Korkoro
Encyclopedia
Korkoro is a 2009 French drama film written and directed by Tony Gatlif
, starring French actors Marc Lavoine
, Marie-Josée Croze
and James Thiérrée
. The film's cast were of many nationalities such as Albanian, Kosovar, Georgian, Serbian, French, Norwegian, and the nine Romanies Gatlif found in Transylvania
. The film also has a minor character that was played by an 11-year-old great-grandson of Django Reinhardt
, a virtuoso jazz
guitarist and composer of Manouche gypsy ethnicity.
Based on an anecdote
about the Second World War
by the Romani (Gypsy) historian Jacques Sigot, the film was inspired by the real story of a Romani who escaped the Nazis with help from compassionate French villagers, depicting the rarely documented subject of Porajmos
(the Romani Holocaust). Other than the Romanies, the film has a character representing the French Resistance
drawn from the true story of Yvette Lundy, a French teacher who had been deported for forging the passports for Romanies. Gatlif intended the film to ba a documentary, but the lack of supporting documents caused him instead to present it as a drama.
The film premiered at the Montréal World Film Festival
, winning the Grand Prize of the Americas and other awards. It was released in France as Liberté in February 2010, where it grossed $601,252; revenues from Belgium and the United States brought the international total to $627,088. The film's music, which was composed by Tony Gatlif and Delphine Mantoulet, received a nomination in the Best Music Written for a Film category at the 36th annual César Awards
.
Korkoro has been called "a rare cinematic tribute" to those killed in the Porajmos. In general, it received positive reviews from critics, including praise for having an unusually leisurely pace for a Holocaust film. Critics regarded this as one of the director's best works, and with Latcho Drom
consider it the "most accessible" of his films. The film is said to be showing Romanies in a non-stereotypical way, far from their clichéd depictions as musicians.
, the film begins with a nine year old French boy, Claude (Mathias Laliberté) escaping from an orphanage, deciding not to stay confined under state protection for the rest of his childhood. He then comes across a Romani caravan
, consisting of an extended family of 20 men, women and children, who decide to adopt this orphaned boy. The Romani start calling Claude, Korkoro, the free one. Claude too gets fascinated by their nomadic lifestyle and decides to stay with them.
The caravan sets up camp outside a small wine-growing village, hoping to find seasonal work in the vineyards and a place to sell their wares. The village, as was the trend, is divided into two factions—one welcomes the Romanies, and the other sees them as an intrusion. Théodore Rosier (Marc Lavoine
), the village mayor and veterinarian, and Mademoiselle Lundi (Marie-Josée Croze
), a school teacher and clerk in city hall, are two of the friendlier villagers. The Vichy France gendarmerie
used the documentation made in the passports of its citizens to monitor their movements for which a threshold was set, along with imprisonment for violations This adversely affected the Romanies. Lundi uses her powers as a clerk, and forges their passports, removing the documentation about their movements.
Later, when Rosier has an accident outside the village, he is rescued by the Romanies, who treat the mayor with their traditional healing practices. Rosier returns the favour by selling them his father's house, in a move to protect them from the Fascist
policy of imprisoning the homeless. Lundi decides to provide formal education for the children by enrolling them in her school. However, these friendly gestures are not well-received by the freedom-loving Romanies, who regard life in a fixed place and formal education with rules as little better than imprisonment.
Eventually when the Nazis arrive, Rosier and Lundi are revealed to be members of the French Resistance
which leads to their arrest and torture. The Nazis round up the Romanies who are then sent to concentration camps. Claude, then cared for by Rosier chooses to go with the Romanies.
During World War II, the Porajmos
was the attempt by Nazi Germany
, the Independent State of Croatia
, Horthy's Hungary and their allies to exterminate the Romani people of Europe. Under Hitler’s rule, both Romanies and Jews
were defined as "enemies of the race-based state" by the Nuremberg Laws
; the two groups were targeted by similar policies and persecution, culminating in the near annihilation of both populations in Nazi-occupied countries. Estimates of the death toll of Romanies in World War II range from 220,000 to 1,500,000.
Because Eastern European Romani communities were less organised than Jewish communities, Porajmos was not well documented. There also existed a trend to downplay the actual figures, according to Ian Hancock
, director of the Program of Romani Studies at the University of Texas at Austin
. Tony Gatlif, whose films mostly have Romanies as subjects, had long wanted to make a documentary on this less well-known subject, but the lack of enough documented evidence coupled with the absence of accurate pre-war census figures for the Romanies made it difficult.
, a French writer of Romani ethnicity. The two went to Montreuil
to interview the Romanies there who refused to discuss the subject. Gatlif was also researching the Justes, the French who attempted to shield the Romanies from persecution. Following former French President Jacques Chirac
's efforts to honour the Justes, Gatlif came across Yvette Lundy, a former schoolteacher in Gionges
, La Marne
, who had been deported for forging documents for the Romanies. Gatlif came across an anecdote by Jacques Sigot, a historian who has documented the Porajmos, which would later help with the story. The anecdote is about a Romani family saved from being sent to the camp at Montreuil-Bellay
by a French lawyer who sold them his home for a single franc
. Unable to adjust to a stationary lifestyle, the family took to the streets, which led to their arrest in northern France and eventual incarceration in the Auschwitz concentration camp
.
The characters in Korkoro are drawn from Sigot's anecdote. The film traces the Romani Taloche's escape, with help from a French notary, from the Nazis in Nazi occupied France, and his subsequent inability to lead a non-nomadic life. The character Théodore Rosier is based on the notary in the anecdote. The other Juste character, Lise Lundi, is based on Yvette Lundy and an old teacher of Gatlif's from Belcourt in Algeria who was a communist and an aide with the Front de Libération Nationale
(National Liberation Front).
Intended to be a documentary, Korkoro became a drama because of the lack of sufficient supporting documents. Gatlif wrote the initial script in one month; further modifications later followed which made the film's style a narrative by the characters Rosier and Lundi. Gatlif used Lundy's help to write the scenes related to her, to which he added his own experiences with his teacher. The first appearance of the Romanies in the film is inspired by the way the nomadic Romanies showed up in the middle of nowhere after Gatlif had been working on the characterisation for over a year. Another year was spent in developing Taloche's character.
, he was impressed James Thiérrée
, a grandson of Charlie Chaplin
. A non-Romani, Thiérrée learned Romani
and Gypsy swing music
in six months.
For Théodore Rosier, Gatlif wanted someone who looked like a typical Frenchman of the time, with a "voice and face a little like that of Pierre Fresnay
, Maurice Ronet
, Jacques Charrier
or Gérard Philippe", which he found in Marc Lavoine
. Marie-Josée Croze
was the obvious choice for Mademoiselle Lise Lundi. Gatlif had envisioned Lundi as being like a "Hitchcock character: fragile, mysterious and strong".
Pierre Pentecôte, the militia character played by Carlo Brandt, was presented with a pitiful look, rather than a caricature villain. Gatlif depicted him as a character with a drooping hat and a few extra pounds to symbolise the fat militia of the period. The orphan, P'tite Claude, was played by Mathias Laliberté. Rufus
was chosen by Gatlif for the role of Fernand because of his typical French looks. Puri Dai, the grandmother, was played by Raya Bielenberg, a Soviet-born Norwegian artist and 2005 recipient of Oslo City art award, who uses music and dance in an effort to make the Romani culture better known in Norway. Gatlif found her in Oslo. The other notable characters in the movie, Darko, Kako, Chavo, Zanko and Tatane were played by Arben Bajraktaraj, Georges Babluani, Ilijir Selimoski, Kevyn Diana and Thomas Baumgartner respectively. A minor character named Levis was played by then 11-year-old great-grandson of Django Reinhardt
, a virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer of Manouche gypsy ethnicity. The cast included people of many nationalities, Albanian, Kosovar, Georgian, Serbian, French and Norwegian along with the nine Romanies Gatlif found living in extreme poverty in Transylvania
. Arrangements were made for these Romanies to stay in France for the three to four months it took to shoot the film.
