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Amazon.co.uk Review
This movie version of Bizet's popular opera Carmen was filmed on location, conveying a kind of atmosphere, a sense of space, movement, and presence that's hard to achieve in a staged performance. It takes the action out of doors for many scenes, with the opening titles superimposed on the bloody conclusion of a bullfight. Elsewhere the changing of the guard, the crowd scenes, the dance number that opens Act 2, and the panoramic scenery of the smugglers' mountain hideout all benefit from the freedom granted by movie cameras.
It's an exciting Carmen, too, with a young-looking Placido Domingo in top form for a role he has sung hundreds of times. For Julia Migenes, though, it was her first performance in a role she would have trouble performing in an opera house. Her voice does not fit easily into Carmen's range, and she spent months training it, very successfully, before singing the role in a recording studio where the soundtrack was taped before the film was shot. Casting her in the role was a gamble, but it worked; she is a convincing actress. Unlike most opera-house performances this movie version uses the opera's original opera comique form with some spoken dialogue rather than recitatives.--Joe McLellan, Amazon.com
Product Description
The heat and passion of Bizet's Carmen is brought to life as never before in Francesco Rosi's definitive, highly-acclaimed version starring Placido Domingo, Julia Migenes and Ruggero Raimondi.
In Seville of 1820 a naive soldier Don Jose falls under the spell of sensual temptress Carmen. He deserts from the army, gives up everything to be with her, only to be spurned in favour of the toreador Escamillo. His desperate pleas for her to return are met with further humiliation and Carmen's taunts lead to a dramatic finale.
In Seville of 1820 a naive soldier Don Jose falls under the spell of sensual temptress Carmen. He deserts from the army, gives up everything to be with her, only to be spurned in favour of the toreador Escamillo. His desperate pleas for her to return are met with further humiliation and Carmen's taunts lead to a dramatic finale.
Extensively restored edition of the classic film.
Bonus Features:
'Carmen: A Shooting Diary' - a new documentary on the making of the film
'A Propos De Carmen' - on the set of the film.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
92 of 95 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
First a word on DVDs. Reviewing opera on DVD is not easy, with a CD there are several factors to consider, the quality of the singing, the orchestra, the conductor, and the quality of the recording. With DVD in addition you have to worry about the acting, the casting, costumes, the setting, lighting, choreography, synchronisation between video and sound and the quality of digital transfer With so many things to go wrong it easy to pick holes in any DVD offering, but that is not the point, opera on DVD is really a tremendous development. For years I struggled to read librettos, trying to follow the plot while listening to CDs or operas broadcast live from the Met, while at the same time keeping track of the words and my place in the English translation. It was not easy, I never really managed to gain a clear picture of the characters or the plot, missed out on many of the subtleties, and was never very clear as to exactly why the soprano was singing this particular aria at this particular time. With DVDs all has changed, it is like a live performance with surtitles, you can see the drama read the words on screen and link it all to the music, wonderful. In future I will buy two version of my favorite operas, one on DVD to learn the opera and the second on CD to enjoy the recording of pre video-era stars.
One word on the sound quality, currently this is really limited by the DVD player, all DVDs contain a sound track that is uncompressed and of higher quality than CD, however as far as I can see at present (Dec 2000) apart from a few high end exotica there is not a DVD player in the world capable of reproducing the sound on DVD disks at even CD quality. Hopefully this will change soon, but rest assured that the sound quality of the disk you buy today will suffice for a very long time into the future, whatever happens on the technology front. One caveat is the possibility that multichannel surround sound will take off, which may mean some current disks will be limited, but personally I doubt it will ever happen.
So to Rosi's Carmen, best described as an opera shot on location, the scenery is lovely the drama all the more realistic. A video of an opera house production is often disappointing in the scenery department, what may appear realistic from a seat in the circle, may look faintly ridiculous to the camera's analytical eye; this opera completely avoid the problem. On small criticism is that the company sometimes acts as if they were still constrained by a small stage, one example is where the soldier chorus all take one step forward as they start singing, very unnatural and a bit jarring mainly because the opera looks like a film and hence we expect high quality acting. Julia Migenes is Carmen, she trained for the role for months and for me is perfect in looks and voice. Placido Domingo's singing is terrific as usual even if his acting is bit stiff, on the other hand Spaniards are reserved and Spanish soldiers quite formal and so his approach is probably correct, if severely contrasted to Carmen's liberated lifestyle. Faith Esham's role as Micaela is beautifully sung if self-consciously acted, Ruggero Raimondi is totally convincing as Escamillo.
