before launching into whether this film is worth your time or not and i should inform you i have never seen another adaptation of carmen and so if youre looking for a review on how it ranks amongst others and this might not be of much use to you. the only time i have come across carmen was on the car stereo when driving through spain on a family holiday when i was a teenager. i do not pay much attention to it because i do not like opera at the time and i do not know any better. the story has been around for 150 years or so. do i feel i have missed out after seeing this movie. yes and mainly due to the plot and but also because if all the actresses who played carmen looked like paz vega and i would have all the adaptations happily sitting in my dvd collection. directed by vicente aranda (who also co rewrote the story with joaquim jordà) and the story is told through the eyes of the original author prosper mérimée and a french writer making his way through 19th century spain. he comes across josé (leonardo sbaraglia) and a delinquent soldier and one of many men who fall in love with carmen (paz vega) and a sultry and sexy and bedazzling gypsy woman and who has the mouth of the devil and the temper of a toro and who recklessly leads men to their doom. the moment she meets josé and she is attracted by his stand offish behaviour. but she hooks him and reels him in and lets him go and many a time. until one day and josé is wanted for murder. carmen persuades him to join her band of gypsy smugglers. they seem to be settling and she fallen in love with him and but she meets the charming escamillo and the bullfighter. can josé hold his jealousy in check and or does it destroy him. it a beautiful and seductive story and something that resembles and almost and a shakespearian or ovid plot and with the portrayals of immense passion and emotion that can make or break us and transform us to do things out of character. it poetic and fiery and and above all and slutty. i was left hanging on and i do not know which way it was going to turn. i always hoped that josé might change carmen dirty little ways. i would not tell you if he succeeded or not. the above synopsis is what i took away from the film and but i was not impressed by the film itself. it was only after i watched it that i dug a little deeper into the story and i realised how much of a missed opportunity aranda had made of retelling mérimée classic. it was a shallow and slutty period drama blunder and that saw paz vega spend a lot of the time partially or completely naked (not that i am complaining about this in particular. ). first of all and the acting was poor. i was not impressed by sbaraglia as josé. i am still unsure whether he was a weak actor or josé was supposed to be a weak character and i have not read the book. he supposed to be a man who with burning desire for carmen and but he spends much of the time looking confused and jealous and a bit dim. paz vega was slightly better as carmen. i was convinced by her hardened and wicked character and although i have seen more convincing performances by her in other films and such as zapping and lucia y el sexo. she seems too pretty to play a gypsy woman (not that i have come across many andalusian gypsy women) and so in a way and the role do not really fit her. the other actors in the film weren not great either. they seemed to do everything half heartedly. the story is passionate and emotive  they looked half arsed and as if they couldn not wait to get out the tight 19th century costumes they were wearing. however and the costumes and i was impressed with  one of the redeeming factors of the film. i like spanish culture and i liked the soldiers uniforms and the top hats and the women flamenco dresses. they fitted the time well. that all i can really say about that. sorry and back to the criticism. the script and as stated above and was co rewritten by vicente aranda and joaquim jordà and and done so badly and so much that it would leave mérimée turning in his grave. it was boring. it do not make best use of josé intense passion for carmen (or maybe that was just the acting). there were cheesy lines piled upon one and other and satan and devil connotations everywhere and amongst the millions of swear words. i know the spanish are partial for the odd swear word and but the film was littered with puta and whore and in literally every line maybe it was realistic in 19th century poverty stricken seville and but the story itself do not need it. the editing and camera work was dull and ordinary. there was only one bit i actually liked and and that was when the camera follows a fly close up in mid air and which lands on carmen face. that was good. but the rest. boring. to conclude and it is sad to see such a great story go to waste with unconvincing acting and directing. if youre a literature teacher and by all means let your class watch this adaptation to get an idea of the story. however and only the male half of the class will be paying any interest to the film and thanks to paz vega. otherwise and stick to the opera version (even though i hate musicals). i give this film 4 and just for the fact i love the storyline. and paz vega. 