, in the Monts du Forez, Rozier-Côtes-d'Aurec
and Saint-Bonnet-le-Château
. The tools used in the movie, which were very similar to the ones employed in 1943, came from Transylvania. The barbed wire fences of the concentration camps are genuine ones built by the Nazis in Romania
which can be differentiated from the ones used for cattle by their denser spacing.
The male actors were asked to grow their hair and moustaches. The actors also had to diet to lose weight to achieve the look of World War II characters. The costumes had a faded look, a reflection that people of the period owned few clothes, often only two outfits. None of the actors knew the script in advance and were only informed each night before of what they were to do in their daily scenes. The Romanies were not aware of the historic events that were the basis of the movie, and were only told that the story was set in hard times comparable to Ceaușescu
's tenure in Romania. In the scene where the Romanies revolt against the police over the death of Taloche, they were made aware of the character's death only when the scene was being shot, leading to a genuine outpouring of emotions, making their fight with the police appear more real. Gatlif later remarked in an interview that this scene stands for the actual revolt by the Romanies in Auschwitz on May 16, 1944.
Thierrée was the only actor allowed to improvise. His characterisation of Taloche was built on spontaneity, and in many instances, Gatlif had no clue how he would act in a scene, such as in the tap scene in which he plunges into a stairwell. In another scene, in which he dances with war music in the background, Thierrée pretended to make love to the earth like an animal. Gatlif, who had wanted the character to have the ability to sense forthcoming danger, like animals often do, stated that Thierrée was suitable for the role because he is very much an animal. The dance scene where Taloche is shown falling from a tree was done without stunt double
s.
and Gadjo dilo
, Scott Tobias noted in his review for NPR
. Korkoro is no exception: the importance of music is evident from the opening credits in which barbed wire fences vibrate to the tune of plucked strings of a guitar and a cymbalum
in line with the opening lines of the screenplay, "the barbed wire sings in the wind", to the oddest tools used to make music, such as the clanking of buckets and wagon wheels.
The background score was composed by Tony Gatlif and Delphine Mantoulet. The main theme of the songs is the Romani association with France. Despite the sad story, there are cheerful tracks too, with pieces for the waltz
, tarantella
and java
. The film's music plays a prominent role from the opening credits to Catherine Ringer
's track in the closing credits, "Les Bohemians", a waltz piece written by Gatlif and Mantoulet, which is described as setting the tone for the film. "Les Bohemians" is the first French song ever featured in a Gatlif movie. Gatlif chose Ringer for the track, inspired by the "blood in the mouth" feel to her voice. The song translates as "Good luck to you all, if anyone worries that we’re gone, tell them we’ve been thrown from the light and the sky, we the lords of this vast universe." The java dance piece composed by Delphine accompanies a scene where the characters secretly congregate in a barn for dancing, signifying the scenario then when public gatherings were prohibited. The track "Un Poulailler A La Bastilles", sung by Gatlif's son Valentin Dahmani, plays on the existing stereotype of Romanies as chicken thieves. The film also incorporates sound effects of horses, explosions and a watch mechanism. The soundtrack also has a tune of the "Le Temps des cerises
", the revolutionary song of the Paris Commune
. The music for the song's version in the movie was composed by Gatlif, using clockwork sounds and banjo
. Other soundtrack vocalists included Kalman Urszuj, Sandu Ciorba and Ikola.
A soundtrack album was released in February, 2010. It was nominated for the César Award
in 2011 in the category Best Music Written for a Film, but lost to Alexandre Desplat
's The Ghost Writer. Korkoros soundtrack is said to invoke mixed feelings like good humour, nostalgia and fear, creating a universe parallel to the film.
, a well-known Holocaust movie. In his directing style Gatlif juxtaposed the vibrant Romani culture against the backdrop of war. In particular, reviewers commented on the subtle manner in which he dealt with the horrofic aspects of war, and the manner in which he portrayed the Romanies in a non-stereotypical way. In addition to the Romani characters, the film also has a spy for the French Resistance and a Dickensian
orphan. Critics also made comparisons between the state of the Romanies in the film, set during World War II, and their circumstances in the present.
observed that Gatlif dealt with the horrors of the Holocaust by hinting at them through symbolism, such as portraying an abandoned child, suggesting imprisoned parents, and a clock with Hebrew markings seen lying abandoned in the middle of the railroad tracks, implying the passage of a train taking Jews to a ghetto
. Jr Glens Heath, writing forSlant Magazine
, remarked that Gatlif's characterisation of the incomplete historic archives with which he was presented made the film a very "personal WWII historiography", where the characters "transcend victimisation" rather than mire themselves in melodrama, regarded as a typical Holocaust movie characteristic. Michael Nordine wrote for Hammer to Nail that this film cannot be compared with Life is Beautiful
and other "uplifting tales" with Holocaust themes because of its straightforward portrayal of realistic events.
said that the film's central theme lies in its depiction of the "Gypsy soul", which is its unique element, rather than its rather clichéd portrayal of the Holocaust. Tobias noted that Gatlif has depicted Romanies as "a tight, syncopated unit than a motley collection of individuals", citing a scene where the members of a group are distressed, even though they have escaped from a ghetto, until a missing person rejoins them. Unlike his earlier films, in which the Romanies were stereotyped as musicians, Korkoro depicts them as possessing many other skills, for example as healers and blacksmiths, and that its portrayal reveals their communitarian side along with their respect for unique individual qualities, stated Odile Tremblay at Le Devoir
. Brian Lafferty's (East County Magazine) comments were quite the opposite, complaining that the characterisations were "bland and generic with no unique identity" except for Taloche's, which was considered more of an annoyance. Rachel Saltz at The New York Times
attributed Korkoros "unexpectedly leisurely quality" to the Gypsy way of living, their music, colours and bond with nature. The film also depicts the Romanies' aversion to being tied down to one location, observed Harvey Karten at Arizona Reporter, and some of their customs, such as silencing the sounds of horse's hooves with cloth bags, according to The Village Voice
s reviewer Nick Schager. Dan Bennett at North County Times
approved of the appropriate costumes used in the movie, making it "a visually stylish and detail-friendly look at the nomadic lifestyle" that prevailed at the time.
. The Village Voice review declared that it is "a magnificent paean to the mad ecstasy of freedom". The Arizona Reporter review added that, for the Romanies, freedom means "being able to keep in motion, that is, the journey, not the destination, is the reward". It observed the importance the characters give to freedom, citing the scene where Taloche becomes concerned that water is being "held against its will" in the taps, and "releases" it to overflow the sink onto the bathroom floor, and then the stairs, with Taloche blissfully sliding down the stairs as if he were on a Disney ride. Alexis Campion at Le Journal du Dimanche
remarked that Gatlif has refreshingly portrayed the Romanies as "free-spirited" characters and added that this historic film is a tribute to those free souls who take to the streets even today. The Télérama
review was of the opinion that the movie runs out of steam during the scenes depicting historic events, but gains momentum in the forests and on the roads, where its characters' passion for freedom, and hence Lavoine's and Croze's characters, get sidelined by that of Thierrée's, with his St. Vitus' dance and Dostoyevsky-like ruminations. It added that Taloche is the true "incarnation" of freedom.
, racial wars and inter-country disputes. It added that the movie makes the audience ask themselves if they live in a society that embraces or condemns diversity.
