"Some
evenings, I find myself envying the respect
you give your dog." For laments like this,
you need to see LATCHO DROM, a tasty but
overlong film of gypsy music and dance.
LATCHO DROM
("Safe Journey") is not really fiction,
but it's not really a documentary, either.
There's really no plot and maybe three
lines of dialogue in the whole film; the
best thing I can think of to call it is
a gypsy musical. The hypnotic movie follows
caravans of nomadic gypsy musicians and
dancers on their travels. Charming, though
obviously staged scenes capture their
daily life, often showing some form of
persecution. These alternate with absolutely
thrilling music and dancing. As they take
to the road again, we fade to a different
gypsy band traveling in another country.
The film
begins in India, and moves generally westward
to end with gypsies in Spain. The first
family we see travels by foot and primitive
cart, but the transitions soon involve
boats, horse-drawn cabins, trains, trailers,
Winnebagos, and even a car racing video
game. As portrayed in LATCHO DROM, gypsies
are a perpetually and unjustly persecuted
race: "The whole world hates us, we're
chased, we're cursed/Condemned to wandering
throughout life." Just steal one lousy
little nail...
But although
there is a morose tone to much of the
film — a particularly sad bit has a battered
old woman singing in the snow of the gypsy
experience in Auschwitz — there are also
plenty of fun bits. Marvel at women in
India who play their drums like nunchuks!
Thrill at the Turkish dancers who make
their tummies leap all about without moving
the rest of their bodies! Fall dizzy at
the sight of a girl who can spin non-stop
forever! Let your heart be melted by an
old Hungarian man teasing notes from a
violin with only a thin loop of string
for a bow! Join in the frenzy of a whole
town as they follow gypsy musicians from
their front doors to an outdoor community
orchestra! Vibrate in a Spanish alley
to the machine-gun taps of furious flamenco
feet!
And the music
is incredible. It's fun, it's different,
I'll buy it from Virgin Records first
chance I get. As for the cinematography,
it's alien, it's exciting, it's as colorful
as it is diverse.
BUT — and
this is a very big BUT — the movie feels
very, very long. It's hypnotizing, but
it's also soporific, especially in the
second half. There is no story to follow,
so unless you're in the mood to be hypnotized,
you may find yourself checking your watch
often during the second hour.
LATCHO DROM
was originally released in 1993. It has
evidently accrued enough of a cult following
to merit a re-release seven years later,
so maybe the whole world does not agree
with me about its overlength. And I will
give it its due: It's a beautiful and
fascinating movie. But the mesmeric spell
it casts lasts only so long. It may just
be too much for one sitting. Just be prepared
to be patient.
-Quin
Arbeitman
