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This majestic, French-made film wishes viewers a "latcho drom"--a safejourney--as it follows the roots of the Rom, traveling people better known as Gypsies. Stunning and evocative, it transcends language and culture, bringing together the best elements of National Geographic-style documentary and music video in a kind of anthropologicalMTV. Using only music and image, without any steady characters or plot, award-winning director Tony Gatlif (himself of Rom descent) tells a compelling story of Rom migrations from Northern India to Europe and the rest of the world. Beginning with a gathering of lavishly dressed nomads singing across the harsh deserts of Rajasthan, viewers are transported through the lush oases of Egypt into the ghettoes of Turkey, from the muddy lanes of Eastern Europe through lush French fields to the windswept coastal cities of Spain. Every step of the way, there are hypnotic reminders of the harshness and beauty of the Rom lifestyle: the rhythms of labor pounding into vibrant dance, the songs of Turkish flower sellers merging with the plaintive political satires of a gray-haired Romanian violinist. Music is everywhere--children barely able to walk dance alongside great-grandmothers--and covers all styles and subjects--from the wintry strains of an Auschwitz lament to a flamenco devotional in a Spanish shrine to a festive Dixieland number that borrows as much from New Orleans as from northern India. And wordless stories abound, told in the smiles of strangers waiting for a train or in the frowns of rifle-toting farmers come to evict travelers from their land. --Grant Balfour ... Read more

Reviews (25)

An enthralling glimpse into a hidden world
If you've ever been interested in learning about Gypsy (or more accurately, Rom) culture and history, this is the film for you.Made by Tony Catlif, himself a Rom, the film (the title means "Safe Journey," a serious blessing in this culture) takes the viewer on the same path travelled by the gypsies themselves a thousand years ago. It begins in India, showing a gypsy band in a desolate spot, telling their own story in dance and song. He travels ever westward, through Egypt, Turkey, Eastern Europe, France, and finally Spain, where the stunning beauty of gypsy flamenco dance and music will hold you spellbound. There is no dialog: Catlif lets the lyrics of the songs, the language of the dances, and the unforgettable faces of the gypsies themselves tell the story. You'll feel like you've been given a brief but magical tour of a mysterious, rarely seen world. Gypsies have always been persecuted and ostracized; this film, made by one of their own, gives them a voice in their own language. END

Stunning
The film Latcho Drom is a unique product, which is more like a 2 hour long music video, showcasing gypsy music (and sometimes dance) from all around the world. This is an amazing way of seeing the common treads that unite Roma (or gypsy) culture in all parts of the world, but also how these people have adapted to their surrounding by adopting bits and pieces of local traditions. This is also finally, a positive and maybe even objective look into Roma culture, free of stereotypes and prejudice. For fans of "Deep Forest", one of the songs from the film, the one from Slovakia, was sampled for one of their pieces on "Boheme." This film has rapid beats and heel-taping rythms, but also sad and melancholic songs and laments. Some images will make you want to get up and dance, while other can move you to tears, for example the old Roma lady singing about gypsy persecution at Auschwitz during WWII. A true pleasure to watch and listen to. I just hope there would now be a Latcho Drom 2 to explore the other regions of the world where Roma culture flourishes, but which were not included in the film.

extraordinary!
one of the most beautiful films of the past 20 years, almost shocking. what an extreme pity the film is not available on dvd so that it can be projected in home theater settings----a visually spectacular film on a large screen.

not a documentary in the usual sense in that there is no script or text, no interviews. the story is told wholly through gorgeous visuals and incredible music----and it is not any less informative for that fact! furthermore, by beginning in india and moving its way circuitously west to spain, one hears in sequence the transmutation of the musical styles---an obvious and simple yet truly amazing cinematic structure.

the sensitive viewer will absorb the pathos of rom people without difficulty. not a film for literalists, however, or those who need their cultural experiences explained to them. in this way the film is also very french.

Should be on DVD
Others have amply described this film. I just want to note that it would be great on DVD, because unlike most documentaries, the production values are on a par with Hollywood feature films. It's shot in 35MM wide screen, beautifully staged and lit, with a high quality digital audio track. Seen on the big screen it has immense impact because it transcends the documentary genre.

