The director said that the dream of the Gypsies is their history.
The vast majority of the film's dialogue is in Romani, with extensive use of non-professional actors. It is said that the protagonist Devor has a similar experience as his character Perhan, becoming a father for the first time. However, he died in 1999 due to excessive drug use, which is sad.
This is a coming-of-age chronicle, also known as magic realism and surrealism, which won the Best Director award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1989.
About the director
The film's director, Emile Kusturica, also participated in the screenwriting. He was born into a secular Muslim family in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia. Besides "Song of the Wanderer", he also directed some films, such as "Dad On Business", which won the Golden, Brown and Bronze Award at the Cannes Film Festival. "Arizona Dream", nominated for the Golden Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival, "Black Cat and White Cat", the Silver Bear Award - Best Director Award at the Venice Film Festival.
Probably because of his own experience, he weaves the story of his own country into an unforgettable story that is humorous, terrifying and tragic. He labels these stories as joy, but in fact There are many social conflicts behind it.
Kusturica has been Luis Bunuel (L John Ford (John Ford), UIS Buñuel ) Coppola (Coppola) influence, Chaplin (Chaplin) and other directors, like many of Russia, the Czech Republic, Yugoslavia Like the director, he also studied film and television at the Prague Film Academy.
As a result, some scenes in the film, such as the dialogue between human trafficker Ahmed and Perhan, are similar to the scenes and lighting of "The Godfather", and some of the uncle's physical performances also imitate Chaplin.
He pays attention to the social conflicts and contradictions in which he lives, family, social change, and turbulent society. The film is full of disturbing elements (such as intensive scene scheduling, the use of long shots, the appearance of animals such as turkeys and geese), and he focuses on marginal characters. , Gypsies, Jews, Muslims. The poor and disenfranchised, the disabled, children, thieves, lawbreakers, dissidents, etc. His films depict harsh reality, but are full of humor, comedy, and hilarious (like the uncle in the film) scenes.
About the Gypsies
Gypsies, the official name is Roma.
It is said that they originally lived in India and migrated out for some reason. However, their way of life is difficult to integrate into other ethnic groups, which makes them unpopular and discriminated against in countries dominated by other ethnic groups, and they are considered to be beggars, thieves, and human traffickers. So we saw that in the movie, Azra's mother didn't want to marry her daughter to Perhan, she despised him for being poor, and she said a lot of discriminatory words in order to reject Perhan.
After World War II, the Balkans became the region with the highest concentration of Gypsies. However, wandering is still their way of life, they make their caravan their home and have no permanent residence.
They make a living by divination, which is the profession of the character represented by the role of the grandmother in the film. We can't help but associate them with witchcraft, mystical powers. Like the superpower of the male protagonist in the film, and the divination of the grandmother.
About dreams
The expression of surrealism uses wonderful imagination, illogical and unconscious psychological activities of characters to combine the contradictions of reality and dream to achieve a surreal state.
In the film, dream scenes appear frequently, even blurring the boundaries with reality. For example, Perhan dreamed that he was going home, and the family gathered together happily. Grandma was throwing red wool in front of the church, holding red wool around the model of the church. . It was his unconscious expression of missing his loved ones.
However, after Azra's death, he wrote to his grandmother that he could no longer dream. He is no longer concerned, like a walking corpse. (Corresponding to Perhan's letter to his grandmother in the film, what is a gypsy without a dream? It's like a church without a roof, a bell that doesn't make a sound.) A careful audience can find that he is saying this sentence Before, there were often scenes of dreams. He was originally a simple young man who had dreams, was optimistic, knew how to love and was loved.
The director said that the dreams of the Gypsies are their history. Personally, history can also be understood as a fairy tale. If they don't dream, there is no spiritual support, like walking dead. As the director said, the social laws of gypsies are based on two elements, the deep myth, and the great spiritual resources drawn from the myth.
About Magic Realism
This film is also called with magic realism. What are the elements of magic realism in this film, and how is it different from or the same as the magic realism in South America, while magic realism films are different from other magic and fantasy Where are the boundaries of cinema?
Magical realism, that is, the story is based on real life, using a lot of realistic details, the scene takes place in real life, interspersed with some magical or supernatural factors, and uses magical elements to illustrate reality. Fantasy stories are often separated from reality.
