''Carmen'' is a 1984 French-Italian film directed by Francesco Rosi. It is a film version of Bizet's

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

, '' Carmen''.

Julia Migenes Julia Migenes (born March 13, 1943) is an American soprano working primarily in musical theatre repertoire. She was born on the Lower East Side of New York (Manhattan) to parents of Irish and Puerto Rican descent. (Her stepfather was of Greek ...

stars in the title role,

Plácido Domingo José Plácido Domingo Embil (born 21 January 1941) is a Spanish opera singer, conductor, and arts administrator. He has recorded over a hundred complete operas and is well known for his versatility, regularly performing in Italian, French ...

as Don José, Ruggero Raimondi as Escamillo, and Faith Esham as Micaela. Lorin Maazel conducts the

Orchestre National de France The Orchestre national de France (ONF; literal translation, ''National Orchestra of France'') is a French symphony orchestra based in Paris, founded in 1934. Placed under the administration of the French national radio (named Radio France sinc ...

. The film premiered in France on March 14, 1984, and in the U.S. on September 20 of that year. In 1985, the film was nominated for the

Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film The Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film is a Golden Globe Award presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Until 1986, it was known as the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Film, meaning that any non-American film coul ...

Cast

* Julia Migenes-Johnson as Carmen *

as Don José * Ruggero Raimondi as Escamillo * Faith Esham as Micaëla * François le Roux as Moralès * John-Paul Bogart as Zuñiga * Susan Daniel as Mercédès * Lillian Watson as Frasquita *

Jean-Philippe Lafont Jean-Philippe Lafont (born 11 February 1951) is a French baritone. He studied in his native city of Toulouse and later at the Opéra-Studio in Paris.O'Connor, Patrick He made his operatic debut as Papageno in ''The Magic Flute'' at the Salle Favar ...

as Dancaïre * Gérard Garino as Remendado *

Julien Guiomar Julien Guiomar (3 May 1928 in Morlaix, Finistère, Brittany – 22 November 2010 in Agen, Lot-et-Garonne, Aquitaine), was a French film actor. The actor had retired to the Dordogne at Monpazier. The person who incarnated Colonel Vincent in ...

as Lillas Pastia * Accursio Di Leo as Guide * Maria Campano as Manuelita * Cristina Hoyos as dancer * Juan Antonio Jiménez as dancer

Production

Rosi selected 1875 for the period and filmed entirely on locations in

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 t ...

, using

Ronda Ronda () is a town in the Spanish province of Málaga. It is located about west of the city of Málaga, within the autonomous community of Andalusia. Its population is about 35,000. Ronda is known for its cliff-side location and a deep chasm ...

and Carmona and

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 Peninsula ...

itself to simulate the Seville of that era. He worked with his longtime collaborator, the cinematographer

Pasqualino De Santis Pasquale "Pasqualino" De Santis (24 April 1927 – 23 June 1996) was an Italian cinematographer. Biography Born in Fondi, he was the brother of film director Giuseppe De Santis. They worked together in ''Non c'è pace tra gli ulivi'', ''Uomini ...

, and with Enrico Job supervising the sets and costumes. Rosi acknowledged

Gustave Doré Paul Gustave Louis Christophe Doré ( , , ; 6 January 1832 – 23 January 1883) was a French artist, as a printmaker, illustrator, painter, comics artist, caricaturist, and sculptor. He is best known for his prolific output of wood-engravin ...

's illustrations of Spain for Baron Charles Davillier's ''Spain'' (which was published in serial form in 1873) as his principal source for the visual design. He believed that Bizet, who never visited Spain, was guided by these engravings, and shot scenes in some of the exact places that Doré drew.

Critical reception

Pauline Kael Pauline Kael (; June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1968 to 1991. Known for her "witty, biting, highly opinionated and sharply focused" reviews, Kael's opinions oft ...

reviews the film favourably in her collection of movie reviews, '' State of the Art'':

Julia Migenes-Johnson's freckled, gamine Carmen is the chief glory of the production. Her strutting, her dark, messy, frizzy hair—her sexual availability—attract Don José and drive him crazy. Carmen, who's true to her instincts, represents everything he tries to repress. But after he has deserted the Army and lost the respectability that meant everything to him, he thinks she owes him lifelong devotion. Carmen's mistake was in thinking she could take him as a lover on her own terms.

Home media

In late 2011 the film was released on both a regular, anamorphically enhanced Region 1 DVD, and on

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

Awards and nominations

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

Golden Globes The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of ...

**Nomination: Best Foreign Language Film (''France'') * 1986 - BAFTA Awards **Nomination:

Best Foreign Film The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...

(''Italy'') **Nomination: Best Sound for Dominique Hennequin, Hugues Darmois, Bernard Leroux, and Harald Maury *

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

- César Award ** Best Sound for Dominique Hennequin, Guy Level, and Harald Maury **Nomination: Best Film for Francesco Rosi **Nomination: Best Director for Francesco Rosi **Nomination:

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...

for Julia Migenes-Johnson **Nomination: Best Cinematography for

**Nomination: Best Production Design for Enrico Job **Nomination: Best Costume Design for Enrico Job *1985 - David di Donatello ** Best Film for Francesco Rosi ** Best Director for Francesco Rosi ** Best Cinematography for

** Best Sets and Decorations for Enrico Job ** Best Costumes for Enrico Job ** Best Editing for

Ruggero Mastroianni Ruggero Mastroianni (7 November 1929 – 9 September 1996) was an Italian film editor. In his obituary of Mastroianni, critic Tony Sloman described him as "arguably, the finest Italian film editor of his generation." Born in Turin, he was the b ...

**Nomination:

for Julia Migenes-Johnson **Nomination: Best Supporting Actor for Ruggero Raimondi *1985 -

Nastro d'argento The Nastro d'Argento, also known by its translated name Silver Ribbon, is an Italian film award awarded each year since 1946 by the Italian National Syndicate of Film Journalists (Italian: ''Sindacato Nazionale Giornalisti Cinematografici Italiani ...

**Best Scenography for Enrico Job *

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

(soundtrack only) ** Best Opera Recording for Michel Glotz (audio producer), Lorin Maazel (conductor), Julia Migenes-Johnson,

, Ruggero Raimondi, and Faith Esham (soloists)

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1984 films 1980s musical drama films Italian musical drama films French musical drama films 1980s French-language films Films directed by Francesco Rosi Films based on Carmen Films set in the 19th century Films set in Spain Georges Bizet Opera films 1984 drama films Films about Romani people Bullfighting films 1980s Italian films 1980s French films French-language Italian films