VHS : Carlos Saura Dance Trilogy Part 1 - Carmen

Rating: - Arriba!!
This is one of my all-time favorite films. The color and dancing are spectacular but I think he most interesting and intelligent aspect of he film is the confusion of reality with unreality; life with an opera. The film, which starts on a concrete level becomes more and more surreal as Gades slips into a form of madness--a madness, perhaps, fated by the Gods.

He is obsessed with finding the perfect Carmen and...to their mutual destruction...he finds her. Reality and the opera become increasingly intertwined until Gades distorted reality becomes more powerful than life itself. In parallel with Bizet's Carmen, Gades falls inexplicably and helplessly in love with he faithless Carmen. I won't write more. You really need to see it yourself.

There's only one scene I disapprove of. Gades dances a dance that, "changed my life and taught me about dance." The whole episode is an insider thing and should have been left on the cutting floor.

One scene I especially enjoyed is the tobacco factory. "There are good and bad girls in this factory," The women sing. They choose sides and go into an aggressive dance routine that must be seen to be believed. It ends when an enraged Carmen produces a knife and slashes the throat of a rival--a rival in the opera and a rival in "real" life. It's sudden and shocking.

Ron Braithwaite, author of novels--"Skull Rack" and "Hummingbird God"--on the Spanish Conquest of Mexico

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Rating: - Carmen directed by Carlos Saura
This flamenco version of Carmen is terrific! When will it be available for purchase in the NTSC DVD format?

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Rating: - Why Not NTSC Region 1?
This is a beautiful movie, one of the best dance films of all time, and unarguably (except by cretinous blockheads) a classic. So why can't we in the U.S. and Canada have a Region 1 release on DVD? The money is burning in my pocket--just put it on the shelf and I'll be there to buy.

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Rating: - Careful of European DVD
Earlier a reviewer wrote: "Good news to all. Carmen and the Carlos Saura Dance Trilogy are available on DVD (PAL) if you visit www.flamencoexport.com. Shipping is a bit expensive but each DVD only costs around 21 Euros." Careful, folks, the DVD PAL format
will not work on the DVD player most Americans have purchased.
Those folks will need the DVD NTSC format. And yes why hasn't an
American distributer converted this wonderful film to the NTSC
format? Such a shame this film is not available!

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Rating: - Where's the NTSC version?
I remember this movie from many moons ago, and have been looking for it ever since. Now here it is, but I can't watch it. Will someone please publish it in NTSC with English subtitles? Thank You Very Much. The music of this splendid film has stuck with me all these years!