Review of Time of the Gypsies (1988) by Cameron K — 13 Sep 2010

Emir Kusturica's epic/absurdist/gangster/fantasy/comedy film may not be for all tastes (some of the folks I saw it with were troubled by length, not including myself) but those who click with it will find a bizarre blend of emotions and tones that actually manages to work beautifully. Though a Serbian film, it's feel is actually a combination of Spanish surrealism (think Bunuel and Dali) and Italian drama (think Leone and Bertolucci), though the a comparison may also be made to Osamu Tezuka's masterpiece Buddha through it's combination of humanistic themes of heartbreak and loss and its very cartoonish sense of caricature (these crazy gypsies are supposed to be humanity itself, after all). And did I mention the very Eastern-European sense of poverty and generational strife? Ey-ey-ey....

Really, I could pull out a thousand comparisons, the tone of this film is so quirky. Yet, it is a thought provoking epic at its core, about the baggage carried from generation to generation. Highly recommended.