Gypsy Caravan; www.whentheroadbends.com;SF Independent Film Festival;Director: British Jasmine Dellal;2006, 90 min. You cannot walk straight when the road bends - Romani/Rumanian proverb. The Rom people know music. And travel. This amazing documentary lets us see and hear five Gypsy bans from four countries: Rumania, Macedonia, Spain, and India on a North American concert tour with styles ranging from flamenco to brass band, Romanian violin to Indian folk. The film pulsates with performances by Macedonian diva and "Queen of the Gypsies" Esma Redzepova (she adopted 47 children); Romanian Fanfare Ciocarlia; traditional Indian folk troupe Mahraja; the violin wizardry of Romanian group Taraf de Haidouks, and the Flamenco Ensemble lead by Antonia El Pipa. Thanks to the World Music Institute, New York City, Toronto, Ann Arbor, Miami, Austin, San Francisco, and Portland were the North American cities chosen to host the Gypsies. Gadjos (non-Gypsies)were lucky to experience the culture and diversity of the Romani people in an explosion of song and dance.
Johnny Depp, a fan, spent some time in a Rom trailer(not a movie trailer this time)and was interviewed by Jasmine. "Most Americans "hate the Gypsies, and believe all the stereotypical cliches : They steal and are ignorant itinerants." Drifting, fortune-telling, scam artist musicians? We've all heard the so-called truisms! This documentary is an inexhaustible fount of wisdom, showing us the heart and soul of this persecuted minority.
Spinoza (Ethics, 1677) said that the things that act through the ears are said to make a noise, discord or harmony, and this last has caused men to love their heads to such a degree that they have believed God himself is delighted with it. Clearly the Roms have lost their heads and here is a rat-tat-tat of one/two-liners from the film.
Music is God's greatest creation.
Music is better than 1,000 sons.
If love has broken your heart, the cure is in the bottle.
Love is more than words. It's what you do for someone. It's honesty.
Flamenco is the cry of the world -- its sadness and melancholy through choreography.
I have many children and grandchildren. They will look after me. They are my flowers.
In our culture, even the bread is spicy!
Even if you have bread on the table, it hurts to be lonely.
Fate made it my destiny to feel good in old age: Our music makes money. If not money, there is nothing to support our music, dance, sadness, happiness, culture, children, and tradition.
After the movie, my friend, the banker for Citibank, and I celebrated his promotion with a trip around the corner from the Roxie theater to the Peruvian restaurant, Limon. (www.limon-sf.com; 524 Valencia Street; 252-0918). Anthony Castillo, one of the brothers-owners of this spot greeted us & put us in a quiet corner where no megaphone was needed. Did he agree with Bob Hope that a bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don't need it?
Can you count the number of ceviches here in Espanol? Dane could and did: 10!
Ceviche Camarones: Prawns marinated in lime juice and aji amarillo; served with yams and Peruvian corn (13.95). Excellent way to start the meal.
Ensalada mixta: Mixed greens with pisco, grilled and served over chimichurri mashed potatoes, with Peruvian adresso sauce lived up to its reputation! (7.50)
Picante de Mariscos: Braised scallops, calamari, shrimp, mussels, clams and diced potatoes in a Peruvian adresso sauce, served with a side of Mexican rice. (21.00)
On a previous occasion I had the Lomo Saltado: traditional Peruvian dish of Top Sirloin (free range) sauteed with onions, tomatoes and fries, served with rice. (18.95) The meat is free range, tender and delicious.
While we ate are dinner slowly and toasted his new job, I was reminded of a poem hanging in my kitchen:
We may live without poetry, music and art;
We my live without conscience, and live without heart.
We may live without friends; we may live without books
But civilized man cannot live without cooks.
I love this restaurant where the dishes are presented with a flair and attention to aesthetics and the flames from the grill are visible in the dining room which is lime and tangerine colors.
Congratulations to Martin and Anthony Castillo and their mother, head of the kitchen, for bringing a taste of the foothills of the Andes to the Mission District of San Francisco.
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1 comment:
They are a conniving culture forced into their scheming ways by their outcast status. Ah, but the music; this gets them right into the mainstream where their outlaw ways are fogotten in the rhythms of the music.
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