The early 80s brought no less than four new re-imagined versions of Prosper Mérimée’s 1845 novella: Peter Brook’s pared down stage version and Francesco Rosi’s full-throttled film, both based on Bizet’s opera; Carlos Saura’s flamenco Carmen; and Godard’s powerfully physical modern rendering, which goes deep into sexual desire and longing and moves with the rhythms of Beethoven’s final quartet, with Maruschka Detmers, Jacques Bonnaffé, Myriem Roussel and JLG himself.

Screening with:

Armide
France | 1987 | 12m | 35mm

Godard’s contibution to the 1987 omnibus film Aria includes portions of Jean-Baptiste Lully’s 1686 opera, in which two lovely naked woman try, and fail, to attract a series of muscle men, hard at work in the gym.

Armide courtesy of Don Boyd and Lightyear Entertainment.