Based on a 1985 story about the kidnapping of hundreds of Gypsy children by Yugoslavs who sold them to Americans and Italians, Emir Kusturica's The Time of the Gypsies is the story of an orphaned boy who leaves his home and falls prey to ruthless exploiters of children. The film was written by Gordan Mihic and photographed by Vilko Filac and contains an entrancing score by Goran Bregovic. It received a five-minute standing ovation at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival where Kusturica won the award for Best Director, yet unfortunately provides a view of the Romas that simply reinforces stereotypes about the culture.
Perhan (Davor Dujmovic) is an idealistic young man who is adept at telekinesis (the ability to move objects without touching them). He lives just outside of Skopje with his grandmother Hatidja (Ljubica Adzovic), his uncle Merdjan (Husnija Hasimovic), and his sister Danira (Elvira Sali) who suffers from a bone disease. The film strongly emphasizes the traditional values of Gypsy culture personified by the warm and caring grandmother whose healing powers are well known to the village. The main theme of the film is the punishment meted out by the spirits to Perhan when he moves away from these values. Perhan is in love with a village girl named Azra (Sinolicka Trpkova) but his attempts to marry her are rejected by her stern mother because he lacks money, uncharacteristically placing material wealth over spiritual values.
Determined to be considered worthy of marrying Azra, Perhan is easy prey for Ahmed, a criminal originally from the village, who has become rich by selling children to Italians and forcing them to beg and steal for him. Ahmed comes to his grandmother for help for his dying son and, when she restores his son to health, demands that Ahmed pay for a much needed operation for Danira. After he vows to pay for an operation and brings Danira and Perhan to Ljubliana, Perhan soon discovers his true way of life when Ahmed stops to collect young people along the way. The message that what appears good may be hiding darker intent is symbolized by Danira's vision of the spirit of her dead mother who has come to warn her of impending evil.
At first unwilling to earn money dishonestly, Perhan soon discards his idealism for the pursuit of money and goes into business with Ahmed, recruiting children for sale and putting beggars to work collecting money. In the process, Perhan becomes as ruthless and unforgiving as Ahmed when, after Ahmed suffers a stroke, he takes over the business. I was drawn into the characters and identified with them, especially Perhan, but his abrupt shift into a heartless mobster seemed unmotivated and unconvincing. On a visit home, he rejects Azra for becoming pregnant while he was away, even though she insists that the baby is his. As Perhan continues to reject the values of the culture that he was raised on, his misfortunes multiply and the ending delivers a sad but inevitable lesson that does not leave us with much hope.
Time of the Gypsies dazzles us with moving cans, and spoons climbing up the wall but left me with little true understanding of the Romani culture. Kusturica shows them as lying, thieving, and whoring, but never asks about the racism in society that led them to their way of life, or talks about the sixty to eighty percent unemployment rate for Gypsies in Central Europe. While Time of the Gypsies contains an often-enchanting magical realism and its story about the corruption of innocence has universal appeal, I left the film feeling empty and dissatisfied.
Perhan (Davor Dujmovic) is an idealistic young man who is adept at telekinesis (the ability to move objects without touching them). He lives just outside of Skopje with his grandmother Hatidja (Ljubica Adzovic), his uncle Merdjan (Husnija Hasimovic), and his sister Danira (Elvira Sali) who suffers from a bone disease. The film strongly emphasizes the traditional values of Gypsy culture personified by the warm and caring grandmother whose healing powers are well known to the village. The main theme of the film is the punishment meted out by the spirits to Perhan when he moves away from these values. Perhan is in love with a village girl named Azra (Sinolicka Trpkova) but his attempts to marry her are rejected by her stern mother because he lacks money, uncharacteristically placing material wealth over spiritual values.
Determined to be considered worthy of marrying Azra, Perhan is easy prey for Ahmed, a criminal originally from the village, who has become rich by selling children to Italians and forcing them to beg and steal for him. Ahmed comes to his grandmother for help for his dying son and, when she restores his son to health, demands that Ahmed pay for a much needed operation for Danira. After he vows to pay for an operation and brings Danira and Perhan to Ljubliana, Perhan soon discovers his true way of life when Ahmed stops to collect young people along the way. The message that what appears good may be hiding darker intent is symbolized by Danira's vision of the spirit of her dead mother who has come to warn her of impending evil.
At first unwilling to earn money dishonestly, Perhan soon discards his idealism for the pursuit of money and goes into business with Ahmed, recruiting children for sale and putting beggars to work collecting money. In the process, Perhan becomes as ruthless and unforgiving as Ahmed when, after Ahmed suffers a stroke, he takes over the business. I was drawn into the characters and identified with them, especially Perhan, but his abrupt shift into a heartless mobster seemed unmotivated and unconvincing. On a visit home, he rejects Azra for becoming pregnant while he was away, even though she insists that the baby is his. As Perhan continues to reject the values of the culture that he was raised on, his misfortunes multiply and the ending delivers a sad but inevitable lesson that does not leave us with much hope.
Time of the Gypsies dazzles us with moving cans, and spoons climbing up the wall but left me with little true understanding of the Romani culture. Kusturica shows them as lying, thieving, and whoring, but never asks about the racism in society that led them to their way of life, or talks about the sixty to eighty percent unemployment rate for Gypsies in Central Europe. While Time of the Gypsies contains an often-enchanting magical realism and its story about the corruption of innocence has universal appeal, I left the film feeling empty and dissatisfied.