Directed by Tony Gatlif
Review by Shannon Scott Stebbins
Driving in an old Army truck through the Judean Desert in Israel is bad for the back. Hustling over rocky terrain, jolting bumps threw us inches from smacking our heads against the ceiling. In 1999, Henri, a local, drove me, with a small herd of other Americans, deep into the place where the Israeli army often trains. Part of our vacation included a side trip in which we intended to drive our Christmas miles into nowhere.
Would Henri turn and have us ambushed by terrorists likely to slit my throat?
Would the truck break down, forcing me to trek back 40 miles, occasionally sucking on sweat to quench my thirst?
Such questions ran through my head as I headed on an adventure that didn’t have a brochure.
Suddenly we heard the earth-rocking sonic boom of a jet breaking the speed of sound, and we began preparing for the afterlife.
We were not far from the Dead Sea, the lowest point on Earth– less than 1400 feet below sea level– where we had floated on salt-water just days earlier.
We drove for hours and came upon a local Bedouin tribe, a desert-dwelling Arab nomadic group. At a distance I saw a young man navigating his donkey towards us. He led us to a makeshift tent, where we ate lunch with a family. We immersed ourselves in this unique nomadic culture, and something oddly comfortable rose from being so removed from strip malls and office cubes. Our Bedoiun hosts appeared content to live off the earth.
They didn’t understand a word we spoke, nor did they care. They were interested in our spirit. And our odd clothing.
We were safe.
“Latcho Drom,” meaning, “safe journey,” was released in 1993. Directed by Tony Gatlif, himself a gypsy, this film follows nomads in Rajahstan (India), Egypt, Turkey, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, France, and Spain. While this isn’t a documentary, the Romany people filmed are captured in their true element. Former Indian Prime Minister Indira Ghandi summarized the state of the Romani people with an opening speech at the International Romani Festival in Chandigarh, India, on October 28, 1983: “There are some 15 million Roms dispersed across the world. Their history is one of suffering and misery, but it is also one of the victories of human spirit over the blows of fate. Today the Roms revive their culture and are looking for their identity. On the other hand, they integrate into the societies in which they live. If they are understood by their fellow citizens in their new homelands, their culture will enrich the society’s atmosphere with the color and charm of spontaneity.”
No more than a few sentences of dialogue are spoken in “Latcho Drom.” Music takes a central role, as it does in the Romani culture. Many of the songs contain lyrics that reflect the pain endured by the Romany people– from being outsiders to being forced into concentration camps in Germany.
Shot by cinematographer Eric Guichard in rich colors and thoughtful angles, “Latcho Drom” is a magical escape from structure and form: no plot twists, one-liners, sex scenes or movie stars.
Yet somehow the film is mesmerizing.
Watching “Latcho Drom” I found myself exploring scenarios in which I could drop everything, pack up my family and roam the earth.
It is hard not to be envious of the people in this film. Typical apartments, cars and offices are enough to make anyone wonder if more is out there.
“Latcho Drom” won the Prix Gervais at the 1994 Cannes Film Festival, and the 1995 Experimental Film Prize from the National Society of Film Critics. It is a rare gem hiding away on select video store shelves. But this film doesn’t beg to be found, kind of the like the nomads in this movie.
Often I’ll mentally revisit my journey to the Judean Desert, where we made a Christmas tree out of rocks, ate hummus and sat looking deep into the lush blue sky.
When I do, I remember an important fact. It was a safe journey.
