Vorname Carmen

Godard, by his standards, is completely accessible even for those who do not particularly appreciate his unique film language. Based on the screenplay by his long-time collaborator and partner Anne-Marie Miéville and (rather loosely) inspired by Mérimée/Bizet's original story, he creates not only a story about the passion of Carmen and her male "victims," but also connects it with a narrative line depicting smaller terrorist actions of a group of young people who try to obtain money for making their film and capture their other activities with its help. The one who is supposed to direct their film (though without knowing the above) is none other than Godard himself, playing himself (and also Carmen's uncle). The captivating visual and musical form of the destructive relationship between the young man and woman is complemented from the other side by the ironic self-reflection of the "aging and failed" director. However, in the end, he does not shoot the film (could it be a symbolic separation from his Maoist past of the 60s/70s, at least in terms of an explicit connection between film and ideology?). (04.05.2013)