Carmen (2022)

Carmen (2022). Carmen: Directed by Valerie Buhagiar. With Natascha McElhone, Michela Farrugia, Steven Love, Richard Clarkin. In a small Mediterranean village, Carmen has looked after her brother, the local priest, for her entire life. When the Church abandons Carmen, she is mistaken for the new priest. Carmen begins to see the world, and herself, in a new light.

“Since the late WWII period, when she was 16, Carmen has been the unpaid housekeeper for her brother, the local priest. When he dies suddenly in the 1980s, a local womanu0026#39;s brother is supposed to be the replacement priest, and that woman will act as his housekeeper, displacing Carmen. The Catholic Church hypocritically and heartlessly throws Carmen out on the street, where she has various adventures and misadventures, helped in part by her knowledge of church processes.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHer backstory is that her life was saved by a young Arab, with whom she fell in love, and with family opposition, her role as housekeeper was the equivalent of u0026quot;get thee to a nunneryu0026quot;.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eCarmenu0026#39;s transformation from dour housekeeper to glamorous woman was a delight, as was the scenery. While this was u0026quot;based on a true storyu0026quot;, I wonder how much is fiction. Carmen seems to be good at giving advice to others, while she seems so naive herself. Meanwhile, the ending is a tad too Shakespearean for me.”