Karmen Gei(Karmen Geï)

Name: Karmen Gei
Genre: Drama, Music, Romance

Senegal, France, Canada · 2001
1h 26m
Director Joseph Gaï Ramaka
Starring Djeïnaba Diop Gaï, Magaye Niang, Stephanie Biddle, Thierno Ndiaye Doss
Genre Drama, Music, Romance

A modern adaptation of Bizet's Carmen, this film tells the story of Karmen Geï and her romances and adventures across the underworld of Dakar, Senegal. Featuring African music and modern jazz, the film thrillingly updates the original work to touch on love, freedom, sexuality, and modern African urban life.

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What are critics saying?

The A.V. Club by

The film offers plenty of powerful impressionism to make up for its lack of a coherent statement.

The New York Times by A.O. Scott

Enormously likable, partly because it is aware of its own grasp of the absurd.

Christian Science Monitor by David Sterritt

Directors as different as Otto Preminger and Jean-Luc Godard have taken a crack at "Carmen" and Ramaka's version is a colorful addition to the list.

TV Guide Magazine by Maitland McDonagh

Diop Gaï's performance is equally beguiling: She's both bold and mysterious, a femme fatale bursting with life.

New York Post by Megan Lehmann

A worthy addition to the cinematic canon, which, at last count, numbered 52 different versions.

Film Threat by Phil Hall

While the screen didn't really need another Carmen, it certainly needs a knockout femme fatale like Diop Gai. Hopefully, Carmen can get a much-needed rest and audiences can get much more of this stunning African icon-in-waiting.