Behind-the-Scenes Video for ‘Carmen’ with Composer Nicholas Britell
by Alex Billington
April 25, 2023
Source: YouTube
“We captured all the vocals live – and you get that immediacy that you see through the camera.” Sony Pictures Classics has unveiled a behind-the-scenes featurette for Carmen, which is now showing in select theaters around the country. The film is renowned dancer / choreographer Benjamin Millepied’s directorial debut, reimagining the classic opera for the big screen. An exhilarating vision starring Melissa Barrera and Paul Mescal. Carmen is a gritty modern day story with a majestic score, and dance sequences that evoke magic realism. It also features all new music created by the wonderfully talented composer Nicholas Britell (seen above – also known for “Succession”, Moonlight, Don’t Look Up, and many other scores). The film also co-stars Rossy de Palma, Elsa Pataky, Nicole da Silva, Tara Morice, Benedict Hardie, Richard Brancatisano, and Kaan Guldur. This featurette focuses specifically on the music – including conversations with Nicholas Britell, lyricist Julieta Venegas, the director, and other crew involved on the film. Maybe this will convince a few more people to go out and watch this in the theaters while it’s showing.
Here’s the full behind-the-scenes featurette for Benjamin Millepied’s Carmen, from SPC’s YouTube:
You can rewatch the teaser trailer for Millepied’s Carmen right here, and the full official trailer here.
The story follows a young and fiercely independent woman who is forced to flee her home in the Mexican desert following the brutal murder of her mother, another strong, mysterious woman. Carmen survives a terrifying and dangerous illegal border crossing into the US, only to be confronted by a lawless volunteer border guard who cold-bloodedly murders two other immigrants in her group. When the border guard and his patrol partner, Aidan—a Marine with PTSD—become embroiled in a deadly standoff, Carmen and Aidan are forced to escape together. They make their way north toward Los Angeles in search of Carmen’s mother’s best friend, the mercurial Masilda and owner of La Sombra nightclub – a sanctuary of music and dance. Carmen & Aidan find solace and their unwavering love for each other in the safety of Masilda’s magical refuge, but time is running out as the police hunt closes in. Carmen is directed by choreographer / dancer Benjamin Millepied, making his feature directorial debut after a few other shorts previously. The screenplay is written by Alexander Dinelaris and Loïc Barrère & Benjamin Millepied. Based on the novella by Prosper Mérimée. This initially premiered at the 2022 Toronto Film Festival last year. Sony Classics first released Millepied’s Carmen in select US theaters starting April 21st, 2023 this spring – it’s playing now.
