Carmen movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Carmen

This musical movie is now available to stream online.

RATING: R

LENGTH: 1 hour 56 minutes

MOVIE REVIEW MOM GRADE: B

IN A NUTSHELL:

Congratulations to dancer and choreographer Benjamin Millepied in his directorial debut. He reimagines the famous French opera Carmen into a modern dreamscape with original songs and musical score.

Writing credits go to Loic Barrere, Alexander Dinelaris, and Lisa Loomer.

THINGS I LIKED:

I’m such a fan of Melissa Barrera. As soon as I saw she was in this, I was all in. She gets better and better with each of her films. She can sing, dance, and act like a pro. Beyond that, she looks a lot like my son’s girlfriend from Cuba!
The haunting musical score by Nicholas Britell is excellent.
When I lived in Spain, I went to Flamenco dance lessons! It was fun and interesting to see that element embedded into the story. The woman at the beginning of the movie was really great.
The movie is supposed to take place around the Mexican/US border somewhere, but the movie was actually filmed in Oz, Australia.
There’s an interesting scene where one character washes another’s feet and rubs them with oil, reminiscent of Jesus Christ anointing the feet of His disciples.
The fight scene was cleverly done in dance form.
All of the choreography is just beautiful to watch. Dancers will love that element of the movie. It’s fun to watch how the story moves forward with what we learn in the dance sequences, as well as how things are “said” through dance.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

The first 11 minutes are in Spanish. We hear accents and voices from Mexico mostly, but also from Spain.
Those who are unfamiliar with the French opera, Carmen, won’t have a clue what’s going on in the beginning or how it relates to the opera.
It would have been nice to have some singing at the beginning of the film. We don’t hear a song until 15 minutes into the movie.
This is definitely an artsy-fartsy film that won’t be everyone’s cup of tea.
I hated seeing Melissa Barrera smoke and go topless. (Yep, that’s the protective mother in me.)

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Kids will be extremely bored.
We see a one-legged man in a wheelchair
Racist names for Mexicans
A lot of Spanish is spoken without subtitles
We see an unmarried couple take off their clothes (pants on)

THEMES:

PTSD
Love
Death
Illegal border crossing from Mexico to the USA

FUNNY LINES:

“You speak English good.” – Aidan (Paul Mescal) “Well. I speak English well.” – Carmen (Melissa Barrera)

INTERESTING LINES:

“Wait to see how it feels to guard your country from your own backyard.” – Jay (Damien Thomlinson)
“Dance for her and for you.” – Masilda (Rossy de Palma)