Reviews

This 1987 production of Carmen is quite good. There is a lot of great singing by Agnes Baltsa and Jose Carreras.Their spoken French lacks precision and fluidity but who cares?, probably not a lot of people will feel this.Agnes Baltsa displays a lot of knowhow as an actress as well as a singer. Carreras as an actor, well... but when this man sings you forget about it.And when you think that this was taped in 1987, it becomes rather poignant to see him singing with so much energy and art knowing that he would soon be diagnosed with leukemia. Kudos for the sets, the costumes and the orchestra direction.« Carmen » can be ruined by badly inspired directors.This is certainly not the case. I agree with the preceding review. This is underrated.But I think there is an explanation. There was once a man who said:« The medium is the message.» Nowadays, alas! the medium is the culture. This is traditional opera perhaps but if you consider what we usually see on television these days, this becomes an exceptional 3 hours in your experience as a television viewer. Many thanks to the Met for keeping this DVD available in the stores and at so low cost. By doing this they are truly contributing to the democratization of what is badly named « high culture ».

Michel Simon plays with a lot of subtelty a very recognizable type of human being.Very modern acting on his part. The supporting cast plays in this eccentric manner that characterizes French cinema of this era and they are very good.Totally enjoyable movie.Great direction by Duvivier.It deserves to be a classic.It deserves to be on DVD.