Time of the Gypsies (1990)

You won't be disappointed!

Touches You

Good movie but grossly overrated

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

This is a very unique film set in Saravejo and in Italy and it is not one easy to follow. It is full of magic realism as some of the characters have telekinetic powers. One of them is the naive Perhan, the protagonist of the movie. As the title suggests the story is told from gypsies eyes where using magic realism suits it perfectly knowing that this way to tell a tale is associated with a way to escape the hard reality, like on third world countries and among minorities. There is a lot of drinking and partying in the movie which is used as a tool to escape this reality. It shifts a lot in mood as it starts as a comedy and end in tragedy. When I wrote in the beginning that it is not easy to follow this movie is because the dreams and reality are all blended making it difficult to distinguish what is what. And it also makes a lot of suggestions with ambiguous interpretations like "who is the father of Azra's baby?"The story starts to go out of the track when the character seen as the grounded person in the movie, the grandmother, is the one who sends Perhan and Danira to Italy with Ahmed. There, the good guy Perhan is seduced buy money which corrupts him and disappoints the ones he cares about, especially his grandmother. The language spoken on the film, Romany, is a very peculiar from the gypsies.it is really hard to put in words how I was feeling after watching this masterpiece, I only know that I was feeling great to have seen it.

This film takes the viewer to a realm of magical realism.Where Perham a male gypsy is faced with a series of dilemmas in the pursuit of financial success in order to marry his hometown girlfriend. What I really took from this film is the rich culture in the society, the complex story line that foreshadows many of the series of events yet to take place, and the magical connection between the end and beginning of the story. It really kept me on my toes, because there was always sparks of spontaneity in the film,which made it unpredictable. What really fascinated me was the stages of evolution of the character Perham from being a down to earth , not so wise individual, into a man that nearly resembled Al Pacino in Godfather and Scarface. Considering the many dilemmas Perham had to face, one thing that really affected me emotionally was the fact that he had left his sister at the hospital after he had promised her that he would leave. It really goes to show that money and greed was his top priority. Even though at the end of the movie the Perham and his sister reconnect, I believe Perham was a bit too passive and calm about losing his sister.

Kusturica's "Time of the Gypsies" is truly a film unlike any other. It is, for all intents and purposes, a coming of age story. However, due largely in part to the film's cultural context and use of magical realism, Kusturica manages to communicate a much more complex story.The film revolves around Perhan, a young Gypsy on the brink of adulthood with telekinetic abilities. His life is deeply rooted in struggles of poverty and family. Somewhat idealistic in nature, Perhan seems determined to escape these struggles, although he goes about it in a way that really only serves to perpetuate them. He doesn't know any better, and how could he? Herein lies one of the film's most devastating themes- even with good effort and intention, life has a cyclical nature. So, just as Perhan lives without a mother, so will his child- and worse. This sort of inescapable, cyclical fate is prevalent in the film and is, likely, a critique of life behind the Iron Curtain.The experience of watching "Time of the Gypsies" is akin to dreaming while awake, and not always in a pleasant way. The film's use of magical realism reflects the bizarre daily realities for Perhan, Azra, and the other characters- all of whom are struggling just to survive in the Third World. Kusturica's interesting juxtaposition of comedy, magical realism, and tragedy gives the viewer a taste of how confused and challenged these characters (and their real life counterparts) must be all the time. All things considered, this is one of the most unique films I have ever seen. It is not an easy viewing experience, as it requires one to endure brutal tragedy, betrayal, and loss all wrapped up in a dreamscape of magical realism. And admittedly, at times, it can be esoteric. However, I found "Time of the Gypsies" to be incredibly powerful and definitely recommend it to anyone interested in truly inspired International Cinema.

I watched "Time of the gypsies" when I was an adolescent boy. When I could not speak a word in English. Until nowadays I could still remember what I felt when I watch this movie but not the title of movie and I didn't know why I could remember. But now I understand why.. This movie has very strong power to make an impression specially when it comes to magical realism, I can still remember how I was amazed when Perhan use his ability. This movie felt like some busy festival where gypsies are dancing and Singing around. Which is exactly what I felt like when I was young. 2 hours of me in the middle of gypsy festival.