U-Carmen
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Mark Dornford-may
Pauline Malefane
Andile Tshoni
Lungelwa Blou
Andiswa Kedama
Zweilungile Sidloyi
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Against the backdrop of the hardship suffered by those living in a South African township, a sensuous, independent woman's love of freedom and courage endures even when faced with death. Carmen's passion clashes with Don José's impulsive obsession.
Director
Mark Dornford-may
Cast
Pauline Malefane
Andile Tshoni
Lungelwa Blou
Andiswa Kedama
Zweilungile Sidloyi
Bulewa Cosa
Ruby Mthethwa
Zintle Mgole
Noluthando Bogwana
Andries Mbali
Zamile Gantana
Crew
Guilio Biccari
Georges Bizet
Georges Bizet
Jessica Dornford-may
Mark Dornford-may
Mark Dornford-may
Camilla Driver
Sarel Eloff
Lucinda Englehart
Ross Garland
Ross Garland
Charles Hazelwood
Andiswa Kedama
Ronelle Loots
Pauline Malefane
Prosper Merimee
Joel Mthethwa
Simon Rice
Craig Smith
Tanya Wagner
Film Details
Technical Specs
Articles
U-Carmen - U-CARMEN - A South African Film Adaptation of the Famous Bizet Opera
Synopsis: Sergeant Jongikhaya (Andile Tshoni) loses his heart to Carmenshita aka Carmen (Pauline Malefane), a feisty worker in a cigarette factory and professes a predatory disdain for love. Although Nomakhaya (Lungelwa Blou) comes from Jong's hometown to tell him that his sick mother has chosen Nomakhaya to be his bride, Jongi quits the force to join Carmen's group of ne'er-do-wells, who operate a smuggling operation out of the slum nightclub of Bra Knomo (Andries Mbali). Carmen rejects Jongi to pursue the affections of local operetta star Lulamile Nkomo (Zorro Sidloyi), and Jongi can't take it.
At first U-Carmen is amusing just to see how a story about 19th century gypsies transposes to an entirely different culture. Carmen is still a troublemaking siren but her associates sing in opera festivals while helping to land contraband on the beach at midnight. The smugglers stand out amid the township's tin shacks because they drive cars and use cell phones. Don José is now an ordinary sergeant in the police force, while the bullfighter Escamillo has been re-cast as Lulamile Nkomo, a celebrity singer visiting his hometown. Perhaps the cleverest change of all sees the bullfight transformed into a ritual sacrifice at a feast. We hear the animal cry out, and then Lulamile wipes the blood from his knife.
Carmen is essentially the same, a woman who knows the power behind her sex appeal. She toys with the men that pursue her and takes the ones that don't show interest as a personal challenge. The original operetta described Carmen as attractive despite the fact that she's not a standard beauty. U-Carmen begins with the comparison, showing lead actress Pauline Malefane intimidating the camera with a haughty stare. The characters in U-Carmen correspond to an African yardstick of beauty; by our standards they seem much too heavy. Malefane's Carmen carries herself proudly. Some adaptations of the operetta take the story as a straight seduction in which the noble Don José is brought low by Carmen's irresistible allure. This version is complicated by our awareness that Jongi has already murdered his brother back in his rural village and secretly feels unworthy to be a police officer. Jongi's superior officer is not a romantic rival but a corrupt predator who extorts a promise of sex from Carmen in return for her freedom.
Its takes us a moment to realize that the singing is in Xhosa, not French. Actresses Pauline Malefane and Andiswa Kadama did the adaptation and we simply follow along with the subtitles. Although the underscore and some song intros use African rhythms, the orchestrations are mostly standard. The project was filmed in conjunction with a noted South African opera company called the Dimpho Di Kopane, which also provided the on-screen talent. Interestingly, U-Carmen is a more successful adaptation than Otto Preminger's 1954 Carmen Jones, which forces the original operetta into an awkward form. In U-Carmen the township singers are already amateur operetta hopefuls. Although the music is European, the culture presented is definitely not.
Director Dormford-May uses a series of fast trucking shots to establish the township and takes pains to remind us that ordinary life is going on around the characters. Sexuality is expressed in song and the occasional dance. No lovemaking scenes or nudity appear, although when Jongi meets Carmen, a cigarette girl throws him a condom as a joke: "You'll better use this if you want her!" We're told that the film's premiere was held in the same community hall seen in the film's finale, and U-Carmen is a local accomplishment worthy of a wide audience. It took home the Golden Bear from the Berlin International Film Festival.
Koch Lorber's DVD of U-Carmen is an excellent enhanced transfer of a handsomely filmed production. Colors are bold, with rich skin tones. Tasteful art direction brings visual order to the shantytown background without undue glamorization -- it's still a dry and dusty place.
The welcome extras are a making-of featurette, a trailer and interviews with Mark Dormford-May and his two co-writers. The director and the articulate Mss. Malefane and Kadama give interesting accounts of how the Dimpho Di Kopane works, and how the film came together. The subtitles are removable.
For more information about U-Carmen, visit Koch Lorber. To order U-Carmen, go to TCM Shopping.
by Glenn Erickson
U-Carmen - U-CARMEN - A South African Film Adaptation of the Famous Bizet Opera
Quotes
Trivia
Miscellaneous Notes
Winner of the Golden Bear Award at the 2005 Berlin International Film Festival.
Released in United States 2005
Released in United States 2006
Released in United States February 2005
Released in United States January 2006
Released in United States on Video August 14, 2007
Released in United States September 2005
Released in United States Spring March 28, 2007
Shown at Berlin International Film Festival (Competition) February 10-20, 2005.
Shown at London Film Festival (World Cinema) October 19-November 3, 2005.
Shown at Palm Springs International Film Festival (World Cinema Now) January 5-16, 2006.
Shown at Seattle International Film Festival (Contemporary World Cinema) May 25-June 18, 2006.
Shown at Toronto International Film Festival (Contemporary World Cinema) September 8-17, 2005.
Based on the opera "Carmen" by Georges Bizet.
Released in United States 2005 (Shown at London Film Festival (World Cinema) October 19-November 3, 2005.)
Released in United States 2006 (Shown at Seattle International Film Festival (Contemporary World Cinema) May 25-June 18, 2006.)
Released in United States January 2006 (Shown at Palm Springs International Film Festival (World Cinema Now) January 5-16, 2006.)
Released in United States February 2005 (Shown at Berlin International Film Festival (Competition) February 10-20, 2005.)
Released in United States Spring March 28, 2007
Released in United States September 2005 (Shown at Toronto International Film Festival (Contemporary World Cinema) September 8-17, 2005.)
Released in United States on Video August 14, 2007