The playing of Orchestre National de France under Lorin Maazel is excellent. Sound and video quality are first class, for me the whole package is exceptional.
One note: The introduction contains a grim bullfight scene, even though I have seen several on Spanish TV on the DVD it was very clear, bloody and heartbreaking, I know it is integral to the plot but skip to the next scene.
50 of 52 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This fabulous film has been transferred on to DVD - and Columbia Tristar has made a nice, if workmanlike job of it. The picture is the correct widescreen ratio, enhanced for optimum resolution on widescreen TVs. The sound is in stereo, compressed using the Dolby Digital AC-3 system which is not as good as the PCM Stereo format of CD (which is also supported by the DVD format). So, whilst Columbia Tristar have missed a trick in not giving this the same CD quality sound as the CD soundtrack of the film (available on a 3CD set from Erato records/Warner Classics, by the way) the Stereo soundtrack is superior to a VHS Hifi tape and is on the whole well transferred. The lip-synching is good enough to make you forget or at least not care that it is lip-synched and at least the actors on screen are actually the singers (unlike some other more "experimental" opera films). The whole the is beautifully done with breathtaking cinematography, fantastic singing and acting and is an engrossing experinece. For the feint hearted/those of a nervous disposition a warning however: the film opens with some pretty explicit scenes of what I think is a real bullfight (it looks like it anyway - I can't really see a real bullfight getting past the BBFC but you never know this being an "art house" film!) Could have been better from an audio point of view but Highly Recommended!
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Carmen is certainly not one of my favourite operas, yet this production is a fantastic movie. It has been filmed outside on beautiful locations and provides a feast for the eyes. If you like opera movies, this one is a must-have.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
EXCELLENT
This is a first class performance!
All the singers are first class
The scenery is not staged but is outside-- it is so realistic with real bulls
All the singers are first class
The scenery is not staged but is outside-- it is so realistic with real bulls
Published 2 months ago by Bernard Akester
Hard to believe that a film could be better
Opera films are not always very successful but this version of Carmen is a triumph. Immense effort has gone into the production values concerning space, choice of locations ,... Read more
Published 3 months ago by trottman
KNEESY DOES IT, CARMEN
I totally agree with the vast majority of the other excellent reviews for this circa 1984 film
version of CARMEN is of five star quality. Read more
version of CARMEN is of five star quality. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mr. W. J. Wright
Great entertainment but not a classic Carmen
Firstly a warning. In the version I have there is the death of a bull in a real bull fight during the introduction and then at the very end the scenes shot in a real bullring show... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Trev-R
carmen opera
CARMEN: i know the opera very well, but when i saw it was sang by placido Domingo and Innes i juST had to buy it and can recommend it to opera lovers. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Cesar G. Esterman
First class DVD
I have had a VHS version of this film for many years. So was pleased when this new DVD came out.
The resoration is excellent, both sound and vision. Read more
The resoration is excellent, both sound and vision. Read more
Published 6 months ago by The Old Man
What a treat !!
Had this originally on video..... this DVD is so much better !!
For all who haven't experienced this version of Carmen, may I suggest watching disc 2 prior to the film (disc... Read more
For all who haven't experienced this version of Carmen, may I suggest watching disc 2 prior to the film (disc... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Mr. P. Price
CARMEN AT ITS BEST
We first purchased this version of CARMEN many years ago on VHS it is without doubt the best version of CARMEN on tape or DVD, JULIA MIGENES IS THE BEST CARMEN EVER
Anyone... Read more
Anyone... Read more
Published 8 months ago by BOOKER
Carmen politically incorrect but so enjoyable.
We have drinking, smoking, womanising and bullfighting. All the things we profess to hate. So why is it such a popular Opera? Read more
Published 8 months ago by M. Taplin
Totally seduced by performance - only average Blu-ray video quality!
This review is for the newly restored Blu-ray version of Carmen. This filmed version has been reviewed many times but as far as I am aware only two other persons have reviewed the... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Nigel Mc
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