"Carmen" or "Gypsy Blood" is a German movie from the year 1918, so this one is from the year when World War I ended and it will have its 100th anniversary two years from now. With this age, it is of course black-and-white silent film and the director here is Ernst Lubitsch, who was still in his 20s when he made this film, a long time before his breakthrough in Hollywood. Lubitsch is also known for the silent comedies he made around that time, but this one here has nothing to laugh about. There is some mystery in here, even a touch of horror and lots of drama and tragedy. According to IMDb, this film runs for 70 minutes, but the version I saw ran for 80 minutes, so maybe that one had fewer frames per second I guess. All in all, I still must say I did not really enjoy the watch, but then again I am not the greatest silent film and also did only like some of Lubitsch's work I saw and this one here is not among them. Also I would have preferred more frequent use of intertitles, which is however not just a problem with Lubitsch, but with so many other silent films too. At some point, it is just difficult to understand the action exactly and there were moments here too when this applied. That's why I overall give this film a thumbs-down. Not recommended.
Review of Carmen
