Vengo

"Vengo" is a wonderfully alive feast of the flamenco music, dance, and rhythms of the contemporary Andalusia gypsies of Southern Spain built on a ominously rumbling story of a blood feud and death. Not your usual movie fare, "Vengo" divides its time equally between musical ethnic folk singing and dancing from gala festivities to impromptu "jam" sessions to funeral laments while inching the family feud story slowly forward with the kinetic tempos of flamenco rhythms everpresent. More art than entertainment, "Vengo" will appeal most to those into foreign or ethnic films with bold musical underpinnings. Those who enjoy "Vengo" might want to check out "Flamenco (de Carlos Saura)", "Assassination Tango", "Tango, no me dejes nunca", and the like. (B+)

Indeed, not a bad documentary (barely a real film, the plot is just an excuse to the connection of the different flamenco scenes). Antonio Canales is surprisingly good as Caco, and the other characters are of no relevance to the story whatsoever. Orestes, Caco's nephew with cerebral palsy, is actually Antonio Canales' nephew. Undoubtable epic flavor in this escape/flamenco journey. Good details, as the nice landscapes in Cadiz and the references to Caco's relative "exiled" in the Spanish cities of North Africa. Great and not so commercial flamenco singers, such as La Paquera(R.I.P) and La Caita. Special attention to the closing song, "Naci en Alamo".

I think that if one has a personal understanding of the history of the circumstances which tie Andalucia and North Africa together, along with some of the cultural, social, and spiritual connections that are maintained between these two separate but connected worlds, the movie Vengo will strike you as being very symbolic.

There is a lot which is implied and will go right over your head if you are not aware of the culture and history of this region (as well as being aware of the life and struggles of Gatlif as a Gypsy man born in Algeria, caught between these two worlds). Gatlif does not spell anything out for you. He leaves it up to you to try to put the pieces together, and he knows that there are certain types of people, with a certain awareness, who will be attracted to his films.

I thought Vengo was incredibly deep with so much true emotion and so much of the subtle and misunderstood inner-struggles of the people of Andalucia being depicted through a number of overlapping stories and characters: The retarded nephew, the man whose daughter had died, the feuding Gypsy families, the exiled father of the son living in Morrocco, etc.

This movie told the tale of a people and their will to hold on to the purest ("Flamenco Puro!") sources of happiness and joy within their lives, amidst circumstances which seemed destined to tear them a part and undermine their unity.

An incredibly beautiful story with lots of information, emotion, and spirit. If you are open, this movie will touch your soul.

A simple story of gossip and revenge in a Spaniard little town is the core of a great flamenco/gitano musical film, where you can see the Today's best artist of this musical genre. With a non-conventional camera that catch your senses in every story moment, great narration, music-video clip quality editing and all of that is combined with the rhythm of every song. The tragedy is exposed from the beginning but director address you there until the last second of the last image. Recommended for those with passion running in their bloods.

It's funny that a critic from the new york times could know so little about film. I will not say much except this is one of the most simple, most beautiful stories made into cinema; there is absolutely no artifice, no tricks, and every detail is pure and genuine. Tony uses faces Kurasawa could've killed for. You ain't seen nothing if you ain't seen this. The music, artists like Gritos de Guerra, La Caita, Sheik al Tuni, (seemingly unavailable on record, but better than anything I've heard,) seems to capture at once the joy and sorrow bound up in human life. Likewise the players, most not actors. In fact, the music is so integrated into the lives of the characters, in the end there is no division. For reviewers of respected periodicals, we would explain this is what is called thematic. So much for the standards of education in journalism. Even reviewers who really liked this movie did not fully understand this; like most really great art, it is ahead of the curve. I suppose it should be possible to find a film as beautiful as this, as simple and captivating, but none come to mind. Skip "Vengo" and your life will certainly be less rich.