SCFZ

Carmen (Carlos Saura, 1983) vs. The Collector (William Wyler, 1965)

Vote for either x1995 or x1962 (italicization unnecessary).

The deadline for voting is 12 a.m. EST on Monday, May 27.

If you need access to the films, please let us know.

x1983

This is no doubt a familiar refrain from me by now, but... I liked the book better. In particular, John Fowles's The Collector gets a lot of its strength from the sudden shift, midway through, from Frederick's POV to Miranda's POV. I guess this is Wyler's version of a Hitchcock thriller, but Hitch himself surely would've been able to play with audience identification in a way that would come close to what Fowles achieves. The film just lacks the depth of the novel, though taken on its own terms it's quite an enjoyable watch.

Carmen isn't terribly deep either, but I don't think that's really what it's going for. I have to applaud Saura for not going too far with the parallels between the story of the dancers and Merimee/Bizet's Carmen, like many more boring directors would have done. At its core it's a pretty simple story about jealousy, nothing to write home about; but then there's the evident passion with which Saura films the dancing itself, and that's what really makes it worth it for me.

x1965 (but removing the last scene)

x1965

x1965

I'm glad I was finally forced to watch Carmen, but The Collector is one of my favorite Wylers.

x1965 I tried to write why I voted this way, but was thwarted twice. No big deal, but I'm not going to try another time.

this was a really good match. i've avoided 'the collector' for years but wyler is a fine director and terence stamp sorta mesmerizing. still i'm gonna vote for saura

x1983. love a good dance film. saw bodas de sangre some time back and i'd forgotten it was a trilogy -- i certainly never knew it functioned on multiple levels of reality like the koker trilogy!

Voting closed notwithstanding votes from people whose accounts have been locked out. The Collector wins!

wba here.

x1965
Love Wyler!