Antonio's dance company are putting on a flamenco interpretation of Bizet's famous opera, Carmen. However, finding a woman capable of playing the lead role is something of a challenge. There are many dancers who are very talented, but Antonio needs a dancer full of passion and spirit, in short he needs a Carmen.

We shouldn't put down to coincidence that her name is in fact Carmen, she does as it turns out embody all the characteristics of the fictional Carmen and this combination of the fictive and the real, the passions that transgress the bounds of the production within the production, is the crux of the interest in this film.

However, ideas aside, this film is a masterful creation. Carlos Saura is fascinated by the world of flamenco and here we are shown some incredible dancing, from workshop scenes through to scenes of the finished production, including the knife fighting scenes accompanied with all the passion and grace you would expect of flamenco.

This film appeals on many levels, through the story of love, the display of wonderful dancing and the intrigue of the mixture between fiction and reality, making it a fantastic introduction to the films of Carlos Saura, a rightfully acclaimed Spanish film director.