Rating: 
Summary: Fabulous!
Review: What a great flick! The story is timeless, the music is stellar, the cast is perfect, the performance are spectacular, and the filming is tops. The story is a clean do-right soldier who falls for a tainted no-good gypsy, losing everything he values due to a bit of bad luck. The music will dwell in your mind and in your heart long after you've returned to the mundane world. The cast is unbelievable - instead of actors, you will see Carmen, Don Jose, the solders, the matador, the soldiers, the theives, and the world they inhabit. When Carmen sings of love, you will wonder why you never understood the concept before and when Don Jose sings of his love, you will understand exactly why he follows Carmen to his doom. You will never even notice the camera - you flow thru the world of Carmen and Don Jose as if a bird.
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Summary: Bizet's Carmen in movie form
Review: I've watched this version of Carmen several times and like it more and more each viewing.
This is the first opera I've watched as a movie and the effect is certainly different than before a live audience. I don't think any movie can compare to having the performance done in the intimate setting of an opera house: and this is the reason it took me a while to appreciate this work.
Having said that, this production does please the visual and auditory senses. The scenes are beautiful with a pastel quality to them: just enough color for warmth and atmosphere to complement the locations. Some of the views are panoramic while others a close-up.
The roles of Carmen and Don Jose are done by Julia Migenes -Johnson and Placido Domingo respectively. It is hard to imagine two better people for the leads.
Although Julia Migenes-Johnson has a wonderful husky voice that complements her part, it is her acting that is truly outstanding. Swiveling hips, swishing raised skirts, ringlet hair and the look that absolutely makes her the genuine temptress and seductress that her part calls for. How could poor Don Jose not fall for her?
Placido Domingo's interpretation of Don Jose is stellar. Handsome with a voice to die for! Watching his downward spiral as his relationship with Carmen deteriorates is, from a male perspective, hard to watch. The begging and pleading are heart wrenching and you cannot help feel sorry for Don Jose while at the same time wishing he would stand up for himself.
My two favorite scenes are the beautifully choreographed and sung "Habanera" and the finale "It's you! It's me!
All in all a wonderful production of Bizet's Carmen in movie form. Highly recommended if you don't mind losing the stage effect of a live production
Rating:
Summary: ....Although Not The Greatest Carmen For A Recording.
Review: As a film it is the best. Placido Domingo, by far my favorite tenor, sings an incredibly convincing Don Jose. Julia Migenes Johnson, nevertheless, does not sing a suitable Carmen. Raimondi and Esham are good in the supporting roles of Escamillo and Micaela. The movie was filmed on location in Spain, and the atmosphere, complete with large crowd scenes, gravel streets, cathedrals and a bullfight arena, makes a perfect setting. As a film this movie is exceptional. If you look closely, you will see how effectively Bizet's music is played to symbolic scenes. For example, the Overture is played in the first part of the film as we see Escamillo kill his first bull. Appropriately, the ominous Fate theme, which prophetizes the murder and death that is to come at the end of the opera, is played as a funeral procession carries a large idol of the Virgin Mary. Ironically, Carmen herself is in that scene, barely visible among the crowds. Faith Esham holding a Bible, strengthened by her love for Don Jose, sings the most beautiful version of "Je Dis Que Rien" amid a rocky, dangerous landscape of canyons, as she embarks upon a dangerous world of smugglers and duelists she is unfamiliar with, that has become the home of the roaming Carmen, Jose and the contrabandiers. The final scene, in which Carmen confronts Don Jose, making it clear that she does not love him and has turned her affection to Escamillo (the only portion Migenes Johnson sings incredibly well), behind the bullfight stadium. Appropriately enough, Don Jose stabs Carmen just as Escamillo has slayed his bull. It is a metaphor for the free-spirited Carmen herself, who is as untamed as a bull and slain by Don Jose, the one man who wanted to dominate her out of his obscessive love. Excellent film. A must see, if anything for the splendor of Placido Domingo's remarkable tenor voice. Five Stars Nevertheless.
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Summary: A TRADEDY OF LOVE.
Review: This is a unique combination of a beautiful story and majestic music.
Rating:
Summary: A TRADEDY OF LOVE.
Review: This is a unique combination of a beautiful story and magestic music.
Rating:
Summary: From a long-time opera fan
Review: I have been fortunate to attend opera for over 25 years and have purchased a number to own, from my original 33-1/3 records to VHS and now DVD. I own both VHS and DVD versions of Carmen and have given away about 6 copies to friends who weren't "sure they'd like opera." All rate Carmen as outstanding and it has provided a doorway for them to enjoy others. I think Carmen is a wonderful combination of great music, wonderful photography, and best of all singers who are also great actors. Every time we get caught up in the story and hope it might end differently "this time." I heartily recommend it as a first-time opera experience for anyone who wants to try it out. It doesn't get much better than this.
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Summary: A Great Performance of the "original" version of this opera.
Review: The performances in this rendition of Carmen were splendid and the acoustics were excellent. I would highly recommend this DVD, but with only one small warning.It is not well known, but there are two different versions of Bizet's opera Carmen. The original version written entirely by Bizet himself, is rarely, if ever, performed. That is the version presented on this DVD. The only difference is in the so-called "recitative" parts. Bizet's original version had the singers simply speaking, not singing, during the recitatives. Because Bizet's original "spoken" version was not initially well received, he decided to eliminate all speaking parts and replace them with sung-out "recitative" parts. Unfortunately, he died before he could could undertake this project. However, others completed it after his passing. The version usually performed in opera houses today, and found in the typical vocal score, is the revised version where the "recitatives" are sung. However, the version used in this DVD is the original, where the "recits" are spoken and use different words than those used in the more commonly sung recitatives. For most people, this won't matter (or may be found to be a plus). For the opera singer trying to learn a part, this version won't give you all the recitatives in your score. However, even for that small group of listeners, I'd still recommend it as the vast majority of it matches the current vocal score, and it's done extremely well.
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Summary: Loved It!!
Review: Really good. Super story, super stars and a fantastic setting in Spain. This is a "Don't miss."
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Summary: Maltin's Carmen review is Brain-Dead
Review: My wife (born a few blocks from Carmen's tobacco factory in Sevilla, Spain) and I agree with most of the 4+ star reviews about this movie-opera. Leonard Maltin's review is a disappointing non-filmization of the Bizet opera. He is overbaked and unbelievably full of himself.
Rating:
Summary: Opera as good as it gets...in the movies
Review: Never has an opera been translated to film as well as this. The production is incredible, the cast perfect. But the real reason for watching this opera is Julia Migenes. She doesn't sing Carmen. She IS Carmen. She is Carmen with all her raw sensuality and alure and on top of that, what a voice!! So many greats have sung the role of Carmen without understanding the character of Carmen. Who cares how well someone sings if they just don't deliver from the heart, from the soul. Migenes gets it, and she delivers. And Domingo isn't bad either. (That was humor for those of you that take these reviews way too seriously).
If you've never enjoyed an opera before, buy this one.
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