Transylvania

This film consists of a number of impressionistic paintings. The different emotions are put together on a string of beads. It is true, there is no moralistic message. It will not give exalted thoughts. It is pure gratification. The music is compelling. Do not expect a clear-cut storyline. Do not expect a logical sequence of happenings. Don't expect people to be predictable. If you like surprises:this film has the unexpected behind any bend in the road. It is not a film about a relationship between two human beings. It is ten separate moving images that each have their own character and meaning. By gluing these together the viewer is confronted with the mysteries of life through Toni Gatlif's eyes. You cannot compare this film with any other Gatlif production. Thoroughly recommended.

Zingarina (Asia Argento), who is two-month pregnant, travels from France to Transylvania with her friend Marie (Amira Casar) to seek out her lover Milan Agustin (Marco Castoldi) that was deported from France. They hire the guide and interpreter Luminitsa (Alexandra Beaujard) to help them to find the musician Milan. When she finds him, she is rejected and Milan tells that he was not deported, but left her.

Zingarina has a breakdown and leaves Marie on the road, wandering with a street boy. Soon she meets the traveling trader Tchangalo (Birol Ünel) and she joins him in a road travel without destiny.

"Transylvania" is a pretentious, boring, senseless and pointless love story. Pretentious since it is spoken in several languages without coherency with the character's nationality and has a cheap surrealism. Boring since there is no story or character development, only a storyline filled with music, giving the sensation that in Transylvania there are only vampires and music (sorry for the joke). Senseless since nothing makes sense in this movie. Pointless since there is no message and no nothing but a senseless love story. The good thing is the cast that is excellent, especially for me since I am fan of Asia Argento. My vote is three.

Title (Brazil): "Transilvânia" ("Transylvania")

So I guess it has to do with the fact that I left Romania 8 years ago that I find this movie so .. Romanian. Truly enchanting. Human. Real. Refreshingly spontaneous. :) - it is easier to perceive something objectively once you've stepped out of it. There are SO many moments where I was simply entranced with the reality of it all, the "wow, I know exactly that spot" Granted, there are things missing from the landscape and some things are exaggerated but it's a MOVIE and overall I found the story, the message , the setting, the characters, the music - fantastic! I am crying because I know this reality that we hate so much in Romania now will be soon obsolete (yee) by the fake lawns and malls and permits to go into the forest. Mark my words, people will watch this movie in 20 years and get very very nostalgic over it. I have my own copy and intend to keep it safe :)

Tony Gatlif is a French director of partial Romani descent. I understand that a lot of his movies focus on the Roma (often mistakenly called gypsies, which is actually a derogatory term). "Transylvania" is the first movie of his that I've seen.

While the title might imply that it's a Dracula adaptation, it has nothing to do with vampires. The protagonist is an Italian woman (Asia Argento of "XXX") who goes to Romania in search of her boyfriend, having a somewhat gritty experience in the process.

I've never been to Romania, and I don't know any people of Romani descent, so I can't comment on the movie's accuracy. What I can say is that it's interesting to see a movie about a culture that we don't often get to see. A lot of the music sounds like Johannes Brahms's Hungarian Dance (to which Charlie Chaplin shaved a man in a scene from "The Great Dictator"). It's not any kind of great movie, but it's one of the few movies focusing on the Roma, so it's got that going for it.

As far as I am concerned, cinema exists primarily to watch films like Tony Gatlif's Transylvania. It is full of life, love and loss, pain and sorrow, music and dance, culture and superstition. No-one with a heart can help but be moved by this ode to life and the Romany way.

Gatlif has made a career of showcasing the Romany, the culture of the gypsies. Credited with writing, co-writing and arranging virtually all the music in Transylvania, he clearly has a love of music that is infused within his films. This latest effort depicts a woman (Asia Argento) who leaves France and travels to Romania in search of her boyfriend, a gypsy musician.

The infusion of music and dance into the story is pure cinema magic. The cinematography, use of light and use of imagery are all magnificent. The choice of actors, both professional and non-professional, is excellent. Their comings and goings within the film are unpredictable, adding to the believability of the story, as crazy as it gets at times.

Asia Argento really is the star of the film. Her passion, strength and intensity are at the core of the story. Her rendition of gypsy womanhood as Zingarina is for me a landmark performance.

Gatlif showcases the bleak yet beautiful countryside and rural decay of forgotten lands, depicting a way of life that is slowly dying. His love for this culture and respect for those who are part of it is evident, and his depictions of it are electric, exhilarating and moving. The film's ending is amazing.

For me, this is close to as good as a film gets and is my equal favourite for the year so far. There is so much to like about it and I can't use enough superlatives. This is must-see cinema.