Carmen

Starring: Antonio Gades, Laura del Sol Director: Carlos Saura Original UK Premiere: 1983 Dvd Release: 25th March, 2002 Number Of Discs: 1 Format: PAL, Widescreen, Region 2 Encoding Subtitled In: Dutch, English, Finnish, German, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish

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Wow, absolutely exhilarating. You dont have to be a lover of classical music, or of Bizets opera Carmen, to be riveted to your seat during this movie. Director Carlos Soura excels at realistically portraying the passion & fiery emotions contained within the story line. The elements of deep infatuation, lust, deceit & unrequited love are hammered home by the seemingly constant sound of heels, boots & flamenco castanets. The blood races in time to the score, & to the brilliant spanish guitar of Paco De Luca who appears throughout as a supporting actor. Soura teases & amazes his audience as scenes evolve from dance hall rehearsals to real life, & back again, finally to a tragic climax that duplicates the final scene of rehearsals. This is 97 minutes of sheer .mental stimulation - the spanish music, the flamenco dancing , the stark sets and, Carlos Soura at his best.

Antonio Gades was a Spanish flamenco dancer & choreographer. He helped to popularise the art form on the international stage. His most notable works included dance adaptations of Prosper Merimee s Carmen & Federico Garcia Lorca s Blood Wedding. In the 1990s, he toured the world with his show Fuenteovejuna based on Lope de Vega s play of the same name. He collaborated closely with the Spanish director Carlos Saura in the filming of his such adaptations & also with Cristina Hoyos, one of the most prolific contemporary female flamenco dancers. Gades has also co-founded & became the artistic director of the Spanish National Ballet in 1978. He died in Madrid after a long battle with cancer. About 6 weeks before his death, he had been decorated with the Order of José Martí, one of the highest honors of Cuba, by the Cuban leader Fidel Castro, in Havana, Cuba. His ashes will be interred at a later date in 2004 at the Mausoleum of the Frank País Second Eastern Front, a memorial cemetery in Havana.

Editors Choice: Carmen, View DVDology

Carlos Saura is a Spanish film director. Born in a family of artists, he developed his artistic sense in chilhood by doing photography. He obtained his directing diploma in Madrid in 1957 at the Institute of Cinema Research & Studies, where he also taught until 1963. In 1957-1958, he created his first documentary film. In 1960, with Golfos, he described the problem of juvenile delinquency in the poor neighbourhoods of Madrid. In 1963, with the film Llanto por un bandido, he also made a historical reconstruction. In 1965, his style, both lyrical & documentary, centred on the problems of the poor, received the recognition of the international community at the Berlin Film Festival, where he received the Silver Bear for his film La caza. In 1967, his film Peppermint Frappé also received a prize at Berlin. The movies La prima Angélica of 1973 & Cria Cuervos of 1973 received the special prize of the jury at the Cannes Film Festival. His movie Mama cumple 100 años was nominated at the Oscar, for the best foreign film in 1979.

Editors Choice: Tango, Carmen, View DVDology

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