U-Carmen e-Khayelitsha (2005)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

Mark Dornford-May

Writers:

Mark Dornford-May (writer)
Ludovic Halévy (opera)

Release Date:

1 April 2005 (Greece)

Genre:

Musical | Drama | Romance

Plot:

A version of Georges Bizet's Carmen, set in a modern-day South African township.

Plot Keywords:

Opera | Flashback Sequence | Murder | Opera Singer | Based On Novel

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Pauline Malefane	...	Carmen
Andile Tshoni	...	Jongikhaya
Lungelwa Blou	...	Nomakhaya
Zweilungile Sidloyi	...	Lulamile Nkomo (as Zorro Sidloyi)
Andries Mbali	...	Bra Nkomo
Zamile Gantana	...	Captain Gantana
Andiswa Kedama	...	Amanda
Ruby Mthethwa	...	Pinki
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ross Garland	...	Policeman

Also Known As:

U-Carmen (South Africa: English title) (DVD title)

Runtime:

Germany:120 min | USA:122 min

Country:

South Africa

Language:

Xhosa

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Netherlands:12 | Singapore:PG | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Ireland:PG

Filming Locations:

Khayelitsha, South Africa

Company:

Spier Films

Movie Connections:

Version of L'uomo, l'orgoglio, la vendetta (1968)

Soundtrack:

Carmen

Gorgeous

This film, a remake of the opera Carmen set in a South African township and sung in Xhosa, is fantastic. Pauline Malefane was amazing in the role of Carmen. Director Dornford-May played on his experience as a theater director for some real strengths in this movie -- I liked the way he stuck to the Greek theatrical convention of bloodshed happening offstage throughout the film without shirking from the sense of violence underpinning both the original opera and this new setting. The ways in which he wove in quirkier elements from the opera Carmen were delightful (I thought: How on earth is he going to get a bullfighter in here?), and the interplay between the Carmen score and South African music was superb. I loved it.