U Carmen eKhayleylitsha

I saw this film at the West End Apollo. Strange cinema - nothing from the outside - or the inside for that matter told you what films were showing - and I thought I was going to be the only person watching this film - but then a few others drifted in.
Anyway this is an adaptation of Bizet's opera 'Carmen' set in a South African township. The love story is between a cigarette maker and a sergeant of police. Bizet's music is added to with local songs and dances. The story is changed in many respects, but it is still a tale of jealousy and violent death.
An interesting interpretation, and I know opera does require an element of buying into the ludicrous notion of people bursting into song at a whim - but it didn't entirely work on this occasion. The singers are really good, the acting terrific but there wasn't really the engagement that I wanted. The torreador theme was almost entirely ignored - apart from the brief tale of a township boy suddenly being transformed into an American opera singer - but was he really Carmen's love interest and the Sergeant's rival for her affections? I was confused and unconvinced. Worth seeing though - but probably if the competition isn't too great!