MONDO
A film review by Ben Hoffman
Copyright 1997 Ben Hoffman
No one knows where the 11-years-old Gypsy boy, Mondo, came from (Ovidiu Balan, a real-life Rumanian gypsy who lived in a Gypsy camp in France with his mother and grandmother and about to be deported when tapped by the director, himself of Gypsy heritage, to play the part).
We first see him running through the streets of Nice looking, seeking, contemplating his surroundings and all the time on the run. If he sees someone he likes, he asks with an endearing smile if they will adopt him.
The film is about his life, what he sees, how he survives, the friends he makes and, always avoiding the police. It is based on a short story by J.M.G. Le Clezio (Mondo et autres Histoires)..
Many interesting characters cross the screen as Mondo makes his rounds. There is the magician (Philippe Petit) and his friend (Schaia Aalam) who, too, look after him a bit. She is a Turkish Kurd singer who has taken refuge in Nice.. There is the woman, Thi Chin, a Vietnamese (Pierrette Fesch) who worries about this homeless boy. And then there is the homeless man, Dadi (Jerry Smith), a Scotsman who had been brought up with British Nobility but abandoned it to live in the streets of Nice under a bridge. There is Giordan, the fisherman (Maurice Maurin) who is a gardener in Menton but on Sundays can be found fishing. He wants to teach Mondo to fish and to learn to read and write. The mailman (Ange Gobbi) (in real life a postman). who Mondo always asks if there is any mail for him as if anyone knew his whereabouts. . . . and the postman sadly says there is none today. Despite the uncertainties of his life and where will his next meal come from (a bakery lady gives him bread), Mondo appears to be enjoying the freedom.
Blend these characters together with humor and pathos, throw in the Gypsy Mondo, and we have a charming, heartwarming film.
After the film's completion, Ovidiu Balan, his mother and grandmother were deported to Rumania..
Directed by Tony Gatlif.
3 bytes
4 Bytes = Superb 3 Bytes = Too good to miss 2 Bytes = Average 1 Byte = Save your money
Ben Hoffman
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews