Carmen

Prosper Mérimée travels through Andalusia in 1830 and encounters José, a wanted criminal. The meeting reveals José's magnetism and foreshadows the tragic tale that will be recounted. This frame sets up the storyteller listening to a criminal's confession.

José is condemned to death by garroting for his crimes. The sentence seals his fall from respectability and pushes him toward a life of crime and passion.

The day before José's execution, Mérimée visits him in his prison cell. Through José's stories, the audience learns the events that shaped his fate. The impending execution adds urgency to his confessions.

In Córdoba near the cigar factory, Carmen slashes Fernanda's face during an argument and is arrested. José is left in charge of her custody as they transport her to prison. This sets Carmen's dangerous, volatile character in motion.

On the way to prison, Carmen flirts with José and he agrees to let her escape in exchange for a night with her. His breach of military discipline costs him his rank and further imprisonment. The romance propels him toward the life of crime and passion.

Carmen provides José with his first sexual encounter, mesmerizing him and occupying his thoughts. He becomes deeply drawn to her intoxicating presence. The affair cements the bond that will define his choices.

In Seville, José guards the city’s entrance and Carmen seduces him again. He turns a blind eye to her smuggler friends and profits from the arrangement with sex as payment. Their romance deepens while crime weaves into daily life.

Blanca, the madame, warns José about Carmen's shady past and devilish nature. But José is already deeply in love and determined to pursue her. The warning foreshadows that love will be costly.

The same night, José waits in a brothel for Carmen, who arrives with his lieutenant. Jealous and enraged, he challenges and kills his superior in a sword fight. The murder marks José’s irreversible drift into crime.

Now a criminal, José flees to the countryside with Carmen and her bandit friends, adapting quickly to their rough life. He earns a fearsome reputation as 'José the Basque.' Carmen soon joins them at their hideout, deepening the dangerous partnership.

Carmen's gangster husband, El Tuerto, is released from prison and arrives at the hideout. José faces jealousy, but Carmen reveals she was sold to Tuerto when she was fourteen, complicating their bond. The volatile love triangle intensifies the danger.

With Carmen's aid, José kills El Tuerto in a knife fight, removing the rival husband and consolidating Carmen's affinity with José. The act cements their criminal partnership and volatile love. The act also raises the stakes for their future choices.

Carmen catches the eye of Lucas, a matador, triggering José's jealousy. He later discovers Carmen in bed with Lucas and kills him, then escapes to the dead man's hacienda. The jealous violence escalates toward the final confrontation.

Locked in an empty church with Carmen, José confronts her about love and possession. She dares him to kill her, and after a tearful kiss, José murders Carmen with his knife. The tragedy ends their doomed romance.