There is no line between magic and deception. Magical scenes, such as the floating bride, the supernatural power of manipulating metal, etc., are things that we, as normal people with common sense, cannot see or do in real life. However, deception, which is indeed what ordinary people can do, is actually an illusion achieved by secretly changing concepts through language and through means.
The director said that the artistic creation of Gypsies and South Americans is based on irrationality and poverty.
about fatalism
Someone in the title says they want to bind me and take my wings, but my soul doesn't need wings, it can fly when it wants to. When God was still on earth, there was nothing we Gypsies could do.
Gypsies souls do not need wings, they are born free. However, the ending is contradictory.
Perhan used his superpowers to get the money, only to be washed away by a flood without warning. Really good fortune.
His monologue: God gave him wealth, but will bring a storm to drown his wealth and sweep it away. God gave him luck in stealing money, but punished him by confiscating his money.
I am a victim of an evil fate
He did not understand this doom.
The more he forced himself to understand what was going on, or to accept it, the more confused and confused his mind became, and the further away the truth became. He was desperate, felt tricked by fate, cursed.
So that's why he doesn't dream anymore, if a gypsy doesn't dream, it's like a church without a roof, a bell without a sound
Although there was a period of scenery in the middle, Perhan returned home after going to Italy and married his beloved, but in the end he died unfortunately for revenge. In the end, the family still did not get rid of poverty, and the family still lived in that small and dilapidated house. His son also followed his path, stole the gold and fled.
They believed in God, and my grandmother often spoke of God, thinking that everything was arranged. Speaking of her dead mother, she said: God gave her to me and took her back, so what can I do? You can only believe in God, you can only believe in the arrangement of fate.
We as outsiders have always thought of them as free and unfettered, and they themselves thought of themselves as free. In reality, however, this freedom is also bound, because they will always be trapped in their poverty, trapped in God's rules, trapped in fate.
In the last scene, the uncle turns his back to the camera, walking in a strange manner, like Chaplin walking on the road to life.
About symbols and symbols
moving boxes. The first time was when Perhan went to propose to azra, and there were many boxes on the side of the road, and Perhan was in a good mood. The second time Perhan escaped from the police while covering the cardboard box. The third time was when Perhan assassinated Ahmed his brother was killed in the box (thatched hut) and then staggered and fell. The fourth time was Perhan's son, who took the gold and escaped in a box.
Most of the time, the box appeared when they were running away or leaving. It could be said to be a mask. They couldn't face their own reality, so they could only sneak away and keep wandering. Or a tool of shelter, in the stray, protecting them through dangerous places.
The floating woman, the white wedding dress, the mother, the divine and pure being. The scene of the girl giving birth is also sacred. Including the grandmother is also an important role that is respected. Here, the female role is important. For example, his mother gave him life, and his grandmother raised him, which had a positive effect on his growth. But male characters are negative, such as uncle who is addicted to gambling, Ahmed the human trafficker, etc.
The fairy tale told by grandma, the sky and the earth are husband and wife, and his children tried to separate them, such as the sun, but failed. But only the wind did it.
In this film, the wind plays a very important role. It's been there many times, the wind blows the veil up, it dances purposefully, like it's been given life; the wind makes Azra float in childbirth; the wind blows Mom into a dream, out the car window. etc.
At the end of the film, the white bird Perhan saw before he died should be what he yearned for. He also said that he dreamed that his wife Azra gave birth to a white bird. It should also be hoped that his next generation can truly fly freely, like the wind.
contradiction
A combination of poetry and brutality. One side is cruel reality, the other side is poetry, like some characters in the film, they recite some sentences from time to time, both beautiful and miserable.
Paradoxically, there are weddings and funerals, people in the same room, some people are happy to celebrate, some people are arguing. There are also contradictions in the seemingly hilarious scene. Probably also because of the region where the director is located, the Balkans is also a region full of contradictions and conflicts.
He indulged in the festive, vulgar, dense mise-en- scene of Fellini's Amarcord . Beginning with a lunatic narrator, the film turns poetically and freely into magical realism and surrealism. The director is also known as Fellini's successor.
References:
1. IMDb
2. Roger Ebert Film Review
3. https://www.encyclopedia.com/movies/dictionaries-thesauses-pictures-and-press-releases/dom-za-vesanje
4. http://bobafett1138.sealteam1138.com/2011/03/dom-za-vesanje-1988-directed-by-emir.html
5. https://www.theartsdesk.com/film/dvd-time-gypsies
6. https://www.unsungfilms.com/6773/time-of-the-gypsies/
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