Greatness
When I first saw this video I could not belive it. It is truly beautiful, the music captivating and soulful. Although I was stoned out of my mind (high as a kite) I really new this was greatness and went out to pursue the soundtrack. It is one of my favorites to this day. I'm patiently waitng for the DVD release because let's face it video cassettes blow....cassette... wow, is that how youreally spell cassette.... weird man..... wierd. ... Read more

Reviews (14)

Gadjo Dilo- a rare gem.
Like the previous reviewers, I had trouble finding this film on video, finally locating it through Foreignfilms.com's message board. The film gives us a peek into gypsy life- raw, gritty and uncompromising. It is also an achingly beautiful romance- in the true sense of the word. Coupled with the fine music score, it has a viseral quality that in the end leaves you a little giddy and grateful to people like Tony Gatlif for making movies like this.

French guy gets stuck in Gypsy village
Having enjoyed the music and patient non-narrative pacing of Latcho Drom, my friends and I tracked down this other Gypsy-themed film by the same director, Tony Gatlif. Unfortunately this one has far less of the sublime music and tries to tell a story. A young Parisian fellow travels to Romania to find a favorite Gypsy singer of his late father's. He enters a Romany (Gypsy) village and is unable to leave, though I can't imagine why. All the residents do is complain and curse in incredibly foul expletives. Any child old enough to read should not be allowed to watch this endless barrage of foul profanity. If a child is too young to read the subtitles then it would be ok since the dialogue is in Romanes, French, and Romanian. The only redeeming feature of this film, other than the occasional musical moments, is the opportunity to view the life of an oft-ignored culture, but this film is a wholly unpleasant experience.

A breath of fresh air from outside the Hollywood cesspool
In an era when Hollywood has degenerated to the point of only being able to crank out such "masterpieces" as the Austin Powers series, "Dumb and Dumber" and "American Pie", or recycling old ideas in new and even shoddier versions like "Starsky & Hutch" and "Walking Tall", it's reassuring to see that filmmakers outside the good ol' U.S. of A. can still manage to make films which deal with real human emotions rather than crass cynicism.

This movie focuses on the story of a young Frenchman who inherits an old casette tape that his anthropologist father once made of a traditional Gypsy singer. Seeing her voice as a link to his dead father and a channel for his grief, he sets off on an obsessive quest to far-flung Romania in search of the songstress.

Watching this movie which was shot entirely on location in the Romanian countryside, I was struck at how lucky we are these days, as until the end of the Cold War just a few years ago, an Algerian director shooting a film with a French actor in the wilds of Romania would have been a totally unimaginable thing. And it was a treat watching a film which is entirely in Romany (aka Gypsy) language, along with some French and Romanian.

In Romania, the youth goes to a Romany (Gypsy) village. But being unable to understand even a word of each other's language, the villagers have fun making sport of him by heaping him with obscenitites. But eventually he does make friends and gradually becomes drawn into the fabric of Romany daily life. Along the way, we the viewers also come to experience and understand the carefree and spirited zest for life that permeates Romany culture.

The film also includes a love story, but director Gatlif chooses to ultimately make his film a much larger commentary on the uncertain and difficult life for the minority Romany, given the ethnic tensions and discrimination they experience with the majority Romanians.

So if you're sick of Hollywood's version of "Reality" and would like a glimpse at a fresh and different perspective on the world, I HIGHLY recommend this movie.

-- But hurry! McDonalds has opened in Romania too, and you just know the crew for the next "Tomb Raider" flick can't be far behind!

P.S. -- This film NEEDS a DVD version NOW!!

Passion to extremes
I found this movie late one night on IFC & it caught me right away. Now I have to buy it. I was entranced through the entire film. The music is as good as Latchko Drom, but I love the story even more. It's a "no-holds-barred" tale of passion from both ends of the spectrum. Refreshing and life-affirming.

Is it possible not to be an stranger?
Based on the experience of an stranger in strangeland, Gadjo Dilo shows love and pain, through the search of self existence and identity.
With a very well structured screenplay, the experience of the carachters run around the discovery of their own human emotions, over cultural differences, and the scare of understanding the others.
This movie presents the consecuences of the encounter of two distant words, the search of equilibrium and the lost of prejudices.
It's a film, the best of 1998, appropriate for all who are living in foreing places.

