Time of the Gypsies

This little jewel slipped by me when it was released on video without much fanfare last September. Directed by Emir Kusturica, the story revolves around the adventures of Perhan (Davor Dujmovic), a gypsy youth who talks to turkeys, and has inherited a bit of his grandmother's magic powers (he can't heal, but he can make forks crawl up the wall). When Perhan's grandmother saves the son of the town's richest man, Perhan and his crippled sister are given a break. The rich Ahmed (Bora Todorovic), a gambler and hustler, offers to take Perhan's sister to the hospital, and set the boy up with a trade in the big city. Perhan's apprenticeship with Ahmed begins much the same way that Oliver Twist's did with Fagin. Only, whereas Oliver was horrified by Fagin's machinations and remained pure, Perhan becomes a master grifter--in the process forgetting his sister, alienating his grandmother, and losing the girl he loved back in his village. Mixing elements of magic with broad comedy, Time of the Gyspies is a refreshingly creative film that masterfully recreates a whole culture, while telling an absorbing fable. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (R. Pitman)