, contending in the World Competition section, reserved for world and international premieres, for the awards Grand Prize of the Americas
, Special Grand Prix of the Jury, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Screenplay, Best Artistic Contribution, and Innovation Award. Alongside the film, Gatlif released a novel under the same name, Liberté, which he co-authored with the French novelist Eric Kannay. The book follows the film's script.
In 2009, it vied with films with historical themes for the Prix du film d’histoire at the Festival international du film d'histoire de Pessac. The 2010 Alliance Française French Film Festival
screened it in the Resistance section, with other films dealing with themes of oppression and resistance. Later in 2010 it competed in the official section, reserved for Mediterranean films, for the Eros and Psyche Award and Special Mention/Artistic Expression recognition at the MedFilm Festival. It also participated in the 2011 Providence French Film Festival. Korkoro was screened on the first day of the Santa Barbara Human Rights Film Festival in 2011, along with films on subjects related to human rights ranging from "abortion rights to post–civil-war Sierra Leone and the then ongoing political turmoil in Zimbabwe". In the same year, the Ankara International Film Festival
placed it in its masters section, along with the works of such noted filmmakers as Werner Herzog
, Takeshi Kitano
and Ken Loach
The Washington, DC International Film Festival also had a screening of the movie in 2011.
. It made $8,179 in 15 weeks in North American cinemas. This brought the total gross to $627,088.
On Gatlif's direction, Odile Tremblay at Le Monde remarked that he had taken a heavy burden in directing a Holocaust movie along with coupling it with the "poetic effervescence" that the Romanies are known for. He added that this can be regarded the best among his films. Michael Nordine characterised Gatlif's directorial style as passive and "documentarian", such that it "sometimes verges on emotional distance". "What easily noticeable flourishes he adds tend to be understated", he added. Eric Hynes at TimeOut lauded Gatlif's work in making a celebration of textures and music of the Romanies out of a melodramatic story. East County Magazines negative review summed that Gatlif had too much faith on his audience, "expecting them to take everything at face value".
The film's plotting and characterisation was regarded flimsy by Nick Schager at The Village Voice, who added that the film's "robust emotion and cultural detail" offsets it. National Public Radio
review by Scott Tobias stated that the film weds the exotic culture of the Gypsies to the cliched themes of a war film with its characterisation as its means. With a "Schindlerian" Theodore Rosier, a Dickensian Claude, a hinted romance between Rosier and Miss Lundi, and the clown-like Taloche, it added, Gatlif has "weaved a tapestry out of the authentic and the chintzy". Joe Bendel at The Epoch Times
stated that the film avoids simply depicting the Romanies as victims, with its "decidedly unsentimental" central character, Taloche, who is "wild almost to the point of being feral". Sophie Benamon at L'Express declared that the madness of Taloche is the pivotal element of the film. In Taloche's face, Nick Schager perceived that "the film seethes with full-bodied fury and anguish". Arizona Reporters review lauded "Taloche's manic antics" as "both the comic center of the film and a representation of the tragedy". Ronie Scheib (Variety) admired Taloche's characterisation, commenting on his acrobatic stunts and close-to-nature persona as gelling well with the film's title of "Freedom". Lavoine's and Croze's characters also received a positive mention in the reviews at L'Express and The Epoch Times, with Sophie Benamon at L'Express calling them "compelling".
Julian Hirsch's cinematography can be regarded as a relief to the eyes from the film's gory Holocaust theme, stated Ronnie Scheib (Variety). Jacques Mandelbaum at Le Devoir added that the beauty of scenes such as the arrival of the Romanies in caravans in their first scene and the gentle music is a stark contrast to the harsh themes of concentration camps and extermination. Odile Tremblay (Le Monde) made mention of a number of scenes, including the one where Taloche opens a tap to "free" water, and the scene with an abandoned watch implying the ghettos as the best moments of the film. Nick Schager (The Village Voice) stated that the film scores on its aesthetics in sequences depicting key elements, like the one with trains symbolising the Holocaust, and its detailed depiction of the characters' intimate practices, which bring depth to a rather predictable plot. Brian Lafferty (East County Magazine) criticised Julian Hirsch for making the sequences look dull and gloomy with insufficient lighting. The tap scene received a special mention in L'Express review too.
On its historical aspects, Alexis Campion (Le Journal du Dimanche) stated that this is the first French film dealing with the Porajmos. Ronnie Scheib (Variety) lauded the film on its exposure of the French gendarmerie
's role in the Holocaust, the reviewer added that this is the most "accessible" film of Gatlif after Latcho Drom. A review in the Independent Catholic News
said that the film provides one a chance to remember the forgotten aspects of World War II and to learn more about French prejudice and the persecution of the Gypsies.
The movie received its highest rating of three stars from the reviewers at Le Journal du Dimanche and Slant Magazine while Arizona Reporter gave it a B+ as per its grading system.
Tony Gatlif
Tony Gatlif is a French film director of Romani ethnicity who also works as a screenwriter, composer, actor, and producer.- Biography :...
, starring French actors Marc Lavoine
Marc Lavoine
Marc Lucien Lavoine is a French singer and actor. In 1985, his hit single "Elle a les yeux revolver" allowed him to reach the top of the French chart and marked the beginning of his successful singing career....
, Marie-Josée Croze
Marie-Josée Croze
-Career:Croze was born in Montreal, QC. She won the award for Best Actress at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival for her performance in The Barbarian Invasions. She was cast by prominent Hollywood director Steven Spielberg for his film Munich which was released in December 2005...
and James Thiérrée
James Thiérrée
James Thiérrée is the writer, director and star of The Junebug Symphony, La Veillée des Abysses and Au Revoir Parapluie ....
. The film's cast were of many nationalities such as Albanian, Kosovar, Georgian, Serbian, French, Norwegian, and the nine Romanies Gatlif found in Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
. The film also has a minor character that was played by an 11-year-old great-grandson of Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer who invented an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique that has since become a living musical tradition within French gypsy culture...
, a virtuoso jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
guitarist and composer of Manouche gypsy ethnicity.
Based on an anecdote
Anecdote
An anecdote is a short and amusing or interesting story about a real incident or person. It may be as brief as the setting and provocation of a bon mot. An anecdote is always presented as based on a real incident involving actual persons, whether famous or not, usually in an identifiable place...
about the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
by the Romani (Gypsy) historian Jacques Sigot, the film was inspired by the real story of a Romani who escaped the Nazis with help from compassionate French villagers, depicting the rarely documented subject of Porajmos
Porajmos
The Porajmos was the attempt made by Nazi Germany, the Independent State of Croatia, Horthy's Hungary and their allies to exterminate the Romani people of Europe during World War II...
(the Romani Holocaust). Other than the Romanies, the film has a character representing the French Resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
drawn from the true story of Yvette Lundy, a French teacher who had been deported for forging the passports for Romanies. Gatlif intended the film to ba a documentary, but the lack of supporting documents caused him instead to present it as a drama.
The film premiered at the Montréal World Film Festival
Montreal World Film Festival
The Montreal World Film Festival , founded in 1977, is one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF...
, winning the Grand Prize of the Americas and other awards. It was released in France as Liberté in February 2010, where it grossed $601,252; revenues from Belgium and the United States brought the international total to $627,088. The film's music, which was composed by Tony Gatlif and Delphine Mantoulet, received a nomination in the Best Music Written for a Film category at the 36th annual César Awards
César Awards 2011
The 36th Annual César Awards ceremony was held by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma to honor its selection of the best films of 2010 on February 25, 2011. Jodie Foster was the President of the awards...
.