before launching into whether this film is worth your time or not and i should inform you i have never seen another adaptation of carmen and so if youre looking for a review on how it ranks amongst others and this might not be of much use to you. the only time i have come across carmen was on the car stereo when driving through spain on a family holiday when i was a teenager. i do not pay much attention to it because i do not like opera at the time and i do not know any better. the story has been around for 150 years or so. do i feel i have missed out after seeing this movie. yes and mainly due to the plot and but also because if all the actresses who played carmen looked like paz vega and i would have all the adaptations happily sitting in my dvd collection. directed by vicente aranda (who also co rewrote the story with joaquim jordà) and the story is told through the eyes of the original author prosper mérimée and a french writer making his way through 19th century spain. he comes across josé (leonardo sbaraglia) and a delinquent soldier and one of many men who fall in love with carmen (paz vega) and a sultry and sexy and bedazzling gypsy woman and who has the mouth of the devil and the temper of a toro and who recklessly leads men to their doom. the moment she meets josé and she is attracted by his stand offish behaviour. but she hooks him and reels him in and lets him go and many a time. until one day and josé is wanted for murder. carmen persuades him to join her band of gypsy smugglers. they seem to be settling and she fallen in love with him and but she meets the charming escamillo and the bullfighter. can josé hold his jealousy in check and or does it destroy him. it a beautiful and seductive story and something that resembles and almost and a shakespearian or ovid plot and with the portrayals of immense passion and emotion that can make or break us and transform us to do things out of character. it poetic and fiery and and above all and slutty. i was left hanging on and i do not know which way it was going to turn. i always hoped that josé might change carmen dirty little ways. i would not tell you if he succeeded or not. the above synopsis is what i took away from the film and but i was not impressed by the film itself. it was only after i watched it that i dug a little deeper into the story and i realised how much of a missed opportunity aranda had made of retelling mérimée classic. it was a shallow and slutty period drama blunder and that saw paz vega spend a lot of the time partially or completely naked (not that i am complaining about this in particular. ). first of all and the acting was poor. i was not impressed by sbaraglia as josé. i am still unsure whether he was a weak actor or josé was supposed to be a weak character and i have not read the book. he supposed to be a man who with burning desire for carmen and but he spends much of the time looking confused and jealous and a bit dim. paz vega was slightly better as carmen. i was convinced by her hardened and wicked character and although i have seen more convincing performances by her in other films and such as zapping and lucia y el sexo. she seems too pretty to play a gypsy woman (not that i have come across many andalusian gypsy women) and so in a way and the role do not really fit her. the other actors in the film weren not great either. they seemed to do everything half heartedly. the story is passionate and emotive  they looked half arsed and as if they couldn not wait to get out the tight 19th century costumes they were wearing. however and the costumes and i was impressed with  one of the redeeming factors of the film. i like spanish culture and i liked the soldiers uniforms and the top hats and the women flamenco dresses. they fitted the time well. that all i can really say about that. sorry and back to the criticism. the script and as stated above and was co rewritten by vicente aranda and joaquim jordà and and done so badly and so much that it would leave mérimée turning in his grave. it was boring. it do not make best use of josé intense passion for carmen (or maybe that was just the acting). there were cheesy lines piled upon one and other and satan and devil connotations everywhere and amongst the millions of swear words. i know the spanish are partial for the odd swear word and but the film was littered with puta and whore and in literally every line maybe it was realistic in 19th century poverty stricken seville and but the story itself do not need it. the editing and camera work was dull and ordinary. there was only one bit i actually liked and and that was when the camera follows a fly close up in mid air and which lands on carmen face. that was good. but the rest. boring. to conclude and it is sad to see such a great story go to waste with unconvincing acting and directing. if youre a literature teacher and by all means let your class watch this adaptation to get an idea of the story. however and only the male half of the class will be paying any interest to the film and thanks to paz vega. otherwise and stick to the opera version (even though i hate musicals). i give this film 4 and just for the fact i love the storyline. and paz vega. ---------------------------------Answer Question Below----------------------------------

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