in the novella, author Mrime (Jay Benedict) is portrayed as a French writer who finds the "real" Carmen in early 19th century Spain.
Plot
While traveling through Andalusia, Spain in 1830, Prosper Mrime, a French writer, meets Jos, a wanted criminal. Jos ends up condemned to death by garroting. The day before Jos is going to be executed, Mrime, who has befriended the bandit, visits him in prison. From his jail cell, Jos begins to narrate his tragic story to the sympathetic writer.
Jos Lizarrabengoa, a serious and proper Basque sergeant in the Spanish army, is stationed in Crdoba. Next to his military headquarters there is a cigar factory where Carmen, a sultry young woman, works. Half gipsy half witch, Carmen is beautiful, flirtatious and has a tempestuous temper. During an argument instigated by Fernanda, a fellow factory worker who has called her gipsy, Carmen retaliates against her rival by slashing Fernandas face with a knife. Carmen is arrested and Jos is left in charge of her custody. On the way to prison, Carmen flirts with Jos and he consents to allow her to escape - his payback is the promise for a night of passion with her. Jos's breach of military discipline results in his losing his rank and being imprisoned for a while. Carmen keeps her pact, providing Jos with his first sexual encounter. He is dazzled with the sexual delight to which she introduces him and he can't keep her out of his mind. Jos encounters Carmen again while he is in Seville guarding the entrance to the city. Carmen seduces him once more. Jos turns a blind eye to Carmen's smuggler friends, allowing them to pass his post and, as a reward, she pays him with sex.
Without her work at the factory, Carmen is now not only part of a ring of smugglers but supplements her income by prostitution. Blanca, the experienced madame who runs the house Carmen uses for her sexual encounters, warns Jos against Carmen. Carmen has a shady past and a devilish nature, but it is too late for Jos. He is already deeply in love. That same night, Jos waits in vain for Carmen in the brothel. She appears late, arriving in the company of his lieutenant. Furious, Jos challenges his superior to a sword fight and kills the man.
Now a criminal, with his career and place in society lost, Jos follows Carmen's advise and flees to the countryside, joining some of Carmen's bandit friends: Dancaire, Aristteles, Seorito, and Juanele. Jos adapts quickly to his new life. He becomes one of the bandits, feared as "Jos the Basque". Soon, Carmen comes to join them in the hideout in the hills. Even in front of the other bandits, Carmen and Jos restart their passionate affair. Their idyll is broken by the sudden arrival of Carmen's gangster husband, El Tuerto, who has just been released from prison. Jos is initially extremely jealous but, fearing the consequences of clashing with the dangerous Tuerto, he has no other choice but to accept the circumstances. Carmen assures Jos that he is the one she loves. Without a choice of her own, she had been sold to El Tuerto when she was fourteen. Carmen makes an effort to make love to Jos as often as she does to her husband. The other bandits, in order to keep the peace in the group, keep quiet.
Jos continues to work with the bandit group, which is reduced in clashes with the authorities. Eventually Jos snaps and, with Carmen's aid, murders El Tuerto in a knife fight. Yet more trouble comes between them when the flirtatious Carmen catches the eye of Lucas, a dashing matador. Jose's paranoia and desire to possess Carmen entirely soon overwhelm him. When he discovers Carmen in bed with Lucas, Jos kills the bullfighter and runs away from the dead man's hacienda. Locked in an empty church with Carmen, Jos confronts her. Carmen does not love him any more and she is defiant. She dares him to kill her. Crying while they kiss, Jos murders Carmen with his knife.
Cast
Reception
While the quality of technical realization and costumes was acknowledged, viewers criticized the actors' performances, the lack of chemistry between the two main characters, and problems of the plot.[http://www.alohacriticon.com/elcriticon/article1669.html AlohaCriticon] (in Spanish)[http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/film.jsp?id=136380&page=2 Channel4][http://www.timeout.com/film/81257.html Timeout London] The film is rated in several countries for scenes including nudity.
The film was voted the 'People's Favourite Film' at the 2004 Birmingham Screen Festival.[http://www.mybrum.co.uk/birmingham/arts-screen-fest.htm MyBrum.co.uk]
DVD release
The film was released on DVD in the United States in 2008.
See also
* List of Spanish films of 2003
Notes
References
*Majarn, Sara. 'Una vida de cine: Pasin, Utopa, Historia: Lecciones de Vicente Aranda'. Editorial Zumaque S.L., 2013.
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