Korkoro has been called "a rare cinematic tribute" to those killed in the Porajmos. In general, it received positive reviews from critics, including praise for having an unusually leisurely pace for a Holocaust film. Critics regarded this as one of the director's best works, and with Latcho Drom
Latcho Drom
Latcho Drom is a 1993 French documentary film directed and written by Tony Gatlif . The movie is about the Romani people's journey from north-west India to Spain, consisting primarily of music...
consider it the "most accessible" of his films. The film is said to be showing Romanies in a non-stereotypical way, far from their clichéd depictions as musicians.
Plot
Set during World War II in rural Vichy FranceVichy France
Vichy France, Vichy Regime, or Vichy Government, are common terms used to describe the government of France that collaborated with the Axis powers from July 1940 to August 1944. This government succeeded the Third Republic and preceded the Provisional Government of the French Republic...
, the film begins with a nine year old French boy, Claude (Mathias Laliberté) escaping from an orphanage, deciding not to stay confined under state protection for the rest of his childhood. He then comes across a Romani caravan
Caravan (travellers)
A caravan is a group of people traveling together, often on a trade expedition. Caravans were used mainly in desert areas and throughout the Silk Road, where traveling in groups aided in defence against bandits as well as helped to improve economies of scale in trade.In historical times, caravans...
, consisting of an extended family of 20 men, women and children, who decide to adopt this orphaned boy. The Romani start calling Claude, Korkoro, the free one. Claude too gets fascinated by their nomadic lifestyle and decides to stay with them.
The caravan sets up camp outside a small wine-growing village, hoping to find seasonal work in the vineyards and a place to sell their wares. The village, as was the trend, is divided into two factions—one welcomes the Romanies, and the other sees them as an intrusion. Théodore Rosier (Marc Lavoine
Marc Lavoine
Marc Lucien Lavoine is a French singer and actor. In 1985, his hit single "Elle a les yeux revolver" allowed him to reach the top of the French chart and marked the beginning of his successful singing career....
), the village mayor and veterinarian, and Mademoiselle Lundi (Marie-Josée Croze
Marie-Josée Croze
-Career:Croze was born in Montreal, QC. She won the award for Best Actress at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival for her performance in The Barbarian Invasions. She was cast by prominent Hollywood director Steven Spielberg for his film Munich which was released in December 2005...
), a school teacher and clerk in city hall, are two of the friendlier villagers. The Vichy France gendarmerie
Gendarmerie
A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...
used the documentation made in the passports of its citizens to monitor their movements for which a threshold was set, along with imprisonment for violations This adversely affected the Romanies. Lundi uses her powers as a clerk, and forges their passports, removing the documentation about their movements.
Later, when Rosier has an accident outside the village, he is rescued by the Romanies, who treat the mayor with their traditional healing practices. Rosier returns the favour by selling them his father's house, in a move to protect them from the Fascist
Fascist (epithet)
The word fascist is sometimes used to denigrate people, institutions, or groups that would not describe themselves as ideologically fascist, and that may not fall within the formal definition of the word. The Fascist party that developed in Italy in the 1920s rigidly enforced conservative values...
policy of imprisoning the homeless. Lundi decides to provide formal education for the children by enrolling them in her school. However, these friendly gestures are not well-received by the freedom-loving Romanies, who regard life in a fixed place and formal education with rules as little better than imprisonment.
Eventually when the Nazis arrive, Rosier and Lundi are revealed to be members of the French Resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
which leads to their arrest and torture. The Nazis round up the Romanies who are then sent to concentration camps. Claude, then cared for by Rosier chooses to go with the Romanies.
Background
Porajmos
The Porajmos was the attempt made by Nazi Germany, the Independent State of Croatia, Horthy's Hungary and their allies to exterminate the Romani people of Europe during World War II...
was the attempt by Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, the Independent State of Croatia
Independent State of Croatia
The Independent State of Croatia was a World War II puppet state of Nazi Germany, established on a part of Axis-occupied Yugoslavia. The NDH was founded on 10 April 1941, after the invasion of Yugoslavia by the Axis powers. All of Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed to NDH, together with some parts...
, Horthy's Hungary and their allies to exterminate the Romani people of Europe. Under Hitler’s rule, both Romanies and Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
were defined as "enemies of the race-based state" by the Nuremberg Laws
Nuremberg Laws
The Nuremberg Laws of 1935 were antisemitic laws in Nazi Germany introduced at the annual Nuremberg Rally of the Nazi Party. After the takeover of power in 1933 by Hitler, Nazism became an official ideology incorporating scientific racism and antisemitism...
; the two groups were targeted by similar policies and persecution, culminating in the near annihilation of both populations in Nazi-occupied countries. Estimates of the death toll of Romanies in World War II range from 220,000 to 1,500,000.
Because Eastern European Romani communities were less organised than Jewish communities, Porajmos was not well documented. There also existed a trend to downplay the actual figures, according to Ian Hancock
Ian Hancock
Ian Hancock is a linguist, Romani scholar, and political advocate. He was born and raised in England, and is one of the main contributors in the field of Romani studies....
, director of the Program of Romani Studies at the University of Texas at Austin
University of Texas at Austin
The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...
. Tony Gatlif, whose films mostly have Romanies as subjects, had long wanted to make a documentary on this less well-known subject, but the lack of enough documented evidence coupled with the absence of accurate pre-war census figures for the Romanies made it difficult.
Development
Gatlif's quest began in 1970 when he approached Matéo MaximoffMatéo Maximoff
Matéo Maximoff was a French writer of Romani ethnicity and an Evangelical pastor.-Biography:Matéo's father was a Kalderash Rom from Russia, his mother was a Manouche from France. She was a cousin of Django Reinhardt. Matéo was born in Barcelona, Spain.His father was a tinker. He taught Matéo how...
, a French writer of Romani ethnicity. The two went to Montreuil
Montreuil, Seine-Saint-Denis
Montreuil is a commune in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. It is the third most populous suburb of Paris...
to interview the Romanies there who refused to discuss the subject. Gatlif was also researching the Justes, the French who attempted to shield the Romanies from persecution. Following former French President Jacques Chirac
Jacques Chirac
Jacques René Chirac is a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. He previously served as Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988 , and as Mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.After completing his studies of the DEA's degree at the...
's efforts to honour the Justes, Gatlif came across Yvette Lundy, a former schoolteacher in Gionges
Gionges
Gionges is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France....
, La Marne
La Marne
La Marne is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France.-See also:*Communes of the Loire-Atlantique department...
, who had been deported for forging documents for the Romanies. Gatlif came across an anecdote by Jacques Sigot, a historian who has documented the Porajmos, which would later help with the story. The anecdote is about a Romani family saved from being sent to the camp at Montreuil-Bellay
Montreuil-Bellay
Montreuil-Bellay is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France.It is located c. 15 km to the south of Saumur, and is famous for the Château de Montreuil-Bellay, which is situated in the town....
by a French lawyer who sold them his home for a single franc
French franc
The franc was a currency of France. Along with the Spanish peseta, it was also a de facto currency used in Andorra . Between 1360 and 1641, it was the name of coins worth 1 livre tournois and it remained in common parlance as a term for this amount of money...
. Unable to adjust to a stationary lifestyle, the family took to the streets, which led to their arrest in northern France and eventual incarceration in the Auschwitz concentration camp
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
.
The characters in Korkoro are drawn from Sigot's anecdote. The film traces the Romani Taloche's escape, with help from a French notary, from the Nazis in Nazi occupied France, and his subsequent inability to lead a non-nomadic life. The character Théodore Rosier is based on the notary in the anecdote. The other Juste character, Lise Lundi, is based on Yvette Lundy and an old teacher of Gatlif's from Belcourt in Algeria who was a communist and an aide with the Front de Libération Nationale
National Liberation Front (Algeria)
The National Liberation Front is a socialist political party in Algeria. It was set up on November 1, 1954 as a merger of other smaller groups, to obtain independence for Algeria from France.- Anticolonial struggle :...
