"Gadjo dilo" means "crazy alien" in Romani (gypsy). The peculiar man in the view of a Romani encampment/settlement somewhere in Romania in Parisian film-maker Tony Gatlif's (1997) movie of that name (or "L'étranger fou" or "Strainul nebun" or "Crazy Stranger") is Stéphane. Played by the then rising-star (whose acting ability became undeniable in "The Beat My Heart Skipped," "Dans Paris," and "Molière") is first seen on a frozen mud road. He mutters that he hates walking and his shoes are falling apart.

He follows an already overloaded wagon with some Romani woman hurling obscenities that he does not understand (the viewer has subtitles) at him as he plods along smiling. At night in a Romanian village that is shut up tight, a 60-something Romani, Izidor (Izidor Serban), sits with Stéphane. Stéphane tells Izidor that he does not drink, but is coerced into sharing a bottle of vodka. Izidor takes the very drunken Stéphane home.

In the morning when the other Romani discover a "gadjo" in their midst, they are frightened and aggressive. Is he a chicken thief? A murderer? No, he's only a Frenchman whose father recently died, trying to find a Romani singer. Stéphane's father had a cassette with "Nora Luca" scratched on it, and wants to find her. (I'm not convinced that "Nora Luca" is a singer rather than a song.)

Stéphane understands Izidor to say that he knows Nora Luca and will help him find her. Izidor has decided that Stéphane is a good luck charm and, especially in that his son Adriani has just been packed off to jail, treats him as a surrogate son. Stéphane knows some Romani, but no Romanian. He is genial and, like many an anthropological fieldworker, overestimates the amount of acceptance he has. Romani of all ages say obscene things to him, mostly involving various forms of oral sex.

The most overtly hostile one is Sabina (in movie logic, antagonism signals future amour) who left a husband in Belgium. She learned French there (the Romani believe that she speaks "Belgian") but initially refuses to translate for the gadjo from accumulated grievance at Belgians.

Eventually Izidor and Sabina accompany Stéphane in going around and recording music in many Romani encampments. There are weddings and funeral dances, and the movie seems to be in the general vicinity of the Northerner being loosened up by the Southerners of, say, "Zorba the Greek." The last act, however, is more like the last third of "Before the Rain" than Anthony Quinn teaching Alan Bates to dance at the end of "Zorba."

"Gadjo Dilo" was the third of three movies shot on location among Romani made by Tony Gatlif (it's the only one available on DVD here). It shows the hatred and violence against Romani that is widespread in Europe (from the Third Reich to 21st-century Italy) as well as the fierce rejection of assimilation by the Romani.

Much of the movie seems close to being a grainy-looking documentary of an alien ethnomusicologist. There is no indication that Stéphane has any professional training or aspirations. His quest is something of trying to get close to a father who was usually away from the family: he died among nomads in Syria. But we also don't know if he was a professional in studying Others or simply alienated from his own society and seeking to fit in somewhere else.

Izidor Serba and most of those appearing as Romani in the movie are Romani. Surprisingly, Rona Hartner, who plays Sabina with great zest and seeming authenticity, isn't.

Duris in his youth was engaging and played a number of genial and not very highly sex-driven Frenchmen based in Paris but spending time elsewhere: Barcelona in "L'bonne auberge," London and St. Petersburg in "Russian dolls." He reacted more than exhibited much agency. And ran naked after a woman who fled naked in "Russian dolls" and in "Gadjo." In "Gadjo" he looked paler than in other movies and his hair was way out of control (the hair on his head, that is; his chest pelt is not really ever on display in "Gadjo" as it is in other movies).

The — shall we say "earthy"? — invectives that are translated in the subtitles might shock some, and the turn to showing violence à la "Before the Rain" unsettled me. (I have not forgotten the intra-village violence within "Zorba, the Greek," BTW.) A tolerance for "gypsy music" is probably needed to enjoy the movie, and liking the music will make viewers like the movie more.

Some bits of the story remain obscure to me. I'm not sure what, if anything Adriani did to be jailed, and may not fully understand (rather than disbelieve) Stéphane's final act.

©2009, Stephen O. Murray

BTW, Duris has also appeared in the English-language movies "Le divorce" and "Afterwards." Another French film portraying persecution of Romani is "Le gitan" in the Alain Delon collection.

Although shot entirely in Romania, I think that a French writer-director and a French protagonist qualify this as a French find and continue my survey of Romain Duris movies that began in the French find writeoff Barbara organized last year.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD