Product Details

• Actors: Ana Laguna, Yvan Auzely, Marc Hwang
• Format: Classical, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Image Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: July 9, 2002
• Run Time: 50 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B0000687DZ
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #292,663 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Danced here in the adaptation by the Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin, Georges Bizet's opera Carmen lasts some 50 minutes, only about one-third of the original's playing time. The Swedish Cullberg Ballet Company, choreographed by Mats Ek, is a first-rate ensemble, the women here dressed in colorful Latin-style dresses, the men in fashionable dark grey. The set is plain, with one chief ornament, a large ball that becomes the focus of some acrobatic dancing. Carmen (Ana Laguna) smokes a cigar; her José (Marc Hwang) carries the flowers. Escamillo (Yvan Auzely), dressed in traditional toreador's garb, caps them both in terms of dress, style, and movement. Ek's choreography is forged from a number of influences--the flying figures at one point suggest Bob Fosse. This production will not suit all tastes, but for those who enjoy a contemporary slant on an old story--such as Matthew Bourne offered in his modern-dress dance version The Car Man--Ek's production provides a valid alternative view. --Adrian Edwards

Product Description

With the hot glow of her cigar, the piercing intensity of her gaze, and her unabashed sexuality, Carmen radiates defiance. She's a woman who knows what she wants and is ruthless in pursuing it. She takes and discards lovers as she pleases. Mats Ek's International Emmy Award-winning version of the fiery tale of passion and murderous jealousy is an exciting, suspenseful mix of bravura dancing and inventive, powerful storytelling. Set to Rodion Shchedrin's "Carmen Suite," the Russian composer's arrangement of Bizet's perenially popular opera music, this stylish production features award-winning dancer Ana Laguna as a mesmerizing and irresistible Carmen, with Yvan Auzely and Marc Hwang as her rival lovers: macho bullfighter Escamillo and romantic young soldier Jose.