Pauline Malefane,
Andile Tshoni,
Zweilungile Sidloyi,
Andiswa Kedama,
Bulewa Cosa
... see more 
Bizet's Carmen gets a cultural transplant as director Mark Dornford-May transports the events of the tragic opera to South Africa in this musical concerning a seductive cigarette-factory worker and he... read more
DVD Release Date: January 25, 2000
Stats: 56 reviews
This was a unique rendition of the opera Carmen by Georges Bizet. If you enjoy opera, or want to see a real South African movie sung in Xhosa, than this movie is for you.
A worthy interpretation - maintains most qualities of the original story and presents some very strong musical performances.
An embarrassingly self-conscious movie. Totally inappropriate transfer of cultural worlds so far apart as to be in different universes. Terrrible movie.
No one can know whether Bizet would have approved of the movie musical U-Carmen e-Khayelitsha. But you suspect that he would have admired the filmmakers' gall.
A vivacious film that is a treat for eyes and ears. Full Review
Performances and singing are both on the money, and the film's organic, realistic feel seems to have been bolstered by the translation contribution that thesps Malefane and Andiswa Kedama made to the ... Full Review
The main attraction is the performance of Carmen by the magnificent Pauline Malefane, who also translated the libretto into Xhosa. Full Review
Tells a complicated story, gives unique voice to a classic piece of music, and opens a window on contemporary South Africa in a pleasing, symmetrical fashion. Full Review
Central to an expression of new female South African pride, is the lovely Pauline Malefane as Carmen, whose astonishing vocal power embodies both feminine grace and charm, along with bold, militant pr...
Carmen finds a new home in a South African shantytown, lending the nation her powerful voice for the new freedoms of the post-apartheid era. Full Review
[Director] Dornford-May's straightforward filmmaking neither glamorizes Khayelitsha and its residents nor plays up the contrast between the silky score and their hardscrabble lives. Full Review
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