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U-Carmen
Koch Lorber Films

U-Carmen reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 74 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
7.8 out of 10
based on 8 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 5 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: Not Rated

Starring Pauline Malefane, Andile Tshoni, Lungelwa Blou, Zweilungile Sidloyi, Andries Mbali, Zamile Gantana, Andiswa Kedama, and Ruby Mthethwa

Based on Bizet's opera "Carmen," this film is sung and spoken in Xhosa, one of South Africa's eleven official languages.


GENRE(S): Drama  |  Foreign  |  Musical  |  Romance  
WRITTEN BY: Mark Dornford-May
Andiswa Kedama
Pauline Malefane
Ludovic Halévy and Henri Meilhac (opera libretto Carmen)
 
DIRECTED BY: Mark Dornford-May  
RELEASE DATE: Theatrical: March 28, 2007 
RUNNING TIME: 120 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: South Africa 
LANGUAGE(S): Xhosa (with English subtitles) 

Also known as "U-Carmen e-Khayelitsha"

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

88
New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
Riveting update of George Bizet's "Carmen."
Read Full Review
80
Village Voice Julia Wallace
This was basically the best idea ever. The setting brims over with the same wicked froth of danger, exoticism, and passion that 19th-century Seville must have had before it got stylized into oblivion.
Read Full Review
80
The New York Times Matt Zoller Seitz
Mr. Hazlewood’s strategy also draws attention to the lack of psychological detail in the central love triangle, which isn’t good. But the music still pierces, the blood still flows, and the overall conception is so original that even when the movie falters in the moment, it dazzles in the memory.
Read Full Review
75
New York Post V.A. Musetto
A vivacious film that is a treat for eyes and ears.
Read Full Review
75
TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
It's vivid evidence that great music and stories transcend time and place.
Read Full Review
70
Chicago Reader Richard M. Porton
The film is never dull and often rousing, but this is essentially a conventional version of a classic opera--the attempt to transform it into a critique of macho hubris comes off as an afterthought, and the poverty is just a backdrop.
Read Full Review
60
Variety Russell Edwards
This version of Georges Bizet's frequently reinterpreted "Carmen" is spoken and sung in the click-punctuated African lingo of Xhosa and adapted to fit yarn's shift south, with a semi-cinema verite style cleverly disguising the artifice of the work's legit origins.
Read Full Review
50
The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt
Brilliantly sung by an extremely talented lyric theater company in Cape Town called Dimpho Di Kopane. Whether this all works will be a matter of opinion -- mine is that it does not -- but the experiment is fascinating.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 7.8 (out of 10) based on 5 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Kat H gave it a10:
Excellent version of Carmen. It was refreshing to see it from another cultural experience.

Brian O. gave it a9:
I saw this at the Indianapolis International Film Festival last year and the director and star were there - maybe I was star-struck, but I thought it was magnificent and Malefane has a truly lovely voice. May require being an opera fan for some, but I'm not terribly into opera and I loved it. A unique movie-going experience.

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