Benjamin Millepied’s debut film as a director, Carmen, is the latest in a long line of works that testify to the French obsession with all things Hispanic. It’s a fascination that first emerged with the rise of Romanticism, when artists were drawn to the exoticisms of “the Orient”, the interplay between humankind and nature as exemplified in Théodore Géricault’s painting Raft of the Medusa, our fallibility, and our tendency to yield to instinct and passion. This, coupled with the influence of the Spanish-born Empress Eugénie de Montijo, saw many French writers travel to Spain to sample its sights and sounds. Among them was Prosper Mérimée, who captured the flavour of Andalusia in his 1845 novella Carmen.

Melissa Barriera and Paul Mescal in Benjamin Millepied’s Carmen. Photo supplied

Thirty years later, Carmen’s portrayal of the working classes, social unrest and treatment of Romani and Basque minorities captured the imagination of composer George Bizet, who adapted Mérimée’s work as an opéra-comique with librettists Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy.

Millepied’s filmic reimagining honours the themes of the source material, while transferring the story to the Mexican American border. Carmen (Melissa Barriera) is now an...