Blessed with a wealth of characters, moving stories and roof-raising performances, Gypsy Caravan is as rich as the music it promotes. Fans of Buena Vista should definitely join the club.
Gypsy Caravan (2006)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:49
Fresh:42
Rotten:7
Average Rating:6.9/10
Consensus: A dynamic doc following five Romani bands is a pleasure for the senses thanks to vibrant colors and eclectic music.
Theatrical Release:28-09-2007
Synopsis: An audience favorite at film festivals worldwide, GYPSY CARAVAN is a gorgeous surround-sound celebration of misery and oppression turned into music. GYPSY CARAVAN is a dazzling display of the... An audience favorite at film festivals worldwide, GYPSY CARAVAN is a gorgeous surround-sound celebration of misery and oppression turned into music. GYPSY CARAVAN is a dazzling display of the musical world of the Roma, juxtaposed to the real world they live in. This rich feature documentary celebrates the luscious music of top international Gypsy performers and interweaves stirring real life tales of their home life and social background. Shot by documentary icon Albert Maysles, the film takes place on tour in Europe and in the USA during the Gypsy Caravan concert tour, as well as on location in Spain, Macedonia, Romania and India. --© Shadow Distribution [More]
Studio: Shadow Distribution
Reviews for Gypsy Caravan
It’s a slow, sometimes grating process for an hour or so, but once everyone wises up to their shared heritage, a euphoric celebration of what it means to be a gypsy takes flight.
This chronicle of a Gypsy-music package tour is a powerful rejoinder to rock-doc navel-gazing. Stunning performance excerpts, ranging from Spanish flamenco to Indian raga, demonstrate that keening brass choirs are just one aspect of the Gypsy sound.
The poverty contrasts sharply with the excitement of the tour bus and cuts to the heart of the songs themselves, famed for their "joy and sorrow".
Gypsy Caravan – When the Road Bends evokes the US tour of Roma musicians whose astonishing diversity ranges from the Indian group with their bejewelled drag dancer to oompah-based Romanians.
These extraordinary musicians ought to put an end to any sniffiness about Gypsy music.
So long seen as ragged leftovers from an older historical epoch, the Roma turn out to be a modern people who have a lot to teach over-developed societies about what it means to be human.
Gypsy Caravan succeeds in its primary goal to open ears and minds to Roma music, accurately described as being about 'the rhythm, the language, the feeling.'
[Dellal's] attempts to 'straighten' the narrative through exposition disguised as the walkie-talkie messages of an unseen stage manager, however, are distractingly ham-handed.
There's material to discover about the Gypsies in this laudable attempt, but the film is long, repetitious, and not selectively enough edited.
Not quite fully satisfying as either cinematic ethnography or as a concert film.
Everyone is having so much fun, one would really like to be a part of it. But the performance sequences are too jaggedly truncated to pull us in entirely.
The music in the film is exhilarating, but there isn't enough information about anyone or anything, and the film feels slight overall. And scattered. You'll leave hungry for more.
Gypsy Caravan avoids any serious discussion of the social issues that confront the world's 10 million Roma. Unfortunately, the well-intentioned film never gets beyond clichés itself.
It's a two-hour movie, and I'm only sorry it isn't two or three times as long. Let me read your thoughts: You're not much interested in Gypsy music, and the historical and cultural stuff might be pretty dry. That's what I thought too: Wrong and wrong.
It's easy to see why [director] Dellal had trouble turning the camera off, especially when confronted with a startling and sad plot twist. Viewers are urged to grab an aisle seat, the better to dance when the music moves them -- as it surely will.
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