Carmen (2003 film)
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''Carmen'' is a 2003 Spanish
drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...
directed by
Vicente Aranda Vicente Aranda Ezquerra (; 9 November 1926 – 26 May 2015) was a Spanish film director, screenwriter and Film producer, producer. Due to his refined and personal style, he was one of the most renowned Spanish filmmakers. He started as a f ...
. The script was written by Aranda and Joaquim Jordà adapting the classic romance of the same name by
Prosper Mérimée Prosper Mérimée (; 28 September 1803 – 23 September 1870) was a French writer in the movement of Romanticism, and one of the pioneers of the novella, a short novel or long short story. He was also a noted archaeologist and historian, and a ...
. Director
Vicente Aranda Vicente Aranda Ezquerra (; 9 November 1926 – 26 May 2015) was a Spanish film director, screenwriter and Film producer, producer. Due to his refined and personal style, he was one of the most renowned Spanish filmmakers. He started as a f ...
based the plot on Mérimée's original 1847 novella about jealousy and passion, not its famous operatic adaptation by
Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', which has become on ...
from 1875, changing some details about the love story between Carmen (
Paz Vega María de la Paz Campos Trigos (born 2 January 1976), known professionally as Paz Vega (), is a Spanish actress. She became popular for her performance in comedy television series '' 7 vidas''. Her film credits include ''Sex and Lucia'' (2001) ...
) and José (
Leonardo Sbaraglia Leonardo Máximo Sbaraglia (; born 30 June 1970) is an Argentine actor, with extensive credits in both Argentina and Spain. He has also worked in Mexico, and was cast in his first English-language role in '' Red Lights''. Biography Sbaraglia was ...
). As in the novella, author Mérimée ( Jay Benedict) is portrayed as a French writer who finds the "real" Carmen in early 19th century
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...
.


Plot

While traveling through
Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The ...
,
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...
in 1830, Prosper Mérimée, a French writer, meets José, a wanted criminal. José ends up condemned to death by garroting. The day before José is going to be executed, Mérimée, who has befriended the bandit, visits him in prison. From his jail cell, José begins to narrate his tragic story to the sympathetic writer. José Lizarrabengoa, a serious and proper Basque sergeant in the Spanish army, is stationed in Córdoba. 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 Fernanda's face with a knife. Carmen is arrested and José is left in charge of her custody. On the way to prison, Carmen flirts with José and he consents to allow her to escape - his payback is the promise for a night of passion with her. José's breach of military discipline results in his losing his rank and being imprisoned for a while. Carmen keeps her pact, providing José 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. José encounters Carmen again while he is in
Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Penins ...
guarding the entrance to the city. Carmen seduces him once more. José 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 José against Carmen. Carmen has a shady past and a devilish nature, but it is too late for José. He is already deeply in love. That same night, José waits in vain for Carmen in the brothel. She appears late, arriving in the company of his lieutenant. Furious, José challenges his superior to a sword fight and kills the man. Now a criminal, with his career and place in society lost, José follows Carmen's advise and flees to the countryside, joining some of Carmen's bandit friends: Dancaire, Aristóteles, Señorito, and Juanele. José adapts quickly to his new life. He becomes one of the bandits, feared as "José the Basque". Soon, Carmen comes to join them in the hideout in the hills. Even in front of the other bandits, Carmen and José 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. José 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 José 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 José as often as she does to her husband. The other bandits, in order to keep the peace in the group, keep quiet. José continues to work with the bandit group, which is reduced in clashes with the authorities. Eventually José snaps and, with Carmen's aid, murders El Tuerto in a
knife fight A knife fight is a violent physical confrontation between two or more combatants in which one or more participants is armed with a knife.MacYoung, Marc, ''Winning A Street Knife Fight'', (Digital format, 70 min.), Boulder, CO: Paladin Press, (J ...
. 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, José kills the bullfighter and runs away from the dead man's hacienda. Locked in an empty church with Carmen, José confronts her. Carmen does not love him any more and she is defiant. She dares him to kill her. Crying while they kiss, José 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.AlohaCriticon
(in Spanish)
Channel4
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/ref> 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.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 A list of Spanish-produced and co-produced feature films released in Spain in 2003. The domestic theatrical release date is favoured. Films Box office The ten highest-grossing Spanish films in 2003, by domestic box office gross revenue, ...


Notes


References

*Majarín, Sara. ''Una vida de cine: Pasión, Utopía, Historia: Lecciones de Vicente Aranda''. Editorial Zumaque S.L., 2013.


External links

* * {{Authority control 2000s Spanish-language films Films directed by Vicente Aranda Spanish romantic drama films Spanish historical romance films Films based on romance novels Films based on Carmen 2000s historical romance films 2003 romantic drama films 2003 films Films about writers Films set in the 19th century Films about Romani people 2000s Spanish films