Carmen

pp. 132-142

in: Jill Forbes, Sarah Street, European cinema, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2000

Abstract

Carmen is an excellent example of a particular kind of European film — intensely local, and displaying a preoccupation with ideas of national identity, yet appealing to a wider European and international audience. It is a dance film, a showcase for ballet español, a fusion of contemporary dance and flamenco. The main events in the film are the search for a principal dancer, followed by the rehearsals for a flamenco ballet based on the opera Carmen, by the French composer Bizet, itself based on the novel by Prosper Mérimée.