The Crazy Stranger (1997)

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

Director:

Tony Gatlif

Writers:

Tony Gatlif (original screenplay and adaptation), Kits Hilaire (screenplay adaptation)

Stars:

Romain Duris, Rona Hartner, Izidor Serban

9 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Stéphane, a young French man from Paris, travels to Romania. He is looking for the singer Nora Luca, whom his father had heard all the time before his death. Wandering along a frozen road, he meets old Izidor, a member of the Roma (Gypsy) and tells him of Nora Luca. Izidor seems to understand and takes him to his village. Stéphane believes that Izidor will take him to Nora Luca when the time has come. So, he lives in the Roma(Gypsy) village for several months. The other inhabitants dislike him at first (as he comes from those who call them thieves and attack their folks) but when they as they get to know him better, they grow to like him. In summer, the ice between him and beautiful Sabina finally cracks, and a secret is revealed.

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Plot Keywords:

bucharest romania | child | village | singer | romania | 

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Taglines:

In Every Soul There is a Gypsy

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Music | Romance

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

Romania France

Language:

French Romanian Romany

Release Date:

7 August 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

O Estrangeiro Louco

Filming Locations:

Transylvania, Romania

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$12,136, 9 August 1998

Gross USA:

$673,153

Company Credits

Production Co:

Princes Films, Canal+, Centre National de la Cinématographie (CNC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min 113 min (Director's Cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Dolby SR

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Third movie of Tony Gatlif's trilogy on the Romani people. It was preceded by The Princes (1983) and Latcho Drom (1993).

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Connections

Follows The Princes (1983)

User Reviews

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 ;-).