Carmen
Movies like “Carmen” are like a relaxing shower, or a peaceful night’s sleep, to me. I always enjoy films where the main character seems to have to find themselves by almost living outside of their normal life for a bit. The best of these are something like “Before Sunrise” or “The Holiday,” but I’d be lying if I didn’t have a soft spot for something like Ridley Scott’s “A Good Year,” which is hokey as Hell, but hit that sweet spot for me as well. “Carmen” takes an unusual direction into that story, but it’s a compelling one, fueled by a terrific performance by Natascha McElhone, who is one of those actresses that just radiates heart every time out.
Writer-director Valerie Buhagiar has been inspired by a true story as she shows us the life of Carmen (McElhone’s character), a woman who is the sister of a priest in Malta. According to tradition, the priest’s sister takes care of the rectory for the priest, which Carmen has dutifully done for years now. When her brother dies, there is no place for her to go, so she has to make due the best way she can. That involves taking advantage of the new priest’s absence, and sneaking around, but it gives her an appreciation for the lives of others that will come in handy when she truly makes out on her own.
Though fundamentally a drama about how society- and the church- disregards women that are of no use to them anymore, there are moments where the film is amusing, which McElhone plays with lovely dry wit. For a stretch of the film, she gives advice when people come to repent for their sins, and her reactions to their struggles are genuine, and her advice is sound. Is what she’s doing wrong? To the church, it is, but really, she is probably giving the people she hears some of the best advice they might hear. This isn’t about a woman who feels she is owed something, but someone trying to hang on, and making the best of a bad situation. There’s something lovely about this film, and Carmen, that makes it just work for me. Is it one I may ever watch again? I don’t think so, but for the 88 minutes I was watching it, I had a smile on my face, and warmth in my heart. Sometimes, that’s all you need from a film.
