France,
1997, 97 min
Shown in 1998
CREDITS
- dir
-
Tony Gatlif
- prod
-
Tony Gatlif
- scr
-
Tony Gatlif
- cam
-
Eric Guichard
- editor
-
Monique Dartonne
- cast
-
Romain Duris, Rona Hartner, Izidor Serban, Ovidiu Balan, Dan Astileanu, Valentin Teodosiu
- source
-
Lion\'s Gate Releasing, 561 Broadway, Suite 12B, New York, NY 10012. FAX: 212-966-2544. WORLD SALES- Celluloid Dreams, 24, rue Lamartine, 75009 Paris, France. FAX: 33-1-49-70-03-71. EMAIL: celluloid@i-t.FR
- premiere
-
U.S. Premiere
-
COMMENTS
Rona Hartner in person.
OTHER
It’s a cold winter night in Romania when Stephane, a Parisian traveling alone, walks into a small town and by chance meets Gypsy fiddler Isidor, who is grieving loudly and drinking hard because the townspeople just had his son jailed. Stephane is on a quest to find Gypsy singer Nora Luca, who sang a tune that has haunted him since childhood, and hopes Isador can help. Isidor wants his son returned home and believes that taking the smiling, friendly Stephane—“my Frenchman,” as he calls him—under his wing and into his home will aid his cause. Before long Stephane is living in Isidor’s village, evoking curiosity as well as scorn among Isidor’s friends and family—including a woman named Sabina who’s got a mouth foul enough to make Dirk Diggler blush. Against stark and moody landscapes and a soundtrack reverberating with out-of-this-world music, Tony Gatlif—director of Les Princes (SFIFF 1984) and Latcho Drom (1993)—creates a well-grounded picture of modern Gypsy culture that’s as raw, soulful and spiritually mesmerizing as Sabina’s lustful dancing or the earthy songs Isidor scratches out on his fiddle. Gatlif’s approach is an honest one, showing us deep-seated mistrust and anger—much of it caused by racism—as well as the intense emotional bonds that exist between people in this culture. The result is a fresh, invigorating film experience.
—Kurt Wolff
FACTOID #217
A sporadic SFIFF tradition, fashion shows are lighthearted affairs that help raise funds for the Festival. In 1968, Oakland designer Richard Tam mounted a show at the Fairmont Hotel that attracted high society; the Examiner commented that the show ’combined Tam’s simple daytime elegance with his almost theatrical evening gowns.’