Basados en la experiencia de un extrangero en una tierra foranea, Gadjo Dilo presenta el amor y la pena, a través de la búsqueda de la propia existencia e identidad.
Con un guión muy bien estructurado, la experiencia de los personajes giran en torno a un descubrimiento de sus propias emociones humanas, trascendiendo diferencias culturales, y el miedo a entender la forma de pensar de los otros.
Esta película muestra las consecuencias del encuentro de mundos divergentes, la consecusión del equilibrio y la perdida de prejuicios.
Es un film, el mejor de su año, recomendable para quienes por algún motivo se encuentran en tierras ajenas a las propias. ... Read more

Description

The parched, empty landscape of southern Spain is the setting for a tale of passion, music and revenge in Tony Gatlif’s Vengo.After his brother has murdered a member of a rival gypsy clan and gone into hiding, Caco becomes both the de facto figurehead of his ‘family’ and protector of his handicapped nephew.As tensions mount between the two clans, the threats of revenge against the nephew for the crime of his father are played out against a backdrop of rapturous flamenco music and dance performances.Award-winning writer director Gatlif (Latcho Drome, Gadjo Dilo) captures both the musical culture of Spain’s Andalusia region and the blood lust of vengeance in bold, beautiful cinematic language. ... Read more

Reviews (14)

Vengo
A truly exceptional film, raw and moving. Itself a great piece of flamenco with full of duende.
It is a simple story of loyalty, love, agony and fate of a Rom (i.e., Gypsy) family caught in a feud of revenge with another family. Musically it is a remarkably rich anthology of living flamenco and its North African heritage. Don't expect a theatrical, stylized presentation of flamenco dances like the ones in Carlos Saura's films. The dances you'll see are spontaneous and real, and for that reason, more touching and memorable.
The final two pieces of music are a masterstroke of the director/composer Gatlif. The instrumental piece, consisting of the sounds of sheet metal hammering and whipping, an engine starter, and a rickety pump engine, is a pure essence of flamenco. The beautifully sung, melancholic "Naci en Alamo" will then lead you through the dark passage of death.
I only wish that a video or DVD would be released soon so that I could see it over and over again.

Pure Passion
The title that I gave this review sums it up. This film is an excellent look at a people (Los Gitanos) whose every act or thought is infused with passion. Passionate dance, passionate music, passionate love of Life, and passionate hate. The essential plot concerns two feuding gypsy clans in southern Spain, Andalucia (the birthplace of Flamenco). A Clan's brother has been killed by the brother of the protagonist. The protagonist seeks to protect the life of his handicapped nephew, who is the son of the initial murderer. However, the story is played out to its tragic end with a backdrop of excellent Flamenco music and dancing. As with the story, Flamenco music and dance can not be easily described as beautiful, or even wonderful; some of the songs are quite discordant. The best word to use is compelling; one is entirely drawn into it emotionally, used up by it, and left exhausted, literally. It has an hypnotic effect to it, using all the themes of Life: Joy, Jealously, Betrayal, Love, Sex, and the tragedy of Death. This film and El Flamenco Puro are mirrors, held up to each other. This film, and Flamenco, are the stories of our lives, but told passionately. Always passionately. Watch the film, and be prepared to be swept away by the Passion!

Music 5, story 2: Only for Flamenco lovers
You must love Flamenco music first, before you have any chance with this movie. It will not make you like Flamenco, but if you have a passion for it already there are wonderful musical performances here by great artists: The guitar playing, the complicated hand clapping, the singing, and dancers dancing in their regular street clothes as the flamenco erupts for the moment informally, as is the gypsy life style of Southern Spain.
The story is another matter; a vague beginning, poor and unclear plot development about two warring families, the need for revenge (VENGO), with a slight twist at the end. The plot development is so cloudy it takes a while to figure out it is all very standard. But there is an interesting, inspiring treatment of a spastic teenager as one of the crowd, very well done. This movie has highs and lows. The opening scene is wonderful combination of improvised flamenco and Moroccan music. It was 20 minutes later I figured out it was a funeral scene, later I realized it was a funeral scene for the main character's daughter, who I later figured out may have been a Sufi dancer. The movie is not a mystery, it is just lacking in explanation sometimes.
It is as if the director had a few very good ideas, putting them into the movie with much soul and fire, never worrying about the overall continuity, as if the passion was justification enough (perhaps that also is very gypsy). The DVD has practically nothing in the way of extras.
Final Word? If you like Flamenco, see this movie (I rented it from Blockbuster).

El sur de España y los gitanos que sufren.
I found this film to be disappointing. Yes, the music and flamenco dancing is wonderful. But as I am enduring this film I can't help but think that the director used every possible moment to "shove" some sort of dancing or singing into the story line which in and of itself needed a lot of work.
I love the culture from Spain and just about all it has to offer. A pattern I seem to notice with the many films Spain produces is that taboo issues are brought to the service. For example in this film, the nephew is mentally disabled. I don't know if in real life this actor is or not but how often do you see this in American films? Another example would be Pedro Almodóvar's film All About My Mother where several characters struggle with HIV, or Noriega's main role in Abre Los Ojos where a good looking man loses it all to being facially disfigured. My point is these films are art reflecting real life situations. A more realistic experience in my opinion make for a more enjoyable experience. Flamenco has some gorgeous cinematography, the acting was quite good, the story and how it flowed just needed a lot of polishing.