(National Liberation Front).
Intended to be a documentary, Korkoro became a drama because of the lack of sufficient supporting documents. Gatlif wrote the initial script in one month; further modifications later followed which made the film's style a narrative by the characters Rosier and Lundi. Gatlif used Lundy's help to write the scenes related to her, to which he added his own experiences with his teacher. The first appearance of the Romanies in the film is inspired by the way the nomadic Romanies showed up in the middle of nowhere after Gatlif had been working on the characterisation for over a year. Another year was spent in developing Taloche's character.
Casting
Gatlif wanted to represent the entire Romani community through the characterization of Félix Lavil dit Taloche's naiveté and purity. For example, Taloche is shown as being afraid of ghosts, which echoes the Romanies' phobia. For Taloche's role, Gatlif needed a musician with acrobatic skills, which was very hard to find. In Paris at the Théâtre de la VilleThéâtre de la Ville
The Théâtre de la Ville is one of the two theatres built in the 19th century by Baron Haussmann at Place du Châtelet, Paris; the other being the Théâtre du Châtelet...
, he was impressed James Thiérrée
James Thiérrée
James Thiérrée is the writer, director and star of The Junebug Symphony, La Veillée des Abysses and Au Revoir Parapluie ....
, a grandson of Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
. A non-Romani, Thiérrée learned Romani
Romani language
Romani or Romany, Gypsy or Gipsy is any of several languages of the Romani people. They are Indic, sometimes classified in the "Central" or "Northwestern" zone, and sometimes treated as a branch of their own....
and Gypsy swing music
Gypsy jazz
Gypsy jazz is an idiom often said to have been started by guitarist Jean "Django" Reinhardt in the 1930s. Because its origins are largely in France it is often called by the French name, "Jazz manouche," or alternatively, "manouche jazz," even in English language sources...
in six months.
For Théodore Rosier, Gatlif wanted someone who looked like a typical Frenchman of the time, with a "voice and face a little like that of Pierre Fresnay
Pierre Fresnay
Pierre Fresnay was a French stage and film actor.Born Pierre Jules Louis Laudenbach in Paris, France in 1897, he was encouraged by his uncle, the actor Claude Garry, to pursue a career in theater and film...
, Maurice Ronet
Maurice Ronet
Maurice Ronet was a French film actor, director and writer.-Biography:Maurice Ronet was born Maurice Julien Marie Robinet in Nice, Alpes Maritimes, the only child of professional stage actors Émile Robinet and Gilberte Dubreuil. He made his stage debut in 1941, along side his parents, in Sacha...
, Jacques Charrier
Jacques Charrier
Jacques Charrier is a French actor. He was married to Brigitte Bardot from 1959 to 1962.-Selected filmography:- External links :...
or Gérard Philippe", which he found in Marc Lavoine
Marc Lavoine
Marc Lucien Lavoine is a French singer and actor. In 1985, his hit single "Elle a les yeux revolver" allowed him to reach the top of the French chart and marked the beginning of his successful singing career....
. Marie-Josée Croze
Marie-Josée Croze
-Career:Croze was born in Montreal, QC. She won the award for Best Actress at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival for her performance in The Barbarian Invasions. She was cast by prominent Hollywood director Steven Spielberg for his film Munich which was released in December 2005...
was the obvious choice for Mademoiselle Lise Lundi. Gatlif had envisioned Lundi as being like a "Hitchcock character: fragile, mysterious and strong".
Pierre Pentecôte, the militia character played by Carlo Brandt, was presented with a pitiful look, rather than a caricature villain. Gatlif depicted him as a character with a drooping hat and a few extra pounds to symbolise the fat militia of the period. The orphan, P'tite Claude, was played by Mathias Laliberté. Rufus
Rufus (actor)
Rufus is the stage name of Italo-French actor Jacques Narcy. He is also called Zio Vittorio...
was chosen by Gatlif for the role of Fernand because of his typical French looks. Puri Dai, the grandmother, was played by Raya Bielenberg, a Soviet-born Norwegian artist and 2005 recipient of Oslo City art award, who uses music and dance in an effort to make the Romani culture better known in Norway. Gatlif found her in Oslo. The other notable characters in the movie, Darko, Kako, Chavo, Zanko and Tatane were played by Arben Bajraktaraj, Georges Babluani, Ilijir Selimoski, Kevyn Diana and Thomas Baumgartner respectively. A minor character named Levis was played by then 11-year-old great-grandson of Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt
Django Reinhardt was a pioneering virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer who invented an entirely new style of jazz guitar technique that has since become a living musical tradition within French gypsy culture...
, a virtuoso jazz guitarist and composer of Manouche gypsy ethnicity. The cast included people of many nationalities, Albanian, Kosovar, Georgian, Serbian, French and Norwegian along with the nine Romanies Gatlif found living in extreme poverty in Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
. Arrangements were made for these Romanies to stay in France for the three to four months it took to shoot the film.
Filming
The film was shot in LoireLoire
Loire is an administrative department in the east-central part of France occupying the River Loire's upper reaches.-History:Loire was created in 1793 when after just 3½ years the young Rhône-et-Loire department was split into two. This was a response to counter-Revolutionary activities in Lyon...
, in the Monts du Forez, Rozier-Côtes-d'Aurec
Rozier-Côtes-d'Aurec
Rozier-Côtes-d'Aurec is a commune in the Loire department in central France.-See also:*Communes of the Loire department...
and Saint-Bonnet-le-Château
Saint-Bonnet-le-Château
Saint-Bonnet-le-Château is a commune in the Loire department in central France.-References:*...
. The tools used in the movie, which were very similar to the ones employed in 1943, came from Transylvania. The barbed wire fences of the concentration camps are genuine ones built by the Nazis in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
which can be differentiated from the ones used for cattle by their denser spacing.
The male actors were asked to grow their hair and moustaches. The actors also had to diet to lose weight to achieve the look of World War II characters. The costumes had a faded look, a reflection that people of the period owned few clothes, often only two outfits. None of the actors knew the script in advance and were only informed each night before of what they were to do in their daily scenes. The Romanies were not aware of the historic events that were the basis of the movie, and were only told that the story was set in hard times comparable to Ceaușescu
Nicolae Ceausescu
Nicolae Ceaușescu was a Romanian Communist politician. He was General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and as such was the country's second and last Communist leader...
's tenure in Romania. In the scene where the Romanies revolt against the police over the death of Taloche, they were made aware of the character's death only when the scene was being shot, leading to a genuine outpouring of emotions, making their fight with the police appear more real. Gatlif later remarked in an interview that this scene stands for the actual revolt by the Romanies in Auschwitz on May 16, 1944.
Thierrée was the only actor allowed to improvise. His characterisation of Taloche was built on spontaneity, and in many instances, Gatlif had no clue how he would act in a scene, such as in the tap scene in which he plunges into a stairwell. In another scene, in which he dances with war music in the background, Thierrée pretended to make love to the earth like an animal. Gatlif, who had wanted the character to have the ability to sense forthcoming danger, like animals often do, stated that Thierrée was suitable for the role because he is very much an animal. The dance scene where Taloche is shown falling from a tree was done without stunt double
Stunt double
A stunt double is a type of body double, specifically a skilled replacement used for dangerous film or video sequences, in movies and television , and for other sophisticated stunts...
s.
Music
Music plays a very important role in all Gatlif's films, such as Latcho DromLatcho Drom
Latcho Drom is a 1993 French documentary film directed and written by Tony Gatlif . The movie is about the Romani people's journey from north-west India to Spain, consisting primarily of music...
and Gadjo dilo
Gadjo dilo
Gadjo dilo is a 1997 film, directed and written by Tony Gatlif. The title means "Crazy Gadjo [non-Gypsy]" in Romani.Most of the film was shot at the village of Creţuleşti some kilometers from Bucharest and some of the actors are local Romani people.-Plot:...
