U-Carmen eKhayelitsha
Encyclopedia
U-Carmen eKhayelitsha is a 2005 South Africa
n opera
tic film directed and produced by Mark Dornford-May
.
's 1875 opera Carmen
. It was shot entirely in Xhosa
, and combines both music from the original opera with traditional African music. It takes place in the Cape Town
township
of Khayelitsha
. U-Carmen was translated into Xhosa by Andiswa Kedama and Pauline Malefane, who also play Amanda and Carmen in the movie, respectively.
The cast rehearsed for four weeks before they began shooting the film. The film's musical numbers were recorded live on the set without any additional dubbing. The film was Dornford-May's directorial debut. Also, none of the cast members had ever acted on film before.
Later, the cigarette girls are watching TV when they see that a singing star, Lulamile Nkomo, from their township is returning to the area for a special concert. Pinki turns off the TV when Carmen is trying to watch the footage and a fight ensues. The police arrive to break up the fight; Jongikhaya takes Carmen into custody after she wounds Pinki with a knife. However, Carmen convinces Jongikhaya to let her go in exchange for her love and promises to meet him later at a local bar. Jongikhaya is demoted by Captain Gantana and confined to barracks for his role in the escape.
Several days later, Carmen, Amanda, the cigarette factory workers, and Carmen's drug dealer friends eagerly await the arrival of Lulamile Nkomo at Bra Nkomo's bar. The police arrive to search for Carmen, but she hides. Jongikhaya also arrives, although he is treated with hostility by the factory girls and the drug traffickers until Carmen vouches for him. He declares his undying love for Carmen and she warns him again that she only belongs to herself. He also gives her his mother's ring. At the urging of Carmen, Jongikhaya quits his job and becomes a drug trafficker. However, one night during a smuggling operation, he becomes jealous when Carmen is friendly towards another man and starts a fight. The other drug traffickers beat him up and a furious Carmen declares that their relationship is over. Carmen returns the ring that he gave her. Jongikhaya is determined that Carmen will not forget him. He declares he will kill her if she rejects him.
Carmen is scheduled to sing at Lulamile Nkomo's homecoming concert. Her friends warn her that Jongikhaya is in the audience. When Carmen tries to tell Jongikhaya that their relationship is over, he chases her outside the music venue and threatens her with a knife. Despite his ominous threat, Carmen refuses to take him back. Jongikhaya stabs her and is seized by members of the concert audience as she dies.
.
Other Black
adaptations of Carmen:
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
tic film directed and produced by Mark Dornford-May
Mark Dornford-May
Mark Dornford-May is a British-born South African theatre and film director.-Early life:Mark Dornford-May was born on his Grandfathers farm near Eastoft in Yorkshire. His paternal Grandfather was a miner on the Yorkshire coalfields...
.
Production
The movie is a modern remake of BizetGeorges Bizet
Georges Bizet formally Alexandre César Léopold Bizet, was a French composer, mainly of operas. In a career cut short by his early death, he achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen, became one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertory.During a...
's 1875 opera Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
. It was shot entirely in Xhosa
Xhosa language
Xhosa is one of the official languages of South Africa. Xhosa is spoken by approximately 7.9 million people, or about 18% of the South African population. Like most Bantu languages, Xhosa is a tonal language, that is, the same sequence of consonants and vowels can have different meanings when said...
, and combines both music from the original opera with traditional African music. It takes place in the Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
township
Township (South Africa)
In South Africa, the term township and location usually refers to the urban living areas that, from the late 19th century until the end of Apartheid, were reserved for non-whites . Townships were usually built on the periphery of towns and cities...
of Khayelitsha
Khayelitsha
Khayelitsha is a partially informal township in Western Cape, South Africa, located on the Cape Flats in the City of Cape Town. The name is Xhosa for New Home...
. U-Carmen was translated into Xhosa by Andiswa Kedama and Pauline Malefane, who also play Amanda and Carmen in the movie, respectively.
The cast rehearsed for four weeks before they began shooting the film. The film's musical numbers were recorded live on the set without any additional dubbing. The film was Dornford-May's directorial debut. Also, none of the cast members had ever acted on film before.
