SYNOPSIS:
U-CARMEN EKHAYELITSHA, a feature film sung and spoken in Xhosa.
Based on Bizet's opera CARMEN, the film is set in present
day Khayelitsha, a township near Cape Town. The link between
the original opera and the screenplay will be the acclaimed
Dimpho Di Kopane cast and Bizet's sensational score.
MOVIE
REVIEW
An
age old love tale of, Carmen (Malefane), a cigarette girl
in a small factory. whose delights is tormenting the men of
Kayelitsha, her hometown, meets her match in Jongikhaya (Tshoni),
a local police officer, when he is called in to break up a
brawl at the factory. Carmen is taken in by his indifference,
and when he arrests her, she uses all her flirtatious whiles
to seduce him and escapes. Losing his job in the police, Jongikhaya,
desperate to impress Carmen, gets involved with her gangster
friends and helps with a smuggling job, but Carmen is rapidly
losing interest in him as her mind is on other lovers, especially
a local singer making Jongikhaya, desperately jealous, is
driven to despair.
I'm
sure there are many versions of this phased-over vision but
what makes this version of Carmen stand out?
Well,
first there’s the setting: by moving Carmen to the Cape
slums, it brings an immediate freshness to the story. The
South African shantytown has a similar colour and liveliness
amidst the violence, poverty and squalor. It’s similar
to Baz Lurhman’s Romeo & Juliet in bringing a very
modern vibrancy to an old story.
The
music cleverly blends traditional Xhosa songs with Bizet’s
original music. The cast, all members of lyric theatre company,
are generally good though the standout performance is from
Pauline Malefane in the title role. Carmen is like a force
of nature, unstoppable, and Malefane is very attractive and
sensual though certainly fits the Precious Ramotswe ideal
of a traditionally built lady. It’s very pleasing to
see a woman in a film portrayed as a object of desire who
isn’t stick thin with perky breasts.
Its
no wonder Carmen deservingly won the Golden Bear at Berlin
2005.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Though gritty as portrayed through the slums, it shines in
its vivid colors enhancing the setting to its realism setting
mixing with the Dolby Digital 5.1 track making full use of
its audio to the max.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Quite
unfortunate that this code 3 presentation comes bare-bone
with just its normal set-up and scene selection.
MOVIE
RATING:
OVERALL
DVD RATING :
Review
by Lokman B S
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