The Crazy Stranger (1997)

I thought "Vengo" was the best movie about Gypsy people I ever saw. Until I saw "Gadjo Dilo". At first, this film seems to be a story about a French guy (Stephane) who travels to Romania in search of an old Gypsy (the better term is Roma - not to be confused with Romanian) singer his dad used to like. Turns out this is a complex film about the life and culture of a group of Roma people who lived on the outskirts of a Romanian village, and their rocky relationship with the Romanians.Being ignorant of the past history between the Roma and the Romanians and the prejudices that have stemmed from it, Stephane approaches the Roma people with his seemingly unassuming, trusting attitude, which eventually earns him their trust and affection. I particularly loved Sabina's character, her sometimes outrageous irreverence and and her passionate nature. The scene where she cannot stand still and quiet while Stephane tries to record a singer in a pub says a lot. The more Stephane learns about the people who allowed him to live in their midst, sees them as they are, listens to their music, watches their customs, the more bewitched he becomes. The scene at the end, when he burries the tapes with the music recordings, pours the liquor on top and dances around them the way he saw the Roma do it when they pay their respects at a deceased's grave, speaks volumes. He knows now that his recordings could not depict who these people were and what their music meant, plus, he had no need for any recordings anymore because he was no longer an outsider looking in. You can see it in Sabina's eyes, as she watches him, smiling, that she knew he now saw her and her people not just with his eyes, but his heart too, and his little dance was an homage to them.

Oh yes, I loved this movie very much. I have always loved the free-spiritedness of the gypsies and their sense of humor in this sense is just really a LOT of fun.I had already read about gypsies and was a little bit familiar with some of their ways, though certain things are different for groups in different locations of course. In this film you get to see something typical of gypsies mourning the death of a loved one or friend -- the chest-pounding dramatics, the drinking, the dancing -- although in the film this was just one person doing all of this and in the books I have read I would have expected to see a larger group moaning aloud, drinking and dancing all night. But still, so much the same...I love the way the movie begins. Any Puritans out there who don't like four-letter words or other sexual terms in movies, don't even watch this film because that happens in the beginning, middle and end. To me it was just perfect -- and hilarious too.In fact this movie now officially has one of my FAVORITE "love" or "seduction" scenes -- with the character Sabina first saying something IMDb would no doubt have to delete if I typed it, then Stephano saying something and the way they did it was SO cute. I can't explain.Oh, and I want to mention that the person who wrote the synopsis of the story for IMDb I believe said in error that at the end Stephano discovers that no one knew what he was saying all along. That is not what happened at all. There was a language barrier all along, but he was learning the language throughout the film and as Sabina warmed up to him the conversing got VERY good since she spoke French. I don't want to give away more, just to say I really love the film and will definitely want to see it again (and then probably again).

I saw this movie on IFC a few years ago just because the one sentence description got me interested. Something about gypsies and a guy searching his fathers past. Early in the movie the guy arrives in gypsy territory and a horse drawn cart goes by loaded with gypsy babes and they all start cursing him and taunting him..."f** you" "Lick my ***". I knew I was going to like this movie. My wife was a little shocked at the vulgarity but I laughed and laughed.This movie is most of all genuine, it just has a candor that makes you feel like the director really knew his subject, cared about it, and lets the story unfold without telling us what to feel and when to feel it.Gypsies are portrayed in the panorama of daily, ordinary life. Warm yet harsh, possessing a sort of anti-ethic ethic, they get by, celebrate life, survive, and value the moment.Indeed the main character finds his own inner gypsy and the people he is hanging out with begin to accept him. This is one of those films that stays with you because its full of moments you can relate to, yet are from a different world. Also because it goes back to what films are about - not just entertainment, which has its place for sure, but they are our stories, our ways of passing on bits of our wisdom and culture.

In life you do come across with little gems of movies. Gadjo dilo represents that, tenderness, simplistic and genuine approach to the soul of the gypsy people. Hard not to be moved by movies like this that essentially portray so beautifully a piece of a persons life. The music is great, a major discovery in my life and although seen it years ago i still treasure it as one of the reasons why i enjoy watching movies. Most of the actors of the movie did not have formal training and they manage to pull it together in a way that accomplished ones would have real trouble to do so. One of those movies that reinstate your faith in the homelessness of the good quality cinema NOT TO BE MISSED