I have had this DVD for ages and only watched it last night and was blown away by most of it. It is a documentary about four Rom bands from different countries who are put together for a 6 week tour of the USA and Canada.
They are from Macedonia, India, Spain and Romania and whilst all have different sounds, they all have the same passion with intense emotions and explosions of musical depth of feeling.
They follow the bands on tour and also tell their often intimate stories from their homeland. The crushing poverty for a lot of them seems to be totally alleviated by the sheer joy in the music.
They all have a massive love of life which seems contagious and they all seem to smoke at every possible moment. There is a lovely interview with Jonny Depp who has worked with some of them in the past and just adores them.
I thought I was going to find this dull and preachy, it is neither, so why the 4 stars, well that is because I would have liked more of the music. There is not one entire song, which I know is the way documentaries are done, but it is so spellbinding I found it quite distracting, when I am getting taken up in the music and: they cut to an interview.
Still petty gripe aside I have been telling friends about this and now they are all asking to borrow it - I am of course advising them about the current great deals on Amazon! (That should stop unwanted emails.)
Also if you enjoy this check out this fantastic film Black Cat - White Cat
Black Cat, White Cat [1998] [DVD].
