This is a modern look at a culture that practically no one knows anything about and its to the credit of the director that we are allowed to see it. This film is about a young man from France who travels to Romania in search of a singer that his recently deceased father had recorded. One night Stephane (Romain Duris) walks into a Romanian town and bumps into an old man named Isidor (Izidor Serban) who is drunk and angry that officials have locked up his son. Isidor is a Gypsy and he takes Stephane back to his village to stay with him but the very next morning the other Gypsy's do not know what to make of him. He asks about the singer and if they know where she is but they are not sure so they take him to some people who might. Stephane notices a young woman named Sabina (Rona Hartner) and at first she does not care for him because she use to be married to a Belgian and she dislikes anyone from that area.
*****SPOILER ALERT*****
But as time passes and the rest of the villagers have gotten to know him well Sabina starts to warm to him and eventually they are attracted to each other. Isodor's son gets out of jail and causes the death of a local official at a bar and the people of the town decide to burn down the Gypsy village. This film was directed by Tony Gatlif who is from Romania and this is the third film of a Gypsy trilogy. Music is very much a part of this film and its the reason that these characters get together even though they speak separate languages. Actress Rona Hartner actually composed a song or two for this film and she's a very good dancer. The film starts out very slowly and it was hard to figure out where this story was headed but once Duris starts to co-exist with the Gypsys the focus of the film stays there. The performance of Serban as Isidor is amazing considering that he's not really an actor. He's a real Gypsy and he has stated in interviews that he just acted the way a real Gypsy would have. Serban can be described as both obnoxious and vibrant and its easy to see how anyone that spends time with him would pick up Gypsy mannerisms. What worked for me was the romance between Duris and Hartner and these two actors have worked together before on a couple of occasions. Duris has a lot of charm and Hartner definitely seems to be a character that would consider herself to good for just any Gypsy male. This film does show the racist attitudes that the Romanians have towards them even though its not fully explored. Its not a great film but it is one thats sincere in its view of a culture that viewers don't see very often.
*****SPOILER ALERT*****
But as time passes and the rest of the villagers have gotten to know him well Sabina starts to warm to him and eventually they are attracted to each other. Isodor's son gets out of jail and causes the death of a local official at a bar and the people of the town decide to burn down the Gypsy village. This film was directed by Tony Gatlif who is from Romania and this is the third film of a Gypsy trilogy. Music is very much a part of this film and its the reason that these characters get together even though they speak separate languages. Actress Rona Hartner actually composed a song or two for this film and she's a very good dancer. The film starts out very slowly and it was hard to figure out where this story was headed but once Duris starts to co-exist with the Gypsys the focus of the film stays there. The performance of Serban as Isidor is amazing considering that he's not really an actor. He's a real Gypsy and he has stated in interviews that he just acted the way a real Gypsy would have. Serban can be described as both obnoxious and vibrant and its easy to see how anyone that spends time with him would pick up Gypsy mannerisms. What worked for me was the romance between Duris and Hartner and these two actors have worked together before on a couple of occasions. Duris has a lot of charm and Hartner definitely seems to be a character that would consider herself to good for just any Gypsy male. This film does show the racist attitudes that the Romanians have towards them even though its not fully explored. Its not a great film but it is one thats sincere in its view of a culture that viewers don't see very often.