Product Details

• Actors: La Caita
• Directors: Tony Gatlif
• Format: Color, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
• Language: Arabic, French, Hungarian, Slovak, Spanish, Turkish
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: New Yorker Video
• VHS Release Date: November 11, 1998
• Run Time: 103 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304263198
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,728 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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  #1 in	Video > Art House & International > By Original Language > Hungarian
  #2 in	Video > Art House & International > By Original Language > Arabic
  #4 in	Video > Documentary > History > World History & Culture

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
This majestic, French-made film wishes viewers a "latcho drom"--a safe journey--as it follows the roots of the Rom, traveling people better known as Gypsies. Stunning and evocative, it transcends language and culture, bringing together the best elements of National Geographic-style documentary and music video in a kind of anthropological MTV. Using only music and image, without any steady characters or plot, award-winning director Tony Gatlif (himself of Rom descent) tells a compelling story of Rom migrations from Northern India to Europe and the rest of the world. Beginning with a gathering of lavishly dressed nomads singing across the harsh deserts of Rajasthan, viewers are transported through the lush oases of Egypt into the ghettoes of Turkey, from the muddy lanes of Eastern Europe through lush French fields to the windswept coastal cities of Spain. Every step of the way, there are hypnotic reminders of the harshness and beauty of the Rom lifestyle: the rhythms of labor pounding into vibrant dance, the songs of Turkish flower sellers merging with the plaintive political satires of a gray-haired Romanian violinist. Music is everywhere--children barely able to walk dance alongside great-grandmothers--and covers all styles and subjects--from the wintry strains of an Auschwitz lament to a flamenco devotional in a Spanish shrine to a festive Dixieland number that borrows as much from New Orleans as from northern India. And wordless stories abound, told in the smiles of strangers waiting for a train or in the frowns of rifle-toting farmers come to evict travelers from their land. --Grant Balfour

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Elegant, historical and current, December 20, 2003

By	Alyssa A. Lappen (Earth) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

This is an astonishing film. It traces the Rom people from India to Egypt, Turkey, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, France and Spain, through their music and dance. There is very little dialogue, and little explanation, except at the film's beginning, which briefly states that the Rom left India hundreds of years ago and made their way north, for reasons now unclear.

Further explanation is not really needed, however, as one can see for oneself the poverty, misery, and oppression that the Rom suffer worldwide, to this day. In one particularly poignant cut, an elderly Rom woman sings about Auschwitz. "In Auschwitz we had no bread," she sings. "The kapos were so cruel." She holds a small photograph, perhaps of her father or husband who perished, and one sees the number tattooed on her arm. Other songs remark upon the Roma's constant flight from hatred and oppression. One sees, here, in this film, as they are chased from camp sites, forced to move their caravans.

In the closing segment, a family is chased from abandoned buildings in which they had been squatting. They sing as the doors and windows are bricked up, and the police arrive. "Why does your evil mouth spit on me?" a chanteuse wails, in the same style and strain of music one had heard from her Roma compatriots at the film's beginning, in India. "Why do you treat me like a dog?"

Most remarkably, however, this film juxtaposes the Roma's dignity with their suffering. We see, firsthand, their poverty, the social ostracism they face ubiquitously. Yet we also see their ingrained joy of living, their indomitable spirit. The film provides a magnificent, delightful musical display of multi-lingual Rom genius, recounting in song and dance their history and the extent of their travels.

It is a gift to--and from--the Rom, to all humanity.

--Alyssa A. Lappen

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant beyond compare, March 10, 1999

By A Customer

The best music movie I have ever seen. I've seen it 5 times (twice in the theater the first weekend it was in town), I own a copy, and I know I will watch it over and over for the rest of my life--and I am not often given to such excessive emotion or fanaticism about a movie. Latcho Drom helped me develop a new appreciation for the Rom people, and *all* the musical performances in the film--as varied as they are--connect with feelings so elemental and moving that it is hard to describe. The cinematography, the editing, the recording--everything about Latcho Drom is extremely well done. And the people are compelling, intense, and beautiful, too. See this movie. You will be enriched. (I must inform you that there are other more affordable sources for the video. Look around.) It may also be in your local video rental store. If not, convince somebody at a local college or museum to bring it to their film series. You must find a way to see it. You won't regret it! And while you're at it, look for Tony Gatlif's other films, which are also well worth your while.

45 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An enthralling glimpse into a hidden world, September 26, 1998

By	strega2 "strega2" (USA) - See all my reviews

If you've ever been interested in learning about Gypsy (or more accurately, Rom) culture and history, this is the film for you.Made by Tony Catlif, himself a Rom, the film (the title means "Safe Journey," a serious blessing in this culture) takes the viewer on the same path travelled by the gypsies themselves a thousand years ago. It begins in India, showing a gypsy band in a desolate spot, telling their own story in dance and song. He travels ever westward, through Egypt, Turkey, Eastern Europe, France, and finally Spain, where the stunning beauty of gypsy flamenco dance and music will hold you spellbound. There is no dialog: Catlif lets the lyrics of the songs, the language of the dances, and the unforgettable faces of the gypsies themselves tell the story. You'll feel like you've been given a brief but magical tour of a mysterious, rarely seen world. Gypsies have always been persecuted and ostracized; this film, made by one of their own, gives them a voice in their own language. END