Canadian film case study: Carmen

Carmen is about Carmen, a Maltese spinster who finds herself wondering what is next in her world. She has had an unsatisfactory life as her brother's caretaker — her brother being the local priest. When her brother dies, she loses what she had since Rita (Maltese actor Michaela Farrugia) is there to serve as her brother's caretaker, with her brother being the new priest.

You can tell the story is an awakening of a character. The only suspense is in what will happen not whether it will happen.

English actor Natascha McElhone plays Carmen. McElhone is quite good at revealing what only needs to be known. You do wonder if the actual Carmen is far less attractive than McElhone.

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Valerie Buhagiar tells the story based on her own aunt Rita. Buhagiar is originally from Malta and has that heritage. The location shots feel like an ideal tour guide to what Malta is all about.

Carmen is a soft film, not in a bad way. The film has a definite feminist flavour and takes a few shots at the way the Catholic Church views women. The film could even serve as inspiration if you are stuck in your world.

The only Canadian reference in the film comes from Paulo (Steven Love), who is a Canadian actor, when he explains to Carmen that his mother was Maltese and his father was Canadian.

Carmen is a pleasant film stronger than what it might seem. Buhagiar gives us a compelling picture that knows how far to go and when to end.

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While Malta submitted Carmen to the Academy Awards for nomination, the film did not make the final list of films submitted from around the world.

Carmen runs on August 26 at 9 pm local time on CBC. The film is available in Canada on CBC Gem and Amazon Prime Video in the United States.

video credit: YouTube/whistlerfilm
photo credit: Carmen

Comments

[veronica]

This was a great film.

[Chad]

I agree. Thanks for weighing in on the film.