Plot summary
The film begins when Nomakhaya arrives at a Cape Town police station, looking for police sergeant Jongikhaya. He is out on patrol, so she decides to return later to avoid being harassed by the other officers. Meanwhile, Carmen and Amanda are going to work at the cigarette factory. They pass in front of Jongikhaya's police vehicle and Carmen yells at him for parking there. Nomakhaya eventually finds Jongikhaya and gives him a ring that his dying mother sent him: she urges him to return to his village to see his mother before she dies. A flashback reveals that Jongikhaya has been disowned by his mother after he drowned his brother during an argument. Later, the bored police officers decide to go to the cigarette factory to see the girls. Carmen is piqued when Jongikhaya reads his Bible and ignores her. She flirts with him and throws a rose into his car.Later, the cigarette girls are watching TV when they see that a singing star, Lulamile Nkomo, from their township is returning to the area for a special concert. Pinki turns off the TV when Carmen is trying to watch the footage and a fight ensues. The police arrive to break up the fight; Jongikhaya takes Carmen into custody after she wounds Pinki with a knife. However, Carmen convinces Jongikhaya to let her go in exchange for her love and promises to meet him later at a local bar. Jongikhaya is demoted by Captain Gantana and confined to barracks for his role in the escape.
Several days later, Carmen, Amanda, the cigarette factory workers, and Carmen's drug dealer friends eagerly await the arrival of Lulamile Nkomo at Bra Nkomo's bar. The police arrive to search for Carmen, but she hides. Jongikhaya also arrives, although he is treated with hostility by the factory girls and the drug traffickers until Carmen vouches for him. He declares his undying love for Carmen and she warns him again that she only belongs to herself. He also gives her his mother's ring. At the urging of Carmen, Jongikhaya quits his job and becomes a drug trafficker. However, one night during a smuggling operation, he becomes jealous when Carmen is friendly towards another man and starts a fight. The other drug traffickers beat him up and a furious Carmen declares that their relationship is over. Carmen returns the ring that he gave her. Jongikhaya is determined that Carmen will not forget him. He declares he will kill her if she rejects him.
Carmen is scheduled to sing at Lulamile Nkomo's homecoming concert. Her friends warn her that Jongikhaya is in the audience. When Carmen tries to tell Jongikhaya that their relationship is over, he chases her outside the music venue and threatens her with a knife. Despite his ominous threat, Carmen refuses to take him back. Jongikhaya stabs her and is seized by members of the concert audience as she dies.
Awards
The film won critical acclaim when it received the Golden Bear at the 2005 Berlin International Film FestivalBerlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
.
Cast
- Carmen - Pauline Malefane
- Nomakhaya - Lungelwa Blou
- Jongikhaya - Andile Tshoni
- Amanda - Andiswa Kedama
- Manelisa - Noluthando Boqwana
See also
- Dimpho di KopaneDimpho di KopaneDimpho di Kopane is a South African theatre cooperative. The company started in 2000 and currently has 32 members. It has risen to prominence in South Africa after a successful stage rendition of Bizet's Carmen which then went on to tour to the US, Australia, Canada, Turkey and the UK...
- Xhosa musicXhosa musicXhosa music has long been a major part of the music of South Africa, especially in the field of jazz. There are many Xhosa clans, each with their own styles of drumming and dialects....
Other Black
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
adaptations of Carmen:
- Carmen JonesCarmen Jones (film)Carmen Jones is a 1954 American musical film produced and directed by Otto Preminger. The screenplay by Harry Kleiner is based on the libretto for the 1943 stage production of the same name by Oscar Hammerstein II, which was inspired by an adaptation of the 1845 Prosper Mérimée novella Carmen by...
(1954), set in 1950s USA and directed by Otto PremingerOtto PremingerOtto Ludwig Preminger was an Austro–Hungarian-American theatre and film director.After moving from the theatre to Hollywood, he directed over 35 feature films in a five-decade career. He rose to prominence for stylish film noir mysteries such as Laura and Fallen Angel...
with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein IIOscar Hammerstein IIOscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for... - Carmen: A Hip HoperaCarmen: A Hip HoperaCarmen: A Hip Hopera is a 2001 musical film produced for television by MTV and directed by Robert Townsend. The film stars Beyoncé Knowles in her debut acting role, Mos Def, Rah Digga, Wyclef Jean, Mekhi Phifer, Da Brat, Joy Bryant, Jermaine Dupri and Lil' Bow Wow...
(2001), an MTV production from 2001 starring Beyoncé KnowlesBeyoncé KnowlesBeyoncé Giselle Knowles , often known simply as Beyoncé, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she enrolled in various performing arts schools and was first exposed to singing and dancing competitions as a child...
and set in Philadelphia and Los Angeles in modern times. - 'Karmen Geï' (2001), the first African Carmen and, arguably, the first African filmed "musical."