, Scott Tobias noted in his review for NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
. Korkoro is no exception: the importance of music is evident from the opening credits in which barbed wire fences vibrate to the tune of plucked strings of a guitar and a cymbalum
Cymbalum
The cimbalom is a concert hammered dulcimer: a type of chordophone composed of a large, trapezoidal box with metal strings stretched across its top...
in line with the opening lines of the screenplay, "the barbed wire sings in the wind", to the oddest tools used to make music, such as the clanking of buckets and wagon wheels.
The background score was composed by Tony Gatlif and Delphine Mantoulet. The main theme of the songs is the Romani association with France. Despite the sad story, there are cheerful tracks too, with pieces for the waltz
Waltz
The waltz is a ballroom and folk dance in time, performed primarily in closed position.- History :There are several references to a sliding or gliding dance,- a waltz, from the 16th century including the representations of the printer H.S. Beheim...
, tarantella
Tarantella
The term tarantella groups a number of different southern Italian couple folk dances characterized by a fast upbeat tempo, usually in 6/8 time , accompanied by tambourines. It is among the most recognized of traditional Italian music. The specific dance name varies with every region, for instance...
and java
Java (dance)
Java is a dance which was developed in France in the early part of the 20th century. The origin of its name is uncertain, but it probably evolved from the mazurka....
. The film's music plays a prominent role from the opening credits to Catherine Ringer
Catherine Ringer
Catherine Ringer is a French singer, musician, songwriter, dancer, choreographer, and actress.Ringer started her professional career on stage in the late 1970s in productions with Michael Lonsdale's Théâtre de Recherche Musicale as well as musical and dance productions...
's track in the closing credits, "Les Bohemians", a waltz piece written by Gatlif and Mantoulet, which is described as setting the tone for the film. "Les Bohemians" is the first French song ever featured in a Gatlif movie. Gatlif chose Ringer for the track, inspired by the "blood in the mouth" feel to her voice. The song translates as "Good luck to you all, if anyone worries that we’re gone, tell them we’ve been thrown from the light and the sky, we the lords of this vast universe." The java dance piece composed by Delphine accompanies a scene where the characters secretly congregate in a barn for dancing, signifying the scenario then when public gatherings were prohibited. The track "Un Poulailler A La Bastilles", sung by Gatlif's son Valentin Dahmani, plays on the existing stereotype of Romanies as chicken thieves. The film also incorporates sound effects of horses, explosions and a watch mechanism. The soundtrack also has a tune of the "Le Temps des cerises
Le Temps des cerises
Le Temps des cerises is a song written in France in 1866, with words by Jean-Baptiste Clément and music by Antoine Renard. The song is strongly associated with the Paris Commune...
", the revolutionary song of the Paris Commune
Paris Commune
The Paris Commune was a government that briefly ruled Paris from March 18 to May 28, 1871. It existed before the split between anarchists and Marxists had taken place, and it is hailed by both groups as the first assumption of power by the working class during the Industrial Revolution...
. The music for the song's version in the movie was composed by Gatlif, using clockwork sounds and banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
. Other soundtrack vocalists included Kalman Urszuj, Sandu Ciorba and Ikola.
A soundtrack album was released in February, 2010. It was nominated for the César Award
César Awards 2011
The 36th Annual César Awards ceremony was held by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma to honor its selection of the best films of 2010 on February 25, 2011. Jodie Foster was the President of the awards...
in 2011 in the category Best Music Written for a Film, but lost to Alexandre Desplat
Alexandre Desplat
Alexandre Michel Gérard Desplat is a French film composer. He has received four Academy Award nominations, five BAFTA nominations, five Golden Globe nominations, winning a Golden Globe for his work on The Painted Veil in 2006, and two Grammy nominations. In 2011, Desplat won his first British...
's The Ghost Writer. Korkoros soundtrack is said to invoke mixed feelings like good humour, nostalgia and fear, creating a universe parallel to the film.
Themes and analysis
Kokoro has been compared to Schindler's ListSchindler's List
Schindler's List is a 1993 American film about Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved the lives of more than a thousand mostly Polish-Jewish refugees during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories. The film was directed by Steven Spielberg, and based on the novel Schindler's Ark...
, a well-known Holocaust movie. In his directing style Gatlif juxtaposed the vibrant Romani culture against the backdrop of war. In particular, reviewers commented on the subtle manner in which he dealt with the horrofic aspects of war, and the manner in which he portrayed the Romanies in a non-stereotypical way. In addition to the Romani characters, the film also has a spy for the French Resistance and a Dickensian
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
orphan. Critics also made comparisons between the state of the Romanies in the film, set during World War II, and their circumstances in the present.
Holocaust elements
Critics compared Korkoro to Stephen Spielberg's Schindler's List because of the sacrifices Rosier made to protect the Romanies from the Nazis. A review in Moving Pictures Network called it "Schindler's List minus the happy ending", citing a lack of comic relief, creating an inability to connect with the audience. The opening scene, a close-up shot of barbed wire fences stretched along wooden posts with internment camp barracks in the background, is an image common to many Holocaust films, wrote Scott Tobias, who also commented on the "Schindlerian" actions of Rosier who gives his home to the Romanies—an assessment backed up by Eric Hynes's review in Time Out, New York. Sophie Benamon at L'ExpressL'Express (France)
L'Express is a French weekly news magazine. When founded in 1953 during the First Indochina War, it was modelled on the US magazine TIME.-History:...
observed that Gatlif dealt with the horrors of the Holocaust by hinting at them through symbolism, such as portraying an abandoned child, suggesting imprisoned parents, and a clock with Hebrew markings seen lying abandoned in the middle of the railroad tracks, implying the passage of a train taking Jews to a ghetto
Ghetto
A ghetto is a section of a city predominantly occupied by a group who live there, especially because of social, economic, or legal issues.The term was originally used in Venice to describe the area where Jews were compelled to live. The term now refers to an overcrowded urban area often associated...
. Jr Glens Heath, writing forSlant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
, remarked that Gatlif's characterisation of the incomplete historic archives with which he was presented made the film a very "personal WWII historiography", where the characters "transcend victimisation" rather than mire themselves in melodrama, regarded as a typical Holocaust movie characteristic. Michael Nordine wrote for Hammer to Nail that this film cannot be compared with Life is Beautiful
Life Is Beautiful
Life Is Beautiful is a 1997 Italian film which tells the story of a Jewish Italian, Guido Orefice , who must employ his fertile imagination to help his family during their internment in a Nazi concentration camp.At the 71st Academy Awards in 1999, Benigni won the Academy Award for Best Actor and...
and other "uplifting tales" with Holocaust themes because of its straightforward portrayal of realistic events.
Gatlif's "Gypsy soul"
There were many reviews on the way Gatlif has depicted the Romanies, comparing it with their portrayals in his earlier movies. A reviewer in VarietyVariety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
said that the film's central theme lies in its depiction of the "Gypsy soul", which is its unique element, rather than its rather clichéd portrayal of the Holocaust. Tobias noted that Gatlif has depicted Romanies as "a tight, syncopated unit than a motley collection of individuals", citing a scene where the members of a group are distressed, even though they have escaped from a ghetto, until a missing person rejoins them. Unlike his earlier films, in which the Romanies were stereotyped as musicians, Korkoro depicts them as possessing many other skills, for example as healers and blacksmiths, and that its portrayal reveals their communitarian side along with their respect for unique individual qualities, stated Odile Tremblay at Le Devoir
Le Devoir
Le Devoir is a French-language newspaper published in Montreal and distributed in Quebec and the rest of Canada. It was founded by journalist, politician, and nationalist Henri Bourassa in 1910....
