Carmen on Ice

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Movie
Original title Carmen on Ice
Country of production German Democratic Republic
Publishing year 1990
length 86 minutes
Rod
Director Horant H. Hohlfeld
script Horant H. Hohlfeld
production Thomas Bürger
music Georges Bizet (instrumental arrangement of the opera Carmen by Bert Grund )
camera Klaus Koenig
occupation

Carmen on Ice is a German dance film by Horant H. Hohlfeld from 1990 , which is based on Bizet's Carmen in an orchestral version specially developed for this film. The plot is narrated exclusively by a choreography for figure skaters . Carmen on Ice represents an innovation in the history of figure skating; because this dance film is free of spoken scenes and thus differs significantly from the ice revue films made up to then , which have the character of a feature film and consist of dialogues mixed with dance interludes on the ice.

action

The plot of Carmen on Ice is largely based on Bizet's Carmen. Similar to the four-act opera libretto, the screenplay for Carmen on Ice also consists of four sections, each of which is clearly recognizable by a change in the film set .

  • Section 1 (square in Seville in front of a factory): In the midst of the hustle and bustle in a square in Seville , Sergeant Don José reads a letter from his mother that the peasant girl Micaela brought to him. Then the factory worker Carmen appears, desired by men for her attractive appearance and the envy of other women, and flirts with the men around. Suddenly she sees Don José, who is sitting on the edge, absorbed in his mother's letter. The sergeant's lack of interest annoys Carmen, who is spoiled by admiration on the part of the opposite sex, and arouses in her the ambition to turn José's head as well, and also attracts his attention through cheeky flirting, pirouettes and jumps. She also gives him a rose. This makes one of the women so jealous that she attacks Carmen. Carmen pulls a knife with which she wounds the attacker's face. Other people interfere in the conflict and a tumultuous street battle breaks out, which is ended by the intervention of police commander Zuniga. Everyone accuses Carmen of starting the brawl. On closer inspection, Zuniga feels drawn to her and wants to flirt with her, but when Carmen harshly rejects him, he orders Don José to take the young woman prisoner. José ties Carmen by the hands, but when he tries to lead her away, she uses her charms again. In the subsequent dance with the rope used as a fetter, Carmen manages to get José to take the fetter off again, whereby Carmen manages to escape in front of the indignant citizens. Zuniga tears Don José's epaulets off his uniform and has him lead away.
  • Section 2 (Lillas Pastia's tavern): A text is faded in in front of the film set, explaining that Carmen is waiting for Don José, who has just been released from prison, in Lillas Pastia's tavern and is impatiently looking forward to seeing her lover again. Carmen sits upset about José's absence in the restaurant and drives away her boredom with a fiery dance. Suddenly the bullfighter Escamillo enters the tavern, is greeted with cheers by those present and also dances. His dance performance is very popular with those present. Escamillo accepts a glass of wine during the applause and drinks both to his fans around him and to Carmen, who reciprocates the gesture. Escamillo leaves the tavern and meets Don José at the gate, who finally arrives and is greeted happily by Carmen. Carmen first dances a solo for her lover, which leads to a passionate couple dance with José. Suddenly the trumpet signal for roll call can be heard in the distance, José desperately wants to follow, which angered Carmen. To explain his love to Carmen again, he takes out the rose that Carmen gave him the first time they met and shows a soulful solo with various ice skating figures and high jumps, which makes Carmen forgive again. Then Zuniga, angry at Don José's absence from his troops, bursts into the idyllic love scene. Carmen tries to appease the captain with her charm. Zuniga wants to take advantage of this situation and flirts with Carmen, which makes José furiously jealous and causes him to brutally strangle his superior. Carmen's friends intervene and prevent Zuniga's murder by José, who now renounces his job as a sergeant and joins Carmen's circle.
  • Section 3 (campsite): The film set changes to a nocturnal campsite, an overlay text explains that Carmen's love for Don José has cooled down and the bullfighter Escamillo is now her new favorite. Carmen and José come into the picture and dance a short duet in which Carmen's disinterest in José becomes clear. Then Carmen sits down in front of the campfire and tries to interpret her future by pouring lead. The shape of the lead created in the extinguishing water resembles a skull. Carmen gets frightened, dances fearfully around the fire, and leaves the scene. José is faded in, he is sitting in front of the campfire with his head bowed and armed with a rifle, looking depressed. Suddenly Escamillo appears, the two rivals approach each other. When Escamillo takes out Carmen's fan and thus provokes José, a fight ensues, which Escamillo ultimately wins. Carmen, who was watching the fight, leaves with Escamillo.
  • Section 4 (in front of the bullring): In front of the arena there is a magnificent parade of bullfighters, among them Escamillo, who is received by Carmen in front of the main gate. With this greeting, the picture changes temporarily to a dream scene in which Carmen dreams of a love dance with Escamillo. When the toreros move into the arena, Carmen is grabbed by the arm from behind and pulled through into an adjoining hall. It is Don Jose who is desperately trying to get Carmen back. In a dance portrayed argument, she cold-bloodedly rejects her ex-lover. Don José finally loses his nerve and stabs Carmen.

background

Katarina Witt in her Carmen Freestyle in 1988

Carmen on Ice was shown in the cinema for the first time on February 8, 1990 and won three Emmy Awards in 1990. While the film ran with great success in the USA, it was considered a flop in Germany. The audience numbers in the cinema were low. The reason for this was seen in the political upheaval in the GDR. The film was shot mostly in Spain and partly in Germany, residents of Seville and Berlin took on extras. Katarina Witt, who embodied the title role, was in Calgary in 1988 with a freestyle in which she interpreted Carmen, becoming Olympic champion for the second time. Brian Boitano, who played Don José, won the Olympic gold medal in a sensational duel in the same year in front of Brian Orser, who plays the bullfighter Escamillo. From the producers' point of view, it was therefore very natural to cast Carmen on Ice with these superstars. With regard to the skating portrayal of the plot, it should be noted that the choreography by Sandra Bezic-Ricci and Michael Seibert translates the formal structure of the music very precisely into body language. It should also be mentioned that the flamenco dancer Cristina Hoyos introduced the art of flamenco dance to all participating ice skaters who had completed ballet training in their basic training in preparation for the shooting. Cristina Hoyos also appears as a guest star in Carmen on Ice as part of a short flamenco interlude. This explains the ice skating style in “Carmen on Ice”, which is based on ballet, but is also reminiscent of flamenco.

literature

Johanna Beisteiner : Art music in figure skating, synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics. Dissertation, Vienna 2005. Contains a detailed description and analysis of Carmen on Ice (Chapter II / 2, pp. 105–162). Entry in the Austrian library network

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Art music in figure skating, synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics. Dissertation by Johanna Beisteiner . Vienna 2005. page 107.
  2. ^ Art music in figure skating, synchronized swimming and rhythmic gymnastics. Chapter II / 2 Carmen on Ice . Dissertation by Johanna Beisteiner . Vienna 2005. Pages 105–162.
  3. ↑ Carmen on Ice. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  4. ^ List of Emmy Awards 1990