Gadjo Dilo
Gadjo Dilo is directed by Tony Gatlif, who, being of Gypsy origin, specializes in films about Gypsies. This one is about the Romanian Gypsies, and a Frenchman, Stephane (Romain Duris — whom I found a bit annoying, but then that is probably just me) who inadvertently stumbles into one of their villages. From the beginning the cinematography is “bumpy”, and the characters have a lot of — character. These two things seem to complement one another and produce a very lively and unstructured feel.
So Stephane is wandering around Romania looking for a singer, Nora Luca, when he meets a drunk Gypsy (Izidor Serban), who takes him into his house and treats him as a son. The two develop a lively reparteé. After some initial hostilities, the rest of Izidor’s village comes to accept him as well, and they start having fun, and drinking a lot, with various interesting cross-cultural interactions take place. Romain Duris seems almost too eager to assimilate into Gypsy culture, but the villagers themselves maintain their spontaneity in an interesting way, despite the foreigner’s annoying (for me) presence. Izidor is an especially well-acted character. The other main part is the mysterious and well-acted Sabina (Rona Hartner — bronze leopard for best actress at ’97 Locarno Film Festival). Stephano-Sabina relations develop along predictable lines, with Sabina’s initial hostilities (she is really quite hostile) magically transforming into lust half-way through the movie.
The good points about Gadjo Dilo were:
- some good acting by the gypsies
- expert portrayal of culture, especially the contrast between the Gypsies and the ethnic Romanians
- good cinematography and a lively feel — you got fairly absorbed in the various little adventures that take place
- you can read the subtitles
The bad points were:
- Romain Duris
- I’ve had enough of movies which are “cute” with lot’s of “lovable characters” so you are supposed to laugh and cry and all that crap.
But that is just me. Anyway, the New York Times thought it was good, and it got a few awards, so don’t take my word for it.
Matthew Harvey
