23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A breath of fresh air from outside the Hollywood cesspool, June 26, 2004
This review is from: The Crazy Stranger [VHS] (VHS Tape)
In an era when Hollywood has degenerated to the point of only being able to crank out such "masterpieces" as the Austin Powers series, "Dumb and Dumber" and "American Pie", or recycling old ideas in new and even shoddier versions like "Starsky & Hutch" and "Walking Tall", it's reassuring to see that filmmakers outside the good ol' U.S. of A. can still manage to make films which deal with real human emotions rather than crass cynicism.
This movie focuses on the story of a young Frenchman who inherits an old casette tape that his anthropologist father once made of a traditional Gypsy singer. Seeing her voice as a link to his dead father and a channel for his grief, he sets off on an obsessive quest to far-flung Romania in search of the songstress.
Watching this movie which was shot entirely on location in the Romanian countryside, I was struck at how lucky we are these days, as until the end of the Cold War just a few years ago, an Algerian director shooting a film with a French actor in the wilds of Romania would have been a totally unimaginable thing. And it was a treat watching a film which is entirely in Romany (aka Gypsy) language, along with some French and Romanian.
In Romania, the youth goes to a Romany (Gypsy) village. But being unable to understand even a word of each other's language, the villagers have fun making sport of him by heaping him with obscenitites. But eventually he does make friends and gradually becomes drawn into the fabric of Romany daily life. Along the way, we the viewers also come to experience and understand the carefree and spirited zest for life that permeates Romany culture.
The film also includes a love story, but director Gatlif chooses to ultimately make his film a much larger commentary on the uncertain and difficult life for the minority Romany, given the ethnic tensions and discrimination they experience with the majority Romanians.
So if you're sick of Hollywood's version of "Reality" and would like a glimpse at a fresh and different perspective on the world, I HIGHLY recommend this movie.
-- But hurry! McDonalds has opened in Romania too, and you just know the crew for the next "Tomb Raider" flick can't be far behind!
P.S. -- This film NEEDS a DVD version NOW!!
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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Moving, Enchanting, Heart-wrenching, and Music to Die For, November 2, 2002
This review is from: The Crazy Stranger [VHS] (VHS Tape)
This was the first Gatlif film I watched in full. I was blown away.
Gadjo Dilo ("Crazy Stranger") refers to Romain Duris' character a Frenchman who goes to Romania to find a Gypsy singer he has a recording of. Does he find her? Well, I won't tell you, but what he does finds is the heart and the soul of the Gypsy world, the music. Meanwhile, we discover a world mostly unknown in our structured "West" - human, funny, raw, passionate.
I must have taken friends to see it on 3 separate occasions when it was in the theatre when it came out a few years ago. I have the soundtrack, and now I'm buying a copy of the video for my husband who's never seen it (but who loves the CD).
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gadjo Dilo- a rare gem., October 29, 2000
Like the previous reviewers, I had trouble finding this film on video, finally locating it through Foreignfilms.com's message board. The film gives us a peek into gypsy life- raw, gritty and uncompromising. It is also an achingly beautiful romance- in the true sense of the word. Coupled with the fine music score, it has a viseral quality that in the end leaves you a little giddy and grateful to people like Tony Gatlif for making movies like this.
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