The star and director of the internationally acclaimed film Carmen, which is described as capturing the nostalgic soul of Malta, doubts it would be possible to shoot the film now without a crane entering the shot.

Set in a Maltese village in the early 1980s, Carmen features a woman who spends her life in the shadow of her brother – the village priest – until the day he dies. The 50-year-old, left with no family or roof over her head, then goes on a quest for self-rediscovery.

Most of the film’s backdrop is the Maltese rural countryside, starting from the opening scene depicting Wied iċ-Ċakra in Żebbuġ, Gozo at sunrise, a hazy red glow seen over the cliffs.

Other scenes were shot in the sleepy Santa Luċija church square in Gozo, depicting a peaceful, charming and long-lost Malta few people today can recognise. The audience is given a glimpse of a Malta that once was in terms of tradition, culture and surroundings.

Carmen’s star Natascha McElhone, the British actress known for her lead role in The Truman Show and her portrayal of Penelope Knatchbull in the historic drama The Crown, questioned if it would be possible to shoot some of those scenes today.

Writer-director Valerie Buhagiar stressed the importance of promoting Maltese films.

"I was thinking, some of those shots, I wouldn’t even know if that would be available to you now," she said, in conversation with writer and director Valerie Buhagiar. 

Buhagiar recalled how during filming in 2019, a tower crane, now synonymous with Malta’s skyline, got in the way of a scene.

“We used three different churches to film scenes in the church, one in Valletta, one in Santa Luċija and another in Żebbuġ. In one scene, where Carmen is at the bell tower, a crane was in our way. We managed to get it out of the way during post-production,” Buhagiar said.

“It was tough then, now we wouldn’t be able to do it. We wouldn’t be able to shoot something like that without seeing cranes.”

McElhone and Buhagiar were in Malta for the first edition of the Mediterrane Film Festival a few days ago, with Carmen one of the selected entries for the festival.

‘Coming of age... in middle age’

McElhone describes the film as “genreless”.

“I hate the idea that we describe the film in a way that ‘she finds her voice’. We heard that so much recently,” she said.

“I played the part of this woman who is being let out in the world, but 30 years on from when most people would be experimenting and experiencing new things. I love this dichotomy of having an older woman, so sheltered, but she acts like an adolescent.”

The actor describes her character’s transition as a bumpy one with many ‘starts and stops’.

“I’ve seen many coming-of-age movies but mainly with young characters. I haven’t seen that in a movie. The fact this is a sort of coming-of-age in middle age is quite cool.”

McElhone’s agent provided her with the script, which she fell in love with, and a quick Zoom call was set up with Buhagiar. 

She was inspired by the women in her family who faced similar situations to Carmen, recounting a tale of her great aunt, who lives in Donegal, Ireland, and grew up raising her siblings.

“I think a lot of it [inspiration] is from family legacies, Irish-Catholic roots, small island life and small communities.

“There is a lot of ‘rootlessness’ today, trying to move away from a community, and focusing on individualism and being a lone wolf. I see that a lot in Carmen too; she is free-falling, but there is a moment when she is invited back to the community and there is a celebration of her. I think that is very relatable.

“There is this theme of: would you dare to leave a place where you

belong in order to break free? It’s quite a risk.”

Asked how she balanced the lighter and deeper themes of the film, Buhagiar said the balance of humour and drama is always part of her work.

“I think our humour, laughter and sadness sit on the same shelf. Human emotion is so powerful. We need to use it more often in film.”

‘Too beautiful’

Sitting beside one another during the interview, it was clear that McElhone and Buhagiar got along and worked well together, their answers often overlapping.

McElhone had read the script in one go and knew straight away she wanted the role, while Buhagiar was looking for an actor who was ready to “roll in the dirt” and be flexible.

“I saw a bit of Natascha’s work, and I thought she was too beautiful for the part,” the director said.

“One of the main problems we faced was how do we make this beautiful woman invisible. I remember telling her this during our first phone call, but she delved into the character straight away.”

McElhone described the experience of filming as “magical”.

While she has starred in several Hollywood hits, she praised the work of smaller productions, such as Carmen.

“At times, it feels like big studio productions move away from the characters, creativity and stories. That can be very stressful. On this set, it was all about the characters and story. Everyone was so happy and there was always a good atmosphere.”

Aunt ‘wept’

Carmen is inspired by Buhagiar’s own aunt, Rita, who from the age of 13 had to take care of her brother, the village priest.

“In 2013, I visited Malta with my son. My cousin Tonio told me her story,” Buhagiar said.

“He told me all about how she never went to school but lived her life as his maid. After he died, she was taken in by my family.”

It wasn’t until 2015, after Buhagiar had completed two other feature films, that she would sit down and write the script, and later in 2018 connect with Pierre Ellul and Anika Psaila Savona of Falkun Films, the Maltese producers.

“After we shot the film, another cousin took me to visit Rita and told her about the film, and she wept and wept,” she said.

Unfortunately, her aunt, at the age of 97, was not in the right “mental state” to watch the film.

“This film has given me great things, new friends, new memories, and now my own son moved here and is living his life here.”

McElhone said she was ready to film another production in Malta so long as it was with Buhagiar.

The actress is working on the production of another season of Hotel Portofino, while Buhagiar is in post-production of her latest film The Dogs and is working on a script with Psaila Savona and Ellul: a love story set in her hometown, Mosta.

“I wish Malta would celebrate its own and create more indigenous films,” Buhagiar said.

“There is so much great talent here and our stories vibrate universally. This film ran for four weeks in Canada, which never happens to a Canadian film.”

Malta's skyline: littered with tower cranes. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli