Onésime et le coeur du tzigane

Jean Durand made a ton of Onésime films with Ernest Bourbon. Some were quite good, some were pretty limp. As for "Onésime and the Heart of a Gypsy", it's not entirely bad but the film has one single idea and beats it to death. It's truly a one-note film.

Onésime and his new bride (played by Berthe Dagmar--the director's wife) are on their honeymoon. When a Gypsy begins playing the mandolin, the pair (as well as those around them) begin dancing for joy. Throughout the film, the Gypsy follows them...playing all the while. And, try as they might, they cannot stop dancing. They even climb to the roof of a church where the Gypsy is still playing...and they dance.

That's all there really is to it--some folks dancing uncontrollably when the Gypsy plays. And while the film is very short, this idea is NOT enough to sustain even a five minute film. Unfortunately, it's not one of the better collaborations between the actor and director.

Onésime (Ernest Bourbon) sometimes finds himself in more adventurous settings than in Onésime And The Gypsy Heart. Onésime and his bride (Berthe Dagmar) enjoy their honeymoon at a sea-side resort. When they meet a gypsy mandolin player he clings to them as in a fairy tale. His miraculously enchanting music never stops, and its magic forces everything into a waltz, including furniture and lap-poodles. The waltz takes the bride and bridegroom onto a church roof and they finally disappear dancing into the sea. Its Méliès-like special effects charmingly match the impressionistic roof top and sea views in what was definitely intended as a comedy, with its dinner table waltz and its unusual way to spend a honeymoon. There is an element of parody in the unavoidable pushy restaurant musician. Dutch composer Maud Nelissen wrote a very attractive five piece band score (2002)for this little gem.