Carmen (1984)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Francesco Rosi

Writers:

Henri Meilhac (libretto) &
Ludovic Halévy (libretto) ...

Release Date:

14 March 1984 (France)

Genre:

Drama | Music

Plot:

A film version of the famous Bizet opera, where a soldier (Don Jose) falls in love with a beautiful factory worker (Carmen)...

Plot Keywords:

Love | Opera | Soldier | Magic | Sexuality

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 9 wins & 8 nominations

Cast

Julia Migenes	...	Carmen (as Julia Migenes-Johnson)
Plácido Domingo	...	Don José
Ruggero Raimondi	...	Escamillo
Faith Esham	...	Micaëla
François Le Roux	...	Moralès
John-Paul Bogart	...	Zuñiga
Susan Daniel	...	Mercédès
Lillian Watson	...	Frasquita
Jean-Philippe Lafont	...	Dancaïre
Gérard Garino	...	Remendado
Julien Guiomar	...	Lillas Pastia
Accursio Di Leo	...	Guide
Maria Campano	...	Manuelita
Cristina Hoyos	...	Dancer
Juan Antonio Jiménez	...	Dancer

Also Known As:

Bizet's Carmen

Runtime:

152 min

Country:

France | Italy

Language:

French

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.75 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Iceland:L | West Germany:6 (f) | Norway:12 | Australia:G | Argentina:Atp | Finland:K-8 | France:U | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:PG

Company:

Gaumont International

Trivia:

The first film version of the opera to use spoken dialogue between all the musical numbers rather than being sung all the way through. This is the way Bizet intended the opera to be performed; the dialogue was set to music by composer Ernest Guiraud after Bizet's death, in order to make the realism of the opera less shocking to a nineteenth century audience (based on the assumption that music made the realism less "painful".)

Movie Connections:

Featured in Il cineasta e il labirinto (2004)

What you can expect from an opera on film.

I want to comment on the review of Mike. The fact that he writes: "the vast armpit hair on Carmen" and that he finds the subtitles annoying doesn't make a movie awful. He watched the movie against his will at school. But if you do enjoy opera, and realise that in the time this movie is shot or represents the ladies didn't shave there armpits this is a pretty good movie. Good sets, deep, classic story and the camera work is okay but what can you aspect from an opera that is written to be watched from just 1 angle, the audience in front of the stage. This movie is a French classic with all the good singing of an opera, good sets, average camerawork and good stage acting. (An opera is always more body language because of the fact it used to be in a hard language to be understanded from the "normal" people.). So, enjoy this movie!