. Brian Lafferty's (East County Magazine) comments were quite the opposite, complaining that the characterisations were "bland and generic with no unique identity" except for Taloche's, which was considered more of an annoyance. Rachel Saltz at The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
attributed Korkoros "unexpectedly leisurely quality" to the Gypsy way of living, their music, colours and bond with nature. The film also depicts the Romanies' aversion to being tied down to one location, observed Harvey Karten at Arizona Reporter, and some of their customs, such as silencing the sounds of horse's hooves with cloth bags, according to The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
s reviewer Nick Schager. Dan Bennett at North County Times
North County Times
The North County Times is a local newspaper in north San Diego County, California owned by Lee Enterprises. It is headquartered in Escondido. The current publisher is Peter York....
approved of the appropriate costumes used in the movie, making it "a visually stylish and detail-friendly look at the nomadic lifestyle" that prevailed at the time.
Freedom as a theme
A few critics suggested freedom as a theme in light of the importance shown by the characters to it. True to its title, which is a Romani word for freedom, Gatlif used his freedom to direct a tangential, poignant romantic story with the historical documents available to him, unlike other movies with similar themes, remarked Jacques Mandelbaum at Le MondeLe Monde
Le Monde is a French daily evening newspaper owned by La Vie-Le Monde Group and edited in Paris. It is one of two French newspapers of record, and has generally been well respected since its first edition under founder Hubert Beuve-Méry on 19 December 1944...
. The Village Voice review declared that it is "a magnificent paean to the mad ecstasy of freedom". The Arizona Reporter review added that, for the Romanies, freedom means "being able to keep in motion, that is, the journey, not the destination, is the reward". It observed the importance the characters give to freedom, citing the scene where Taloche becomes concerned that water is being "held against its will" in the taps, and "releases" it to overflow the sink onto the bathroom floor, and then the stairs, with Taloche blissfully sliding down the stairs as if he were on a Disney ride. Alexis Campion at Le Journal du Dimanche
Le Journal du Dimanche
Le Journal du Dimanche is a French weekly newspaper. It is only published on Sundays.-History:The newspaper was created by Pierre_Lazareffin 1948. It now belongs to the Lagardère Group, through Hachette Filipacchi Médias...
remarked that Gatlif has refreshingly portrayed the Romanies as "free-spirited" characters and added that this historic film is a tribute to those free souls who take to the streets even today. The Télérama
Télérama
Télérama is a weekly French magazine owned by Le Monde S.A. Its primary contents are television and radio listings, though the magazine also prints film, theatre, music and book reviews, as well as cover stories and feature articles of cultural interest. The name is a contraction of its earlier...
review was of the opinion that the movie runs out of steam during the scenes depicting historic events, but gains momentum in the forests and on the roads, where its characters' passion for freedom, and hence Lavoine's and Croze's characters, get sidelined by that of Thierrée's, with his St. Vitus' dance and Dostoyevsky-like ruminations. It added that Taloche is the true "incarnation" of freedom.
Mirroring the current times
A section of critics wrote on the relevance of the movie to the current times. In an interview, Gatlif stated that he wanted the movie to mirror the current times, adding that the times have not changed much, and that while the political extermination has gone, the psychological and political views of Romanies have not. He criticised the French law that allows wanderers to stay in one place only for 24 hours. He was also critical of the plight of Romanies in Hungary, Romania and Italy. He went on that the state of the Romanies now in many places, "with the rows of homeless people people waiting for a bowl of soup with a tin can on their hands", is not very different from that in the concentration camps. Gatlif also lashed out against the fact that until 1969, Romanies were required to have their papers stamped at a police station or city hall whenever they arrived at or left a French village. Bob Hill at Moving Pictures Network remarked that the movie draws parallels to the fact that "we are once again veering toward a culture in which regimes and wealth determine who has the right to live free — and who has no rights at all", and cited present happenings such as the developments in the Middle EastMiddle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
, racial wars and inter-country disputes. It added that the movie makes the audience ask themselves if they live in a society that embraces or condemns diversity.
Release
The film premiered at the 2009 Montreal World Film FestivalMontreal World Film Festival
The Montreal World Film Festival , founded in 1977, is one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF...
, contending in the World Competition section, reserved for world and international premieres, for the awards Grand Prize of the Americas
Grand Prix des Amériques
Grand Prix des Amériques was once a classic taking place in America as part of the UCI Road World Cup. It was held between 1988 and 1992.- Winners :...
, Special Grand Prix of the Jury, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Screenplay, Best Artistic Contribution, and Innovation Award. Alongside the film, Gatlif released a novel under the same name, Liberté, which he co-authored with the French novelist Eric Kannay. The book follows the film's script.
In 2009, it vied with films with historical themes for the Prix du film d’histoire at the Festival international du film d'histoire de Pessac. The 2010 Alliance Française French Film Festival
Alliance Française French Film Festival
The Alliance Française French Film Festival is a yearly film festival organised by Alliance Française - the Fédération des Alliances Françaises d' Australie. Films are shown at Palace Cinemas Como, Balwyn, Westgarth and Kino in Melbourne; the Palace Academy Twin, Verona and Norton Street in...
screened it in the Resistance section, with other films dealing with themes of oppression and resistance. Later in 2010 it competed in the official section, reserved for Mediterranean films, for the Eros and Psyche Award and Special Mention/Artistic Expression recognition at the MedFilm Festival. It also participated in the 2011 Providence French Film Festival. Korkoro was screened on the first day of the Santa Barbara Human Rights Film Festival in 2011, along with films on subjects related to human rights ranging from "abortion rights to post–civil-war Sierra Leone and the then ongoing political turmoil in Zimbabwe". In the same year, the Ankara International Film Festival
22nd Ankara International Film Festival
The 22nd Ankara International Film Festival was a film festival held in Ankara, Turkey, which ran from March 17 to 27, 2011. Films were screened at Batı Movie Theater, Büyülü Fener Kızılay, Çankaya Municipality Contemporary Arts Center and the Goethe Institut Ankara, and the Street of Art events...
placed it in its masters section, along with the works of such noted filmmakers as Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog Stipetić , known as Werner Herzog, is a German film director, producer, screenwriter, actor, and opera director.He is often considered as one of the greatest figures of the New German Cinema, along with Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Margarethe von Trotta, Volker Schlöndorff, Werner...
, Takeshi Kitano
Takeshi Kitano
is a Japanese filmmaker, comedian, singer, actor, film editor, presenter, screenwriter, author, poet, painter, and one-time video game designer who has received critical acclaim, both in his native Japan and abroad, for his highly idiosyncratic cinematic work. The famed Japanese film critic...
and Ken Loach
Ken Loach
Kenneth "Ken" Loach is a Palme D'Or winning English film and television director.He is known for his naturalistic, social realist directing style and for his socialist beliefs, which are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as homelessness , labour rights and child abuse at the...
The Washington, DC International Film Festival also had a screening of the movie in 2011.
Box office
Korkoro was released in France on February 24, 2010, grossing $601,252, and in Belgium on April 28, 2010, grossing $8,252, for an international total of $618,846. Korkoro premiered in North America on March 25, 2011 at New York's Cinema Village, with Lorber Films holding its distribution rights. The film grossed $1,224 over its opening weekend, and ranked 107th at the box officeBox office
A box office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through an unblocked hole through a wall or window, or at a wicket....
. It made $8,179 in 15 weeks in North American cinemas. This brought the total gross to $627,088.