Visual/Audio treat
I am just a Gringo with some buried Gitano genes who took a while watching the beginning of the movie on what was really going on. But then, I was went with the flow of emotion and passion that was emoted --and enjoyed it more rather than trying to analyze-- I had a hard time reading the credits and would like to know specifically where the filming was done in Southern Spain--Jerez area? What was the river? and the party boat looked like it was moored at seaside? Also, who sang the beautiful ballad/song at the end of the movie--very haunting ... Read more

Reviews (8)

words don't do this movie justice
As long as I live I will never forget seeing MONDO in 1997. It moved me as no other movie has ever done. Images from the movie are still with me - a lush garden, the doves, the sea. MONDO isn't about 'issues.' It doesn't seek to model real-life solutions or answer tough social issues. It is an image, a poem, a thought.
I thought the long review by the guy who was upset because he had 'supported' this movie was WAY off the wall (and hello, why didn't he just walk out and ask for a refund at the theater?) He was looking at MONDO as though it were an instructional video that came with a VCR, or a Bill Nye show. MONDO doesn't claim to tell you what to do. In fact, MONDO doesn't claim to be about you or your problems or here and now or here and now's problems. MONDO is art....also, despite the childlike innocence of the film, it is not a children's movie. I find it very difficult to imagine any kid running away after seeing this - especially after seeing the end.
MONDO is a dream. I can't adequately explain how beautiful this movie is. It has always reminded me of the Portugeuse word 'saudade,' which doesn't translate literally but expresses a longing of the soul, a deep yearning, a nostalgia for right now.
I also highly recommend Latcho Drom.

Is your 'heart' bursting through your chest yet?
This film was moving.

It touches on all on those special places in our heart that ALL of us have, with the unique element of something that is almost indescribable; the "free spirit".

It has many admirable aspects, and I would recommend this movie to anyone - especially to anyone who 'appreciates' a really good movie.

Mondo
I experienced Mondo as an incredibly beautiful and moving portrait, not only of a (child) character, but also symbolically of the "True Self" in each of us. There is a delicate balance between how the vagaries of life and society impact personal connection and how human uniqueness and fundamental goodness transcend loss. There is above all poetry, playfulness, deepness and humanness in abundunce. Unforgettable.

An alternative to the first reviewer
This film is an amazing metaphor for the idea of the "restless and free" gypsy, and is a wonderful counterbalance to the notion of settlement proposed for sinti and roma populations in the EU. This is not about a run away child a la Salaam Bombay, but a mythical spirit who touches the lives of outcast people in a society riven with prejudice against the gypsies. watch it for its incredible cinematography, brilliant performances, and spectacular moral.

Don't watch this movie
The plot is very weak: good guys against bad guys. But what I am really mad at is the "message" stuff.

I would not normally care about the message that much. But look what is happening: The movie is about a homeless kid. His life is just wonderful. The moment he gets hungry, a kind old lady gives him bread. The moment he gets sick, another kind old lady takes care of him. Everybody is so nice and kind, and his life is so wonderful, until the police arrive. He is taken away and put into school. What a crime.

The thing would be laughable, if I did not know that seeing this movie (and it is beautifully shot) would make some real kids run away from home in search of such life. And then they would experience real homelessness. It is not so pretty for homeless kids in Hollywood. They often go hungry. They get beaten by older kids and other homeless people. They often get hooked on drugs, or sniff glue. They are often raped. Many go into prostitution real early. They get veneric diseases. They get killed. I am sure it is not that different in France. And deceiving real kids with these beautiful lies about beautiful homelessness is just a terribly irresponsible act. The producer must be a terribly irresponsible person.

It is all the more surprising, since I love Tony Gatlif's previous movie "Lacho Drom". This one does not come anywhere near it.

I can name three movies about homeless kids right off the bat: "Salaam, Bombay", "Pixote" and "Shoeshine". All three are honest: they show homeless life just as it is.

"Gabbeh" is a fantasy, but "Mondo" is a lie. There is a major difference. "Mondo" is similar to Bertolucci's recent movie "Stealing Beauty". How many girls will go into sex looking for such light beautiful relationship, only to end up in empty spiritless screwing. Again, because the producer chose to be irresponsible and to tell lies.

I wish I could send an e-mail to Tony Gatlif. I feel really bad about one thing: by paying for the ticket, I supported the movie. And that means I support the lie the movie stands for. And when some kids do run away from home, I am partly responsible for this. ... Read more