Carmen (1926)

Crappy film

A Major Disappointment

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

There are some stories that after the pass of time are considered classics for different reasons, stories well-known even to longhaired youngsters such as Prosper Merimée's "Carmen". So it won't be necessary to repeat that it is a story about a gypsy that was employed as spy, smuggler, cigar maker… and many lovers too, with a special fond for military men and toreadors and all this around typical Andalusia.The famous Merimée novel was adapted by the great francophone director Herr Jacques Feyder in what was a very important big budget production (it seems that Herr Feyder specialized in this kind of expensive film). It was a film that was filmed in many locations in Spain and France. The film starred the famous Spanish singer at that time, Dame Raquel Meller; but unfortunately those vocal gifts that made her famous couldn't be displayed in this important silent film. Some people even said that Dame Meller was an actress too but this asseveration is very hard to prove.Dame Meller was also in accordance with the spirit included in Merimée novel, an oeuvre full of topics about Andalusia, wrongly attributed to the rest of Spain than even persists today. Surprising are those facts to this Northern German count, due to the fact that the Spanish singer had such a particular and strong personality but scarce knowledge, that is to say actually, the perfect combination in order to perform Merimée's heroine.Herr Feyder uses a gallery of topics, without apology, in a non-caricature kind of way (that's one of the most important merits about Feyder's "Carmen": it is an original adaptation in spite its literary roots and well-known story). It is another excellent film by the director. In "Carmen" the decor and scenery are perfectly chosen and punctilious showed. It is a triumph of art direction in every shot for a film that in spite of being inspired by a well-known novel, is not a pastiche or a simple adaptation. The almost three hours spent viewing the film are nearly imperceptible even for a impatient German Count.And now, if you'll allow me, I must temporarily take my leave because this German Count doesn't like untrue asseveration as, for example about decadent aristocrats of leisure.Herr Graf Ferdinand Von Galitzien http://ferdinandvongalitzien.blogspot.com/