The film begins with a crying fat woman in a white wedding dress, a group of marriage teams behind her, a homeless man with a black umbrella that can no longer be rotten, and murmurs the belonging of his soul, as well as a noisy crowd and white geese. Then a long shot continued to wander and outline the people acting under the yellow sand. The scene at the beginning seems to be independent but runs through the whole film, the wedding turban, the goose, the aimless and energetic image quality (represented by the neighbor and the uncle), slightly formalized and surreal expression. This is an image unique to Kusturica, an image unique to Yugoslavia. The colors of the land cover the entire picture, rendering this warm and fascinating strange cultural situation.
Loose narratives and strong camera language,
although the film follows a linear narrative, the time and space evolution lacks coherence, interspersed with dreams and memories accompanied by the sounds of the piano and raving or narrative narration accompanied by ethnic customs. A story about deception, abduction, abandonment and search. And such a narrative situation and the language of the film's lens complement each other. The straightforward lens wanders carelessly or approaches nakedly, without deliberately concealing or revealing it. It is only independent and free from the world in the lens, but it is integrated with it.
On the night that Belhan and Azra met, they had a lover for the first time, and they explored their own life for the first time. After that, it was a dream. When he was mature, he and Azra were floating in a boat, and then cut back to reality. Han has no hat and glasses on his head, and the camera follows him in a suit to propose marriage. At this time, it can be seen as a growth of Belhan, marking that he is no longer young, and then another stage of narrative begins. Belhan followed Ahmed to Italy in order to treat his sister's illness, and it was the man he regarded as his father and God who made him see a more cruel and more realistic world. After the struggle, he was punished and he was born again. , along with the narration of reading a letter to grandma, a fragmentary flashback begins. The camera moves briskly to show a montage. Everything seems to be what he hoped, but it contrasts sharply with reality, either to deceive himself for the sake of longing, or to recognize the need for growth. The price paid, Belhan clings to his dream and compromises with the world with growth. In the second dream, he returned to his grandmother with the accordion in hand, and ended with the house destroyed by the fire. After another dream, he experienced a transformation. He seemed to become more mature, but he almost abandoned himself, refusing sympathy and tenderness. Refusal to trust even rejects love. In the last paragraph, when Azra left, he realized what he had missed, and the narration sounded again, "trying to find out what happened, but always getting further and further away from the truth", and he began to find everything that was lost.
The fragmented and loose narrative also adapts to the needs of a large time span, creating a richer sense of life experience and wandering, just like the English title of the film Time of Gypsies conveys the meaning of the fusion of time and Gypsies life. At the same time, the yellowish tones and sporty shots of the film show a kind of vigor that suits the characters, and the actors' performances with strong style set off the strong national feelings and a kind of gypsy culture.
Surreal elements and magical realism-style
scenes in the film's footage also show surreal brushstrokes in a recurring and simulacrum atmosphere, revealing a magical reality in harmony with the gypsies' mysterious wandering cultural traits style. In fact, the director's style has always been described by critics as magical realism, influenced by directors such as Fellini and Buñuel, and is even known as "Fellini of the Balkans". In an interview after the Shanghai Film Festival last year, he did not deny this statement, admitting that the work has a grotesque and magical style, but this is a way for him to express the authenticity of reality. means.
In the film, Belhan has the genetic special ability to use his eyes to make objects move. In "Do You Remember Dolibel? "The protagonist finally succeeded in hypnotizing the little rabbit, and the director added the element of ideas here, which is more direct and more magical. The many appearances of the white wedding turban also carry a metaphorical flavor. The fantasy and desire for the mother, the sense of rootlessness and wandering about the source of life, and the sadness of the broken love are all integrated into the white gauze drifting lens. In the last part of the film, Azra, who is wearing a wedding dress, overlaps with the phantom of her mother that appeared in the first half. She is suspended in the air and falls down after giving birth. It seems to repeat the moment when Belhan's life begins. He realized that he lost not only his mother but also his lover, but also the "self" who was not recognized. In the film, people, turkeys and white geese appear repeatedly in cardboard boxes. The dream is full of surreal scenes, boating in festivals, half-naked teenagers and young girls, and small models of Roman churches that are placed on the table at home. Grandma keeps throwing red hairballs in her hands, and houses burn in the air, and small bands play, is it a tribute to life or a sad song of fate?
At the end of the film, Belhan returned to the train. In this journey of gathering but being apart, he found his sister and son at the cost of his life, and more importantly, he once abandoned himself and once abandoned love. Looking up at the sky, the white bird fluttered its wings, reflecting the unfinished conversation with Azra in the car, but this is no longer a "disgusting" picture. The Last Vision ends the Wanderer's Song.
The director uses strong lens language and magical surreal imagery to refer to a realistic picture of the life of a Gypsy people, full of poignant and interesting tragic color and fate. The entry point of the camera is very small. It starts from a simple story of a boy growing up, spreads out a horizontal cultural picture and goes deep into the life process of an individual.
Questioning about Life and Gypsy Culture
Gypsy culture is not rare under Kusturica's lens. The film runs through a potential sense of root-seeking. From asking his mother to no longer trusting others, Belhan is lost in the flow of his own life, and he is also wandering in the outside world. When he finally holds the white gauze in his hand, it seems to mark his return. At the source of life, everything fell to the ground, but when everything was lost, everything was found. The Gypsies, who call themselves Roma, have spread across the world over the centuries to make freedom and wandering their cultural aura, and the film strives to create that temperament, from the setting to the characters to the narrative. The accordion and guitar that you pick up at your fingertips, the people who can dance anywhere, the sand and smoke flowing over the land, and the wandering outside to explore life.
Gypsies on the Balkan Peninsula are written into the world of dreams and dirt, and the beginning or the end of life is not a return to dreams and dirt.
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