Like the 3D version of Dial M for Murder that Alfred Hitchcock made in 1954, this movie of Francesca Zambello's Covent Garden production of Carmen uses 3D to emphasise the theatrical space of the Royal Opera House stage to capture the experience of being there in a good seat.

The director, Julian Napier, deploys his camera unfussily to make a faithful record of a decent, unpretentious staging of Bizet's opera, with an earthily alluring Carmen from Christine Rice. I do, however, prefer Francesco Rosi's realistic film treatment of the opera, starring Julia Migenes-Johnson and Placido Domingo on authentic Spanish locations (1984).