recommended

Better Late Then Never

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

I thought "Vengo" was the best movie about Gypsy people I ever saw. Until I saw "Gadjo Dilo". At first, this film seems to be a story about a French guy (Stephane) who travels to Romania in search of an old Gypsy (the better term is Roma - not to be confused with Romanian) singer his dad used to like. Turns out this is a complex film about the life and culture of a group of Roma people who lived on the outskirts of a Romanian village, and their rocky relationship with the Romanians.Being ignorant of the past history between the Roma and the Romanians and the prejudices that have stemmed from it, Stephane approaches the Roma people with his seemingly unassuming, trusting attitude, which eventually earns him their trust and affection. I particularly loved Sabina's character, her sometimes outrageous irreverence and and her passionate nature. The scene where she cannot stand still and quiet while Stephane tries to record a singer in a pub says a lot. The more Stephane learns about the people who allowed him to live in their midst, sees them as they are, listens to their music, watches their customs, the more bewitched he becomes. The scene at the end, when he burries the tapes with the music recordings, pours the liquor on top and dances around them the way he saw the Roma do it when they pay their respects at a deceased's grave, speaks volumes. He knows now that his recordings could not depict who these people were and what their music meant, plus, he had no need for any recordings anymore because he was no longer an outsider looking in. You can see it in Sabina's eyes, as she watches him, smiling, that she knew he now saw her and her people not just with his eyes, but his heart too, and his little dance was an homage to them.

This film is very entertaining, and at first glance is an enjoyable insight into the a 'Gypsy' community. However, what Western audiences tend to forget is that 'Gypsy' is a derogatory term, and the characters in the films of Gatlif (and Emir Kusturica) are supposed to represent Roma people, which is the correct term to use.Not only does the film stereotype Roma into a very narrow depiction, focussing on their 'intoxicating' and sensual existence of dancing and music, reality is not present. The reality of the situation for Europe's Romanies is as Europe's most marginalised people, often living in poverty and without education. To find out more, type in 'Roma rights' into google.As one last example - did it not seem entirely unreaslistic that at the end of the film, after Sabina's brother has burned alive and her village been destroyed, she smiles serenely from Stéphane's car, being whisked away from her past life.Sorry Tony, but you've done the people you call your own another injustice.

There's several reasons for it. Rona Hartner's acting. Adrian "Copilu minune" Simionescu's music and, maybe most of all, Izidor Serban's intensity. As far as I know, he is a complete acting amateur. My wife is Romanian, and I play bass with one, maybe the only, gypsy orchestra in Sweden - with roma from Macedonia, Serbia and Bulgaria. I know their language a bit, but it is not the same dialect as in the movie, which I guess is "kaldarash", the guys in the band speaks "arlija". We do some of Adrian's songs, though... If you liked this movie I recommend the documentary "Iag Bari", which is a film about the moldovan gypsy brass band Fanfare Ciocârlia.

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.