Wow! Such a good movie.

Don't listen to the negative reviews

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

I've seen Carmen a few times, and have tried to sit through this film more than once with the understanding that it is "the" film adaptation of Carmen to watch.I've tried watching the VHS more than once. I tried streaming it. I even bought the DVD. But this film adaptation keeps boring me to tears, and interjecting unnecessary dialogue coupled with scenery that is in sharp contrast to every operatic presentation I've ever seen of Carmen.In short Carmen is about a social climbing cigar making female worker who gains an admirer from a local constable, but Carmen has her sights set much higher. Such is life. She flaunts her sexuality to get what she wants, end of story.It's a pretty thin plot, but it's considered a classic, and has a singing narrative to hold the whole thing together. Regrettably Francesco Rosi's version is hampered by the fact that Carmen on stage is usually presented as being a very colorful opera, but here we get a very drab and uninspired, and perhaps even borderline vulgar, production, replete with sand, dust, earth tones everywhere, uninspired camera angles, but some decent performances from the leads.I've never much liked opera to begin with, so perhaps I'm not the right person to review this title, in spite of my understanding of the medium, and with that in mind I have to say that opera is an "old school" entertainment vehicle that uses song to convey a story. My major beef (one of many) is that the reason the song is important on stage is that it conveys the narrative of the play being performed. When you take that away you lose the story. When you put it on location you're essentially doing what screenwriters call "on the nose dialogue", where in the thing you're describing is actually there. Therefore the singing becomes redundant, but the singing was part of the whole reason you went to see an opera in the first place. On stage you can't show an airport or a stable full of horses. Therefore you sing about it to convey to the audience where you are and what you are doing.When you sing about the thing that's on screen, in an opera, you're almost insulting the intelligence of the audience.But the opera aficionado will disagree. Well, it is just my opinion. But all that aside I always recall Carmen as being full of color as well as intrigue. I'm not a big fan of the opera, but the colors and performances did add needed zing to a stage performance that is essentially about an easy good-looking woman who wants more in life, and is willing to trade in on her wiles to get it.The music of Carmen is actually pretty good, which is what I think people keep coming back for, as well as the choral pieces. But the story is fairly plain, even if set against an Iberian backdrop.If you're a fan of opera and of this particular opera, then you might want to give it a shot.Otherwise; watch at your own risk.

Julia M-G is amazing! Despite not being the most physically stunning of women, she radiates such fire that you cannot help but see how every man she walks by falls in love with her version of Carmen. Placido Domingo, of course, is superb (and it's cool to see him when he was young and relatively slender). The movie is shot beautifully, on location in Spain, and the little details of the setting add to the pleasure of watching this wonderful film. I'll admit up front that I'm not a real opera connoisseur. In fact, there are not that many operas I really like. This movie is pretty much the entire reason I started enjoying opera at all, and it has become for me the standard against which I judge all renditions of Carmen. Obviously, most Americans won't like this movie, but then again, it wasn't made for them.

I just received the newly-released DVD of Rossi's film, and it is wonderful. The re-mastered sound track, although not 5.1 digital, is a great improvement over the VHS version.Fresh from watching this movie, I feel that opera was meant to be produced on film. The scenery of Andalucia and the atmosphere of the bullring made the movie totally enjoyable.

Until I was dragged kicking and screaming to see this film, I thought I didn't like opera.If you've been avoiding this because you think it will be a dull, static stage production then think again. Filmed on location in Spain, the film is as visually stunning as it is musically superb.Placido Domingo deserves to be recognized as this century's best tenor on the strength of this performance alone. Julia Migenes is quite remarkable to watch - and she can sing too!