Review of Gypsy Caravan, when the road bends…” - A film by Jasmine Dellal

Touring nationwide. 110 minutes.
Reviewed by Mari Katsigianis - Editor/Webmaster - www.flamencobuzz.com

Jasmine Dellal has come into her own, hit her stride, in short ARRIVED! Her latest film, “Gypsy Caravan” or “when the road bends…tales of a Gypsy Caravan”, chronicles a five year journey touring with five musical acts: Esma Redzepova, Fanfare Ciocarlia, Maharajah, Taraf de Haïdouks, and Antonio el Pipa Flamenco Ensemble. Assisted by virtuoso cinematographer Albert Maysles (Gimme Shelter, Grey Gardens, Salesman) reknowned for his skill at shooting live music and intimate cinema vérité, Dellal places us, the audience, in the very advantageous position of peering into these artist’s lives. We see everything – from the glittering costumes and colorful stagelights, to the small villages, even smaller flats, and hardscrapple life that is synonymous with the Roma experience.

At times, this documentary flows more like a narrative feature film, with each character providing their unique streams of conciousness. This enables us to view the very soul of their art .

Endearing faces in the film: Starting with Esma Redzepova, Macedonia’s Roma songstress, a rotund yet still beautiful mother of 47 adopted children, (several who always accompany her on tour playing their instruments) seen now and 40 years earlier in black & white tv footage on a variety show. (Footage looks to be the Ed Sullivan show - he promoted much world music such as flamenco in the early 60's). In this footage her troupe, including her “Gadjo” or non-Roma husband play a lively song for her to sing and reveal her to be strikingly beautiful.

Proclaimed “Queen of the Gypsies, she is a tireless crusader for the welfare of her Roma brethren worldwide as well as a top-knotch performer. This woman with a powerful set of lungs, (there is no stopping her) drives home the point in uncompromising terms that she is Roma, a part of the world, and here to STAY!!!”. She declares with flashing eyes “I will NOT be assimilated!!!” Her face has hardly changed in the 40 years, it still radiates that early beauty. What a woman!

Then there is Harish, the female impersonator who’s knee-to-floor dervish whirling and incredible athleticism hide the fact that he is a truly noble spirit, the sole support of his family back in India.. A camel and driver pass by nonchalantly in the street as he recounts to the camera from his open doorway his caste and background. Life in Rajasthan is hard and travel with Maharajah has opened many doors. It could have been a 50’s a capella singer in Brooklyn telling us his own story as a Cadillac de Ville floated by with gargantuan fins… no difference! Unlike most in the bus, Harish is middle-class, educated, and English-speaking, yet fit perfectly among his entertainer peers. I really enjoyed his smile, sense of belonging in the caravan, and liked him for who he was on and offstage..

My love of flamenco does not predjudice me, (oh maybe a little) but to see Juana and her nephew Antonio el Pipa gratified my flamenco sweet-tooth. (By the way - translation for the English subtitles to the El Pipa footage was done by none other than Flamenco Buzz' NY Correspondent, Damaris "La Gata" Solis...) Their performance scenes were exquisitely shot - making the movie a must-see for flamenco fans. (More about Antonio el Pipa later on in the review…)

My “pet” in this film??? Why it was Nikolai, the elderly lead violinist from Taraf de Haïdouks whose lonely heart yearned for a woman’s smile. He was in the twilight of his years, at the top of his game when he appeared in this film. His earnings devoted to the upkeep of his entire family, and in particular, a young granddaughter’s musical schooling in Bucharest. I wanted to pick him up, kiss him all over, and feed him something good and hot, accompanied by a bottle of Jack Daniels, but alas, it was not in the cards. Onstage a star among throngs of American and European fans, he was back at his home in a small Romanian village, just a man. We see the pieces of the puzzle that formed his life. Nikolai’s toothless grin details the events of his youth, middle, and old age as he shares the burden of his noblesse oblige for all his extended family. This unassuming man of small stature, plays a pivotal role in the film – something you will have to see for yourself as I won’t reveal it here. Again, I compliment filmmaker Dellal for her insightful and delicate sensibilities – she really gets into the heart of the matter with all her subjects.

The ennui of long-term road travel was depicted in mercifully few shots of the highway, and rather more shots of daily life on the Caravan Bus. Clowning around, singing, giving interviews, and sleeping, things that people do between gigs. There were also the poignant shots of artists such as Antonio el Pipa, packing for the road, at home in Jerez. Surrounded by his gorgeous wife and their adorable daughter, you can almost feel the carpet under your feet in his bedroom, as he plays with his baby-girl encouraging her to mimic him as she raises her arms in the classic “braseo” of a flamenco diva. The sadness in his wife’s eyes so evident as she sees her husband prepare for yet another journey to bring home the American dollars that will feed, clothe, and nurture his family.

More is seen of Jerez, (this reviewer’s home away from home and favorite Spanish city of all time!) As Antonio walks past the violet flowering trees that create a corridor outside the Alcazar, he shares what it means to be a Gitano and live “la vida flamenca”. Later, we are privy to the troupe practicing in Antonio’s dance studio as he guides the movements of a flamenquita. His Aunt Juana enters the studio and starts to sing with her trademark gravelly voice. You get the true sense that this is a family first, entertainers second.

Juana’s life is told through her choked voice as we see her in her cramped kitchen, recounting how she nearly lost an entire family to drugs, but how through God’s grace they were returned to her. Her unflappable faith allowed her to persevere through the darkest moments of her life and this is reflected in her voice. (I'll never forget the first time I heard her sing!) Her cante jondo reveals the depths of her despair and loss. Fueled by events in her life, she enters into the state of duende easily. Juana defines duende as that thing which makes us laugh, cry, a shout from inside (grito).

As members of the Caravan decide to fish in a goldfish pond on the Ann Arbor Campus, they are accosted by a police officer, and are incredulous to the rules and regulations imposed. When a Gypsy is hungry, he picks an apple from a tree, or fishes in a lake, in short he makes due with what’s around him. Unfortunately, these rules don’t apply in contemporary Western society, so we get to see the collision of cultures firsthand. Another of these seemingly endless culture clashes is highlighted as the foil to all this Romanipe (Gypsyness) appears in the embodyment of their Tour Manager.

George Cruze, a slender middle-class gentlemen with greying long hair and beard had the awesome responsibility of managing the Gypsy Caravan tour across the US & Canada and it was an impressive undertaking! Soft-spoken and genteel, he urges the Caravan inhabitants to “Please remove the empty wine bottles from the overhead racks” on the bus, and “Please note the domestic airline flights only permit two pieces of luggage”, etc. While the artists may laugh at his proclamations... it's in a loving way. They don’t "get" him but they know he’s "for" them, so they play along. It’s a microcosm of the Roma/Gadjo dynamic occuring daily in every country on Earth. Cruze's devotion to the artists as well as his dedicated staff show that Gadjo admiration for the Roma artist is infinite, and the artists appreciate all the hard work effected on their behalf.

This film is more than just another story of the Roma and their plight, more than the cameo appearance of Johnny Depp declaring his affinity and support for Roma, more even than the sumptuously shot musical numbers. This film is about what it truly means to be a "Roma-in-Caravan" and why the bending road will always be there for their wagon wheels to caress.

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