The Car Man

Synopsis

An erotic thriller - a tale of passion and revenge, based on Carmen. Taking its inspiration from the classic Hollywood noir movies of the 1940s and 1950s, The Car Man shows how the dreams and passions of a small town, when fuelled by heat and desire, are catapulted into a spiral of opportunism, sex, murder and retribution. Following the phenomenal international success of Swan Lake and Cinderella, The Car Man will make you hear Bizet's driving and sensual music as you've never heard it before.

Our Review:

13 July 2007

Sharper, tighter, tauter, tougher - that's how I find Matthew Bourne's steamy "re-imagining" of Bizet's Carmen compared to its premiere seven years ago at the Old Vic. The gypsy fire has been rekindled in Dino's diner and garage in the 1960s Middle American fictional town of Harmony (population 375) - and the hot dogs are sizzling.

I confess to underrating Bourne's narrative skills before. He switches genders around in his re-telling of Prosper Merimee's story and stirs in elements of The Postman Always Rings Twice, West Side Story, Hitchcock's thrillers and po-faced Martha Graham-style dance.

The latter’s troilist spoof in the night club ("Le Beat Route") echoes the central plot. The drifter Luca seduces Lana, Dino's wife. After things come to a head, and murder committed with a huge spanner, Lana frames her rival for Luca's sexual attentions, who happens to be her own sister's male lover, Angelo. How this unravels is beautifully done in the second a...

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