Film Reviews by PM

Absorbing from beginning to end, but be careful; I have seen two versions of this film, one with English subtitles had also been badly sanitised, so much so that the entire meaning of the film had been erased. I speak French but not Romanian, and it's very amusing to guess what's going on (without subtitles), as the French lad in the film has to. The more I see of Gatlif's films, the more I believe there is no one else in cinema who comes near him in terms of combining the imagination with culture, history and the dispassionate portrayal of the energy that motivates individuals. His films are at once iconic and also intensely personal, and always with the most respectful and joyful homage to the universe of music.

A restrained and sensitive tribute to a way of life and culture that has disappeared from the UK. Mesmerising from begining to end.

I wouldn't like to say too much about the way the film is presented, it's not a story and it's not a documentary, but if you have any interest at all in the movement of the Romani people from India across Europe and the influence of their culture and music, then don't hesitate. It's beautifully made and chock full of genuine and enthusiastic performances.

I'm not normally a fan of period drama, but this film excels in all departments. A witty and humurous script, acting to die for and really well composed camera work which constantly beckons the eye. It is a little on the long side but hey, when something is as well made as this, we shouldn't complain about getting too much! An added bonus is the Direcor's commentary available in special features

I listened to the soundtrack of this film for many years before getting the chance to see it, and I've wondered many times what it would be like. Well I was certainly surprised beyond my expectations. It is a feast of visual imagery that plays a perfect partner to the excellent musical score, so much so that I was left puzzling as to which came first, the music or the image.

Call me bonkers but I thought the film was a rather genteel English approximation of the French cult classic Themroc, mainly I guess because of the wall and the exploration of isolated eccentricity. But I also noticed some very tantric symbolisms which were presented in an entertaining rather than an intellectual way. No doubt in my mind that either consciously or unconsciously this film is a homage to Shodashi the perfect form of the feminine. Enthralling.

This is quite a serious film, full of drama and anticipation, with great acting and camera work. The detail of the story is not always easy to follow and I found it rewarding to watch it several times during the rental period. The qualities of the soundtrack and the production also emerged more clearly with repeated viewings.

I watched it not long after it's first release and again more recently, and it has lost none of it's atmosphere. It's a kind of polar opposite to Kerouac's on the road, telling the story of a family marooned in a small town. It is a simple enough story, but told with extraordinary sensitivity and which gets you involved incrementally until you are completely absorbed. Classic movie making IMHO.

I really enjoyed this film. It was carefully and sensitively made with strong acting and character development. While also maintaining a very good humour, it distilled a convincing picture of the reality behind the crumby newsbites that we never have time to digest. As soon as it was finished I wanted to watch it again.

It is a quiet film, a bit irritating, even harrowing in places, but it is also monumentally symbolic in a way that few other movies manage to attain. I doubt it would be so worth watching without Johnny Depp's enigmatic performance, but for me it is Gary Farmer who is the real star of the show. And it's a movie that is stuffed full of extraordinary larger than life characters. In many ways it's a series of portraits that intertwine with each other, and that may be why some people have found it too dull. Being more akin to a painting than an action movie.

Hey I know it's just a bit of fantasy, but there is not one thing I can think of that I enjoyed about this film, and so many lazy corrupt stereotypes that it's difficult to imagine how the censors gave it a certificate at all

The genre of this film has been miscategorised in my opinion. If you are looking for an action/adventure movie, like it says on the box, you will likely be disappointed. It's more of an enquiry into a true story of colonialism, with the advantage of cultural hindsight. If you are at all interested in Jung's ideas of the collective consciousness and symbolism, you will find a feast here. I watched it 3 times during my loan period and it just got more interesting with each viewing. It has a more than passing similarity to Jim Jarmusch's "Dead Man", though without the distraction of Johnny Depp.

In his inimitable way Almodavar slowly builds his unlikely story into a complex and humorous finale, faintly reminiscent of "Some Like it Hot". But a word of warning, the dubbed "English" version somehow manages to miss all the humour of the subtitled version. It requires a little more concentration but if you can give this film your undivided attention then it's possible that, like me, you'll be chuckling for a long time afterwards.

I thought that perhaps the score by Vangelis might redeem this movie, but it could not. Countless lost opportunities for some reasonable historical reflection were sacrificed on the altar of ....I'm not sure exactly what; a kind of macho fascination with visual effects maybe.

I'm not into all the different versions of this film, I saw it at the cinema when it first came out, and wanted to see it again. This version is definitely not quite the same, but it has all the classic ingredients..the sparing dialogue, the mysterious plot development, and above all, for me, the staggeringly brilliant soundtrack by Vangelis, which created not only the mood of the film, but of a spirit of film making that still endures to this day.

Fascinating and very funny. Pedro Almodavar at his best, and definitely worth watching again and again.