Critical response
The film's tone and narrative style received mixed response from the critics. Ronnie Scheib at Variety found it to be filled with excessive pathos, "shuttling between the trite and the sublime", while Odile Tremblay (Le Monde) said in contrary that the film avoided excessive pathos, rendering it funny and tragic at the same time, an observation that was supported by Jacques Mandelbaum at Le Devoir, who wrote that the film mixes humour, sensitivity and drama. Hammer to Nails review by Michael Nordine asserted that the film is "neither a pity party nor an emotionally manipulative attempt", but a straightforward portrayal of things as they were, citing Gatlif's portrayal of the Romanies as "certainly sympathetic, but at no point does it seem overly so." The film's narrative "lacks momentum", complained Brian Lafferty at East County Magazine, adding that it could have done better with more focus on the reasoning behind the characters' affliction to wandering. The film provided insufficient analysis on the "anti-roaming laws" and their targeting of the Romanies, observed the reviewer, to whom the Nazi and all other anti-Romani characters in the film came across as "one dimensional bigots". Bob Hill (Moving Pictures Network) criticised that the film failed to strike an emotional chord, unlike other movies and books with a similar theme. He conceded it to be an "important, but not a great movie—or even a particularly good one, for that matter." For a casual movie goer, he stated, "Korkoro feels like a slow burn, lagging on long after most of the audience has long since called it quits". In defence of the film's incoherent narrative style, Jr Glenn Heath at Slant Magazine explained that Gatlif intended it less as a historical drama and more as evoking the sense of a memory, imbibing the stream of consciousness techniques. Commenting on its tone, he wrote that "Korkoro is a reserved but lasting examination of collectively silent horror". At L'Express, Sophie Benamon declared that with the film's controlled pace, it keeps its viewers breathless and induces emotion. Alexis Campion at Le Journal du Dimanche stated that the film transcends the stereotypes while the reviewer at Arizona Reporter noted that some might consider it to be stereotyping the Romanies.On Gatlif's direction, Odile Tremblay at Le Monde remarked that he had taken a heavy burden in directing a Holocaust movie along with coupling it with the "poetic effervescence" that the Romanies are known for. He added that this can be regarded the best among his films. Michael Nordine characterised Gatlif's directorial style as passive and "documentarian", such that it "sometimes verges on emotional distance". "What easily noticeable flourishes he adds tend to be understated", he added. Eric Hynes at TimeOut lauded Gatlif's work in making a celebration of textures and music of the Romanies out of a melodramatic story. East County Magazines negative review summed that Gatlif had too much faith on his audience, "expecting them to take everything at face value".
The film's plotting and characterisation was regarded flimsy by Nick Schager at The Village Voice, who added that the film's "robust emotion and cultural detail" offsets it. National Public Radio
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
review by Scott Tobias stated that the film weds the exotic culture of the Gypsies to the cliched themes of a war film with its characterisation as its means. With a "Schindlerian" Theodore Rosier, a Dickensian Claude, a hinted romance between Rosier and Miss Lundi, and the clown-like Taloche, it added, Gatlif has "weaved a tapestry out of the authentic and the chintzy". Joe Bendel at The Epoch Times
The Epoch Times
The Epoch Times is a multi-language, international media organisation. As a newspaper, the Times has been publishing in Chinese since May 2000. It was founded in 1999 by supporters of the Falun Gong spiritual discipline....
stated that the film avoids simply depicting the Romanies as victims, with its "decidedly unsentimental" central character, Taloche, who is "wild almost to the point of being feral". Sophie Benamon at L'Express declared that the madness of Taloche is the pivotal element of the film. In Taloche's face, Nick Schager perceived that "the film seethes with full-bodied fury and anguish". Arizona Reporters review lauded "Taloche's manic antics" as "both the comic center of the film and a representation of the tragedy". Ronie Scheib (Variety) admired Taloche's characterisation, commenting on his acrobatic stunts and close-to-nature persona as gelling well with the film's title of "Freedom". Lavoine's and Croze's characters also received a positive mention in the reviews at L'Express and The Epoch Times, with Sophie Benamon at L'Express calling them "compelling".
Julian Hirsch's cinematography can be regarded as a relief to the eyes from the film's gory Holocaust theme, stated Ronnie Scheib (Variety). Jacques Mandelbaum at Le Devoir added that the beauty of scenes such as the arrival of the Romanies in caravans in their first scene and the gentle music is a stark contrast to the harsh themes of concentration camps and extermination. Odile Tremblay (Le Monde) made mention of a number of scenes, including the one where Taloche opens a tap to "free" water, and the scene with an abandoned watch implying the ghettos as the best moments of the film. Nick Schager (The Village Voice) stated that the film scores on its aesthetics in sequences depicting key elements, like the one with trains symbolising the Holocaust, and its detailed depiction of the characters' intimate practices, which bring depth to a rather predictable plot. Brian Lafferty (East County Magazine) criticised Julian Hirsch for making the sequences look dull and gloomy with insufficient lighting. The tap scene received a special mention in L'Express review too.
On its historical aspects, Alexis Campion (Le Journal du Dimanche) stated that this is the first French film dealing with the Porajmos. Ronnie Scheib (Variety) lauded the film on its exposure of the French gendarmerie
Gendarmerie
A gendarmerie or gendarmery is a military force charged with police duties among civilian populations. Members of such a force are typically called "gendarmes". The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary describes a gendarme as "a soldier who is employed on police duties" and a "gendarmery, -erie" as...
's role in the Holocaust, the reviewer added that this is the most "accessible" film of Gatlif after Latcho Drom. A review in the Independent Catholic News
Independent Catholic News
Independent Catholic News is a daily on-line Catholic news service based in the United Kingdom. The site is run by Catholic journalists based in London, and edited by broadcaster and journalist Josephine Siedlecka...
said that the film provides one a chance to remember the forgotten aspects of World War II and to learn more about French prejudice and the persecution of the Gypsies.
The movie received its highest rating of three stars from the reviewers at Le Journal du Dimanche and Slant Magazine while Arizona Reporter gave it a B+ as per its grading system.
Awards
| Year | Award | Category | Credits | Won | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Montreal World Film Festival Montreal World Film Festival The Montreal World Film Festival , founded in 1977, is one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF... |
Grand Prix of the Americas | Korkoro | ||
| Audience Award, International | Korkoro | ||||
| Prize of the Ecumenical Jury – Special Mention | Korkoro | ||||
| 2010 | Festival international du film d'histoire de Pessac | Prix du public | Korkoro | ||
| MedFilm Festival | Special Mention | Korkoro | |||
| The Time for Peace Film and Music Awards | Best Picture & Directing | Tony Gatlif | Florian Gallenberger Florian Gallenberger Florian Gallenberger is a German film director. His film Quiero ser was awarded the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film in 2001.-Career:... – John Rabe John Rabe (film) John Rabe is a 2009 German-Chinese-French biopictorial film directed by Florian Gallenberger and starring Ulrich Tukur, Daniel Brühl and Steve Buscemi.... |
||
| Founders' Choice Picture | Tony Gatlif | ||||
| 2011 | César Awards César Awards 2011 The 36th Annual César Awards ceremony was held by the Académie des Arts et Techniques du Cinéma to honor its selection of the best films of 2010 on February 25, 2011. Jodie Foster was the President of the awards... |
Best Music Written for a Film | Tony Gatlif, Delphine Mantoulet |
Alexandre Desplat Alexandre Desplat Alexandre Michel Gérard Desplat is a French film composer. He has received four Academy Award nominations, five BAFTA nominations, five Golden Globe nominations, winning a Golden Globe for his work on The Painted Veil in 2006, and two Grammy nominations. In 2011, Desplat won his first British... – The Ghost Writer |