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Too much talk, too little music JASON ANDERSON >From Friday's Globe and Mail August 17, 2007 at 12:28 AM EDT Gypsy Caravan Directed by Jasmine Dellal Classification: PG Rating: **1/2 Blame it on Havana. The success of Wim Wenders's elegant documentary about the Buena Vista Social Club seven years ago spawned a subgenre of films about musical traditions in every corner of the globe. Whether audiences crave Memphis soul, Brazilian choro or Tuvan throat-singing, there's a movie for nearly every taste. While the history of Polynesian death metal remains undeservedly obscure, it too will surely get its due some day soon. To this mellifluous category of films, director Jasmine Dellal adds Gypsy Caravan, a documentary about an American concert tour in 2001 that united several groups who shared roots in the musical traditions of the Roma, the people known, often disparagingly, to outsiders as Gypsies. The acts hail from Romania, Macedonia, Spain and India. Their styles initially appear to have little in common beyond a rare level of virtuosity and exuberance. Not even the musicians are sure about what it is they share beyond their mutual love of cigarette breaks. A player from Romania struggles to answer the question of what unites these strains. Some rhythm, the language, he offers. Also the feeling. That feeling is what gives Dellal's movie great vitality, even though Gypsy Caravan's haphazard organization and overly rushed pacing impair its efforts to demonstrate the wonders and diversity of Romani music. And the personalities of the players also contribute energy. They are an immensely charismatic bunch. Known as the Queen of the Gypsies, Macedonian singer Esma Redzepova is a dynamo whose band includes several of the 47 adopted children raised by her and her husband (now deceased). One of the Maharaja troupe of musicians and dancers from the northern Indian region (and original Romani homeland) of Rajasthan, Queen Harish is a bewitching, ever-swirling beauty who happens to be a bloke. Antonio El Pipa and his aunt Juana la del Pipa are Spanish performers who speak proudly of flamenco's Gypsy soul. The group that is best known in the west is Taraf de Haidouks, a wild, string-based band of players from Romania who've been featured in several films, including Tony Gatlif's Latcho Drom, a superior documentary about Romani music, and Sally Potter's 2000 drama The Man Who Cried. Johnny Depp, who starred in the latter, shows up to sing the praises of his former co-stars and rail against those who harbour prejudices against their people. Most Americans believe the clichés of Gypsies, he says. An incident captured here suggests the musicians are vulnerable to those attitudes even when on an otherwise triumphant sold-out tour. Besides capturing footage of the American shows, Dellal's crew which included veteran documentarian Albert Maysles, serving here as a cameraman travelled to the players' home countries to capture scenes of their lives there. Considering the huge number of people involved, it's inevitable that Dellal struggles to give everyone the attention they deserve. As a result, many scenes of performance are unnecessarily truncated. It's as if Dellal was nervous about letting the music speak for itself. Instead, we get more talk and more travel than we really need. And in the end, it's the musicians who discover the quality that unites them. It's not so much their Romani roots as the love of music they share in the present. In the words of a member of Maharaja, music is our greatest joy it's better than land, wisdom or being father of 1,000 sons. Special to The Globe and Mail © Copyright 2007 CTVglobemedia Publishing Inc. ---------------------------- Vali "Noble blood is an accident of fortune; noble actions are the chief mark of greatness." (Carlo Goldoni) "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace." (Jimi Hendrix) Aboneaza-te la <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ngo_list> ngo_list: o alternativa moderata (un pic) la [ngolist] Please consider the environment - do you really need to print this email?
