Freedom. Pleasure. Independence. Defiance.

A re-imagining of Carmen

Benjamin Millepied, founder of LA Dance Project & celebrated choreographer is known for pushing the boundaries of dance. Now he’s bringing his artistic flair to cinema.

Director Benjamin Millepied on set ©Goalpost Pictures. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

As a choreographer and a filmmaker, Millepied has always been experimental. His remarkable interpretation of Romeo and Juliet saw him moving with his dancers in a live performance as he followed them (camera on shoulder) off stage. The audience watched a live feed as the relationship between Romeo and Juliet blossomed off stage.

Carmen (Melissa Barrera) and Aidan (Paul Mescal) Linn in CARMEN ©Goalpost Pictures. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

Once again Millepied is in disruptive mode, merging cinema and dance in his directorial debut Carmen.

“I wanted to make a movie that is an immersive experience, one that demanded I experiment with movement, music and dance in a way that I had never known. On stage, dance, music, lights, costumes, all come together as a single experience, where none of the elements should conflict with one another, but rather coexist as a coherent work of art. I approached this complete re-imagining of Carmen in the same way as I approach dance.” Millepied explains. “Dance is the language of dreams, therefore it was inevitable that the film would navigate between dream and reality, the mystical and the earthly. My conscious and subconscious.”

Zilah (Marina Tamayo) in CARMEN
©Goalpost Pictures. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

The music, integral to the success of the piece, was created by Millepied’s long-time friend and collaborator, the Oscar-nominated composer Nicholas Britell (“Moonlight”, “If Beale Street Could Talk”, “Don’t Look Up”, “Succession”)

“With “Carmen”, it was very clear to us that it had to be a complete reimagining and to use the original as a starting point for something entirely new and different,” Britell says.

Millepied continues: “I made this movie like I make a ballet. Sometimes, I listen to a piece of music for years before I choreograph to it. Here my process was similar. Nick and I went back and forth, communicating precisely on what we were each seeking to achieve, from moment to moment.”

Aidan (Paul Mescal) in CARMEN. ©Goalpost Pictures. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

Paul Mescal burst into our consciousness playing the unforgettable Connell in Ordinary People. In Carmen, he takes the role of Aidan, a soldier with PTSD set on a collision course with the law. Carmen is played by Los Angeles-based Mexican actress Melissa Barrera.

Carmen (Melissa Barrera) in CARMEN ©Goalpost Pictures. Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics.

“When I moved to LA, I was invited to audition for roles that always had to do with Mexican drug cartels, and I told my team that I was not interested in feeding that stereotype. We are much more than that. Carmen is a woman who’s running away from the cartels, so it gave me a little bit of pause, but it's really a story about a woman who is looking for freedom, and for safety, and is driven by her heart. I feel that's the story of a lot of the immigrants who are stuck at the border right now, today. They are fleeing from real danger and want to feel safe. They just want a better life for their family,” Melissa adds: “The way this story is told is very different. It's kind of like a fever dream and maybe this beautiful poetic form is a way for audiences to understand and be empathetic to the lives of these people...their motives, and their dreams, and what they're fleeing from.”

The inimitable Spanish actress Rossy de Palma plays Carmen’s godmother and the owner of the La Sombra nightclub in Los Angeles. She offers a refuge to the runaway couple. Millepied points out that his wife, Natalie Portman, suggested the casting of both De Palma and Mescal.

“They were good ideas!” he says. “I had chills when Rossy came on set for her first scene. I played it back and was mesmerized by her voice—the voice of my 20’s as I watched her in all the Almodóvar films. It was incredible. She had fallen in love with the character of Masilda. She knew it was hers. She arrived and had a thousand ideas, all amazing ideas. She took the dialogue and made it hers, in this very naturalistic way. “

Millepied continues “The first scene that she did was the most difficult one in the movie for her. It was a seven-minute scene that we shot as one sequence. We did the first take and that's what ended up in the movie - she was outstanding, an unbelievable presence.” Her performance in the scene was so electric that the entire cast and crew stopped to clap and cheer for several minutes. “It was spine-tingling. I’ve never seen anything like that,” producer Rosemary Blight adds.