Gadjo dilo (1997)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Tony Gatlif

Writer:

Tony Gatlif (writer)

Release Date:

7 August 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Comedy

Tagline:

In Every Soul There is a Gypsy

Plot:

A man is looking for a singer he had heard on cassette. He finds much more.

Plot Keywords:

Gypsy | Romany | Folk Music

Awards:

10 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Romain Duris	...	Stéphane
Rona Hartner	...	Sabina
Izidor Serban	...	Isidor
Ovidiu Balan	...	Sami
Angela Serban	...	Angela
Aurica Ursan	...	Aurica
Vasile Serban	...	Vasile
Ioan Serban	...	Ioan
Gheorge Gherebenec	...	Gheorge
Dan Astileanu	...	Dumitru
Valentin Teodosiu	...	Le Secrétaire de Mairie / Denech
Petre Nicolae	...	L'Épicier
Calman Kantor	...	Radu
Florin Moldovan	...	Adriani
Adrian Simionescu	...	L'Enfant Prodige

Also Known As:

L'étranger fou (France)
Strainul nebun (Romania)
The Crazy Stranger (International: English title)

Runtime:

102 min | France:113 min (Director's Cut)

Country:

Romania | France

Language:

French | Romanian | Romany

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Chile:18 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Germany:12 | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of the Grisons)

Filming Locations:

Fagaras county, Transylvania, Romania

Company:

Canal+

Trivia:

Third movie of Tony Gatlif's trilogy on the Rromani people. It was preceded by Les princes (1983) and Latcho Drom (1993).

Movie Connections:

Follows Latcho Drom (1993)

Kusturica did it better

I rented the movie wishing to see why would Vadim Tudor , the leader of the ultra-nationalist movement in Romania , be angry at a relatively unknown actress of Jewish descent but born in Romania , called Rona Hartner.

I found this to be one charming movie but please, do not, by any means , take it as a documentary or search any sociological value in it. Otherwise you might be tempted to believe that the gypsies are a cute, merry, high-spirited people kept in cruel slavery by the oppressing Romanians. There are two sides to every story, remember that, and the movie does a wonderful job at presenting one and only one passionate side of it. Check Kusturica's movies for a more complete/impartial vision on gypsies , their joys and their troubles, without the romantic halo that Tony Gatlif casted upon them in his movie. Bear in mind that the Romanians (even as depicted in the movie) are as poor and oppressed as the gypsies, and , to spit it out, that the "the uncontaminated world of the gypsies","the gypsy culture" and "the chaotically beauty of gypsies" are to be placed in the context of active refusal and defiance of established modern society rules, an attitude that the majority of the gypsies still openly professes - an attitude which makes them at least undesirable for the majority in any of the countries they are living - and this is what Gatlif doesn't show and Kusturica rejoice in displaying.

What's enjoyable here is the human story , at times joyful, at times moving and full of sorrow - a story that transcends the ethnic borders of the movie. As a Romanian who lived quite a while in a mixed nationality village and knows "the subject" quite well, I have to congratulate Rona Hartner on a perfect impersonation of a 'piranda', and Izidor Serban on a moving role that could have started a career.And I do understand why Vadim Tudor was angry at her ;-).