Tony Gatlif had already broached the subject of the gypsies in his earlier "Les Princes" (1983) or "Gadjo Dilo" (1998);sadly he never enjoyed commercial success in his native France,in spite of generally favorable reviews by critics .Himself a gypsy,he had to make a movie about his people during WW2 for it was also a genocide ,comparable to that of the Jews ;we learn that up to 25% of them were exterminated in concentration camps.
Based on historical facts : the roundups by the French gendarmes in the occupied part of France and the story of a young resistant fighter who takes refuge in a small village where she has become a schoolteacher:what a humiliation it must be for her to have her pupils sing the notorious "Maréchal Nous Voila" (the children shout more than they sing ,perhaps on their mistress's advice)!It's no coincidence if this anthem is followed by the tune of "Le Temps Des Cerises" the revolutionary song of La Commune De Paris (1871).
Ther's a sword of Damocles hanging over the band of gypsies who are camping in the small village .Not only the German soldiers ,but also the French police ;and anyway the French agree ,cause "they want to help the country get rid of that vermin" ;the gypsies in France have always been outcasts ,they were before WW2 and they still are in 2011.
There are two just people in the village :the school teacher who welcomes the children in her school and the mayor who gives them a house so that they will not be arrested ;a "law" forbids nomadism in the country and the notable tries to circumvent it.It's a pity that the part of the mayor (singer Marc Lavoine ,an occasional actor ,notably in Chabrol's "L'Enfer" )and of the young teacher should be underwritten. All that concerns the gypsy rings true and of course they use their own language (there's an alternative gypsy title ,used abroad).And they make wonderful music.
Based on historical facts : the roundups by the French gendarmes in the occupied part of France and the story of a young resistant fighter who takes refuge in a small village where she has become a schoolteacher:what a humiliation it must be for her to have her pupils sing the notorious "Maréchal Nous Voila" (the children shout more than they sing ,perhaps on their mistress's advice)!It's no coincidence if this anthem is followed by the tune of "Le Temps Des Cerises" the revolutionary song of La Commune De Paris (1871).
Ther's a sword of Damocles hanging over the band of gypsies who are camping in the small village .Not only the German soldiers ,but also the French police ;and anyway the French agree ,cause "they want to help the country get rid of that vermin" ;the gypsies in France have always been outcasts ,they were before WW2 and they still are in 2011.
There are two just people in the village :the school teacher who welcomes the children in her school and the mayor who gives them a house so that they will not be arrested ;a "law" forbids nomadism in the country and the notable tries to circumvent it.It's a pity that the part of the mayor (singer Marc Lavoine ,an occasional actor ,notably in Chabrol's "L'Enfer" )and of the young teacher should be underwritten. All that concerns the gypsy rings true and of course they use their own language (there's an alternative gypsy title ,used abroad).And they make wonderful music.