U-Carmen brings Georges Bizet’s classic opera to a South African shantytown, where poverty and exoticism serve as backdrop to the tragic tale. The film follows Bizet’s original narrative: Boy falls in love with a loose girl. Boy loses his job and pride to be with girl. Boy ends up killing girl after she rejects him. Even though the work has been adapted to countless forms over the past 125 years, this update manages to glimmer. For starters, it’s sung completely in Xhosa, a South African language that’s filled with native tongue clicks. And the various settings -- a cigarette factory, worn-down shanties, and dusty police barracks -- add welcome grit to a familiar story.
Fri., June 29, 7 p.m.; Sun., July 1, 4 p.m.
