Carmen of the North (2009)

Directed by: Jelle Nesna | 84 minutes | drama | Actors: Tygo Gernandt, Sanguita Akkrum, Thom Hoffman, Margreet Boersbroek, Mounira Hadj Mansour, Duvel, Sergio Ijssel, Vincent Vianen, Kurt Rogiers, Timo Ottenvanger, Gery Mendes, Turk, Jiggy djé, Soumia

Although Carmen’s story is originally a novella by Prosper Mérimée, most people will know this tragic tale of jealousy, lust, love, and betrayal, especially through composer George Bizet’s operatic adaptation. In turn, this adaptation has many incarnations and adaptations, also in a cinematic sense. For example, there was Carmen Jones, an American musical adaptation in which Harry Belafonte plays a soldier, just like in the original, but Carmen works in a parachute factory. In the special African adaptation ‘U-Carmen e-khaleyitsha’, Carmen works in a cigarette factory, and the lyrics are sung in the authentic African “click language”, Xhlosa. In all these cases, Bizet’s music was used. In Jelle Nesna’s ‘Carmen van het Noorden’, however, the recent Dutch adaptation of the classic Carmen story, this music is renounced – in favor of an original hip-hop soundtrack by composer Perquisite – as well as the musical form of previous film adaptations. , to arrive at a pure, raw narration of the story, in which the theme, characters, and atmosphere are central. The result is interesting to say the least.

It was not just an impulsive impulse from director Jelle Nesna to want to make this film. He had wanted to make a Dutch version of this story for a long time, following in the footsteps of his grandfather, who, as a film pioneer, had already made a Dutch adaptation of Carmen in 1919, with the same title: ‘Carmen van het Noorden’. Jelle’s version is innovative because of the accompanying hip-hop music, about which rapper Duvel provides a Shakespearean commentary on the entanglements in the story, which provides an attractive contemporary twist to the story. Actually, Nesna had just wanted to make a kind of hip-hop musical from the film, but due to financial considerations he abandoned this idea. It is an advantage that the film still contains some theatrical, artificial elements in the form of the running commentary by Prosper (Duvel), who in fact tells the story to the viewer with his poetic dialogues, because if the film is viewed as a straight straightforward drama was presented, the improbability of certain twists and unambiguity of some characterizations would pose too much of a problem. But due to the theatricality of the form that is still intact, much in the film can simply be accepted as a parable or archetype.

If the film were seen as a realistic drama, for example Joz, who falls under the spell of Carmen but is also already engaged to Maryam, might be a bit too simple a character. After only a few encounters with the seductive Carmen, he already throws his engagement ring into the water, and he is actually already a plaything of the wild Carmen. He is somewhat conflicted and has to do with his fiancée, but he is completely guided by his lust. Thom Hoffman also shows few dimensions as Joz’s older colleague Simon. All he does is sit on Joz and look annoyed or disapproving. But if you view the story as a representation of themes such as jealousy, lust, and (an inability to) love, where the characters serve purely as mechanisms to communicate these themes, it is (still) acceptable. It should also be noted that the film does not have the title it has for nothing. In other words, it’s all about Carmen and what she can do with her intimidating sexuality, and how she is the dominant force in her relationship(s).

If you look purely at the character of Carmen, and how she is portrayed by the young actress Sanguita Akkrum, then the film is an unqualified success. She really pops off the screen with a very natural-looking sensuality and dominant presence and makes it almost plausible that Joz is leaving his marriage and relationship so quickly to be with her. And interestingly enough, she’s not as one-dimensional as she could have been. She’s not just a predator and a lump of sexuality. She also has a sweet, gentle side – or at least seems to have it in the scenes where Joz is in bed with her – post-coital – and has a bit of fun with her. At those moments you also see “humanity” in her and you start to believe as a viewer that things might really work out between the two, and that Carmen is not as manipulative as she appears, but only wears a mask, for self-preservation. Although this somehow chafes with the reading of the characters as archetypes, it still provides that little bit of extra interest from the viewer and investment in the story.

The tragic story of Carmen is well known, and strong in the simplicity of its message. It is nice that Nesna has given it his own twist, but it is a pity that, despite the preservation of many substantive elements – he even names Duvel’s character after the original writer – he still felt that he should make the ending a bit more optimistic than the original story. . Prosper (Duvel) says at the end of the film that sometimes you win even if you think you have lost, which may not feel like a betrayal of the original message, but at least as a tempering of it. The ending of the murder mystery, which forms the context of the film, is still quite surprising, but it is mainly the energy of Sanguita Akkrum as Carmen that keeps the film lively and interesting. In addition, the nice soundtrack by Perquisite – known as a formation with MC Pete Philly – in which many Eastern influences are used, and the nice intermezzos by Duvel as commentator, provide an attractive atmosphere that fits well with that of the story: seductive and melancholic.