Gadjo Dilo - The Crazy Stranger

One of the funniest movies to come out of Romania is undoubtedly Gadjo Dilo, translated into English as 'the Crazy Stranger'. The story is so crazy and the actors so "expressive" (you have to see it to believe it). And the music...oh la la, what beautiful music.

This is the third movie of Tony Gatlif's trilogy on the Rromani people. It was preceded by Les princes (1983) and Latcho Drom (1993). Latcho Drom (the Safe Journey) has of course a bigger following, but try this movie and let those gypsies bite you!

Stéphane, a young French man from Paris, travels to Romania. He is looking for the singer Nora Luca, whom his father had heard all the time before his death. Wandering along a frozen road, he meets old Izidor, a member of the Roma (Gypsy) and tells him of Nora Luca. Izidor seems to understand and takes him to his village. Stéphane believes that Izidor will take him to Nora Luca when the time has come. So, he lives in the Roma(Gypsy) village for several months. The other inhabitants dislike him at first (as he comes from those who call them thieves and attack their folks) but when they as they get to know him better, they grow to like him