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VIVA CARMEN! MOVIE REVIEW
Everyone knows the music from Bizet’s Carmen—one of the world’s most famous operas! Bits of it have riffed their way into everything from trailers to soundtracks and parodies. And of course, everyone knows the classic story of Carmen…Anyone? The story of a beautiful Romani dancer, wanted by the law, who falls into a complicated relationship with a soldier, becoming caught in an unhealthy love triangle in a tale of lust, obsession, and jealousy? Doesn’t ring a bell? Luckily, Maciej is here, from Europe, where more people are apparently in tune with operatic classics. Set in sunny Spain, Viva Carmen! retells this 150-year-old tale from the point of view of Salva, an orphan who assists a blind knife sharpener. Salva soon becomes smitten with Carmen, a beautiful, free-spirited, and mysterious Romani girl who, sadly for him, is a little older. When the old man has a vision of a soldier named José killing Carmen, Salva decides to do everything in his power to warn her, even as romantic feelings begin to develop between Carmen and José. Salva befriends a group of child thieves and finds himself caught up in Carmen’s story and the dangerous world surrounding her. Director Sébastien Laudenbach (The Girl Without Hands) takes his usually abstract visual style and uses it to tell a much more adventurous story. The result is a colorful, energetic reinterpretation of one of opera’s most famous tragedies, told through the eyes of a child. But can Carmen successfully be transformed into a modern animated musical? How do the darker elements of the original story clash with its child’s-eye perspective? Can a movie be an authentic celebration of Romani culture while also repeatedly using the G-slur in its dialogue? More importantly, does Viva Carmen! manage to make a 150-year-old opera feel alive again, or is this one classic that should have stayed on the stage?
DIRECTED BY: Sébastien Laudenbach
YOUR REVIEWERS
Maciej Kur (Infestation)
Maciej Kur is a Polish comic and film script writer, director and reviewer, and decidedly the biggest fan and most loyal supporter of Oneofus.net. A graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw with a master’s degree and the Academy of Film and Television. Co-creator of the comic book series Dollicious and Emilka Sza (with Magdalena Kania ) and Lil i Put, (with Piotr Bednarczyk ) and many others. Awarded in 2014 for a comic book in the spirit of Janusz Christa and awarded for “Złoty Puchar” in 2023. He wrote scripts for new comic books in the Polish cult series “Kayko and Kokosh”, as well as episodes of an animated series based on it (available on Netflix). He wrote for many other shows including “Kicia Kocia” (Kitty Kotty), “Pompik the Bison”, “Pucio”, “Hip-Hip and Hurra” and the upcoming animated movies “The Shrew of Destiny” and “Tytus, Romek and A’tomek”. He also directed a documentary about Polish animation legend “Witold Giersz”. Big lover of the art of animation and comic books.
Michael Riojas (Screener Squad, Highly Suspect Reviews)
The man with the ever-changing nicknames. Born in Austin, Riojas was rocketed to Del Rio, Texas, a literal Smallville. In his youth, he was bitten by a radioactive… okay, look. Mike is not very good at this whole “talking about himself” thing. But he has been so obsessed with comics, video games, and anime since childhood- that if one has to choose between listening to Joe Quesada or Mike over any obscure Spider-Man trivia, they go to him (or, at least Martin Thomas once said so). He is also a big fan of “Ghostbusters” (he even owns his own jumpsuit and two, that’s right, TWO proton packs!), collects toys and video games, and will defend “Superman IV: The Quest for Peace” if provoked. He lives in Austin with his beloved Dachshund-Maltese and trusted sidekick, Dean. He can also be heard on RageSelect. He can be found on Twitter and Instagram.
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