''First Name: Carmen'' () is a 1983 French film directed by

Jean-Luc Godard Jean-Luc Godard ( , ; ; 3 December 193013 September 2022) was a French and Swiss film director, screenwriter, and film critic. He rose to prominence as a pioneer of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s, alongside such filmmakers as ...

. Loosely based on Bizet's opera ''

Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...

'', the film was written by Anne-Marie Miéville and produced by

Alain Sarde Alain Sarde (born 28 March 1952) is a French film producer and actor. Early life Alain Sarde was born in Boulogne-Billancourt, France. Career David Lynch's '' Mulholland Drive'', a film Sarde co-produced, received the Online Film Critics Soc ...

, and stars Maruschka Detmers and Jacques Bonnaffé. The film won the

Golden Lion The Golden Lion () is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguished prizes. In 1970, a ...

at the 40th Venice International Film Festival and had 395,462 admissions in France.

Plot

Carmen, in a voice over paired with shots of the city and the sea, introduces herself as "the girl who should not be called Carmen." Somewhere a string quartet is rehearsing the late string quartets of

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

. The eccentric Jeannot (played by Godard) is living in a sanitarium where the doctor threatens to throw him out if he doesn't start to show signs of real illness. Carmen comes to visit him, and it is revealed he is a washed-up filmmaker and her lecherous uncle. After getting her Uncle Jeannot to loan her his seaside apartment, Carmen and some others attempt to rob a bank. During the mayhem of the robbery, Carmen comes face to face with Joseph, a comically inept bank guard, and the two immediately fall in love. The string quartet continues to rehearse, inflecting the scenes of the robbery, and vice versa. The narrative link is that one of the members of the quartet is Claire, who is established earlier in the film as a potential love interest for Joseph. Carmen and Joseph retreat to Uncle Jeannot's apartment, where Carmen recalls childhood incestuous encounters. Carmen tells Joseph, quoting from '' Carmen Jones'': "if I love you, that's the end of you." Joseph is arrested and put on trial, and Carmen escapes with Fred, the leader of her gang. In flashback, Carmen reveals to Joseph that the robbery was intended to fund a larger project, the kidnapping of "a big manufacturer" or his daughter, with a fake film directed by Uncle Jeannot meant to provide cover, a scheme that

John Dillinger John Herbert Dillinger (; June 22, 1903 – July 22, 1934) was an American gangster during the Great Depression. He commanded the Dillinger Gang, which was accused of robbing twenty-four banks and four police stations. Dillinger was imprison ...

supposedly once perpetrated. Joseph is acquitted with the help of an impassioned public defender and Claire's moral support. Meanwhile, Fred persuades Uncle Jeannot to direct the gang's film. After receiving a rose from her during the trial, Joseph reunites with Carmen at a hotel where the gang is staying. He plans to renew their relationship and to participate in the kidnapping, but Carmen seems increasingly uninterested in him, and the gang ostracizes Joseph. Things go from bad to worse for Joseph as Carmen toys with a young hotel attendant, Fred directs Carmen to tell Joseph it's over, and Joseph forces Carmen into an abject sexual encounter in the shower where he ejaculates on her. The day of the kidnapping arrives, and the incident is to take place in the restaurant in the hotel where the gang has been staying. Uncle Jeannot is present to direct the film (apparently shot on video), along with the string quartet (performing in public at last) and eventually the police (who have followed Joseph). As with the bank robbery, mayhem ensues. Joseph is determined to encounter Carmen alone; a gun goes off between them, and Carmen falls to the floor. Leaving her for dead, the police drag Joseph away. In a stupor, Carmen asks the young hotel attendant what it is called when the innocents are on one side and the guilty on the other, when everything has been lost but you are still breathing and the sun is still rising. "Daybreak," he responds.

Cast

* Maruschka Detmers as Carmen X * Jacques Bonnaffé as Joseph Bonnaffé * Myriem Roussel as Claire * as the chef * Hippolyte Girardot as Fred

Isabelle Adjani Isabelle Yasmine Adjani (born 27 June 1955) is a French actress and singer of Algerian and German descent. She has received various accolades, including five César Awards and a Lumière Award, along with nominations for two Academy Awards. ...

was originally cast in the title role, but she left the set after a few days of filming to be with her dying father. It was producer

who brought Maruschka Detmers, a 20-year-old Dutch girl, to the attention of Godard, just out of an acting class and without any film experience behind her. Godard accepted, persuaded both by the perfectly fitting physical type to give life to the sensual and melancholy Carmen, and by the ease with which she faced, during an audition, a nude scene in the presence of the male protagonist.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1983 films 1980s avant-garde and experimental films 1980s French films 1980s French-language films Films based on Carmen Films directed by Jean-Luc Godard Films produced by Alain Sarde Films set in Paris Films shot in Paris French avant-garde and experimental films Georges Bizet Golden Lion winners