Carmen

It was another double feature at the Broadway for me last night and I started with Carmen, Benjamin Millepied's directorial debut.  It is meant to be a reimagining of Carmen by Georges Bizet but it shares a vibe with the famous tragic opera rather than a plot.  After her mother Zilah (Marina Tamayo) is brutally gunned down, Carmen (Melissa Barrera) is forced to leave her home in the Mexican desert and cross the border illegally.  Aidan (Paul Mescal), a veteran of the war in Afghanistan who is clearly suffering from PTSD, volunteers with the border guard but ends up impulsively killing another volunteer who captures Carmen.  Soon the two of them are on the run to Los Angeles so Carmen can find Zilah's friend Masilda (Rossy de Palma) who owns a nightclub there.  They begin a passionate relationship but can they outrun their fate?  There are some amazing dance sequences (Millepied is better known as a choreographer and it shows) interspersed in the narrative and this, rather than dialogue, is how all of the characters express their emotions (my favorite is a high energy hip-hop dance sequence when Aidan is involved in an underground boxing match).  Barrera is a beautiful and expressive dancer and she and Mescal sizzle in their scenes together.  The visuals are absolutely gorgeous, particularly the recurring image of fire, and the music is incredibly evocative and haunting.  Even though the story is very superficial and Carmen and Aidan seem more like archetypes rather than fully fleshed out characters, I was mesmerized from beginning to end.  This might not be for everyone but I recommend it to those who appreciate movies with a unique vision.