(no subject)
For those who don't know the premise of The Pied Piper of Hutzovina, it goes something like this:
Pavla Fleischer, a Czech filmmaker, meets Eugene Hutz at a party, one where chances are, he was standing on top of a table playing guitar and singing something incomprehensible, and where he flirted with girls who lied about their ages. Falls in love. Tells him she wants to make a film about him traveling to Ukraine, when she really just wants to have romantic gypsy adventure, one in which he will realize he is in love with her as well, and they end up having what is basically a honeymoon with a gypsy-ballad soundtrack.
This doesn't happen. Eugene brings another woman to "keep him company" on the trip, who Pavla isn't allowed to film. He pretty much ignores Pavla and is visibly annoyed at her presence. Pavla, exhausted and heartbroken, continues to follow him, and ends up in unbelievably poor gypsy villages, where despite being isolated and destitute, the music is as festive and boisterous and soulful as any in the world. This is where I get into the dancing about architecture trouble, so you'll just have to take my word for it.
First of all, I think Pavla should have scrapped the documentary idea, but should have kept filming and taking notes, and then should have written her adventures into a script and made this story into a movie.
The soundtrack alone would have the entire audience sobbing. Even though Tony Gatlif has already made a movie with a similar premise; about a woman who travels to eastern Europe only to be spurned by her lover, and then wander aimlessly, periodically running into charismatic gypsy types, who create incredible joy with their music, despite the fact that they are all living in horrendous poverty and have no way to change their circumstances. The stories that are possible within this outline are endless, and unbelievably fascinating, tragic, and romantic, so I think it's a completely acceptable framework to reuse.
If it was a movie, the leading lady's delusion would be a hell of a lot less irritating. Tragic flaws are obviously easier to deal with in fictional characters. Nabakov's Lolita is probably the most lyrical, heartbreaking thing I've ever read in my life, but if in my real life, the one that's never heard of a plot line, if I was in a motel in Iowa and in the next room was a creepy European with a ridiculous name sharing a bed with his newly orphaned stepdaughter, I'd be appalled and disgusted and would have a powerful urge to call my little sister and make sure she was ok, not to mention the police. In Pavla's case, it would be easier to forgive her for being such a moron if she didn't actually exist. As is, anyone who knows anything about Eugene and women would be slightly puzzled and feel sorry for her.
In some ways, I can understand her. I, like what are probably thousands of other girls, have been nursing a hopeless crush on Eugene for years. I touched his hand once at a concert, and I completely melted into a blissful little pathetic puddle of fangirl.
But I don't understand what kind of girl would expect someone like Eugene to fall in love with her. I can't imagine perceiving him as the "I'd better not, I have a girlfriend" kinda guy. I've heard he tends to go for the girls who are literally half his age, but even so, I don't think there's a worse demographic to date than the eastern European rock star.
If this was a movie, we would have a better sense of what actually happened, there would be arguments and tears, but then at the end she would learn something, she would realize how childish she had been, he might realize how insensitive he had been, and some old gypsy lady would say something wise, and they would come away better people. I'm sure that someone could come up with something less corny than that, but I feel that this is a story that needs to be picked at quite a bit by someone much more experienced than I to become something phenomenal, but that it is not a story that should be lost.
All in all, the documentary seems to be hastily slapped together. The musical sequences are good, but everything is too brief and cursory to really give a sense of the magic and the heartbreak that always seems to follow the gypsies. There are some more interesting characters, but they don't stay for long enough. And another limitation of reality is that this is actually someone's personal life, and it's really none of your business. That part is only hinted at, and we don't actually see Pavla or Eugene's interaction with the "other woman". When a huge component of any story is only vaguely alluded to, it's irritating. All I could really gather was that Eugene was irritated and Pavla was horribly disappointed and depressed.
The thing that ended up being the most disappointing to me was what a waste of a great story this was.
Pavla Fleischer, a Czech filmmaker, meets Eugene Hutz at a party, one where chances are, he was standing on top of a table playing guitar and singing something incomprehensible, and where he flirted with girls who lied about their ages. Falls in love. Tells him she wants to make a film about him traveling to Ukraine, when she really just wants to have romantic gypsy adventure, one in which he will realize he is in love with her as well, and they end up having what is basically a honeymoon with a gypsy-ballad soundtrack.
This doesn't happen. Eugene brings another woman to "keep him company" on the trip, who Pavla isn't allowed to film. He pretty much ignores Pavla and is visibly annoyed at her presence. Pavla, exhausted and heartbroken, continues to follow him, and ends up in unbelievably poor gypsy villages, where despite being isolated and destitute, the music is as festive and boisterous and soulful as any in the world. This is where I get into the dancing about architecture trouble, so you'll just have to take my word for it.
First of all, I think Pavla should have scrapped the documentary idea, but should have kept filming and taking notes, and then should have written her adventures into a script and made this story into a movie.
The soundtrack alone would have the entire audience sobbing. Even though Tony Gatlif has already made a movie with a similar premise; about a woman who travels to eastern Europe only to be spurned by her lover, and then wander aimlessly, periodically running into charismatic gypsy types, who create incredible joy with their music, despite the fact that they are all living in horrendous poverty and have no way to change their circumstances. The stories that are possible within this outline are endless, and unbelievably fascinating, tragic, and romantic, so I think it's a completely acceptable framework to reuse.
If it was a movie, the leading lady's delusion would be a hell of a lot less irritating. Tragic flaws are obviously easier to deal with in fictional characters. Nabakov's Lolita is probably the most lyrical, heartbreaking thing I've ever read in my life, but if in my real life, the one that's never heard of a plot line, if I was in a motel in Iowa and in the next room was a creepy European with a ridiculous name sharing a bed with his newly orphaned stepdaughter, I'd be appalled and disgusted and would have a powerful urge to call my little sister and make sure she was ok, not to mention the police. In Pavla's case, it would be easier to forgive her for being such a moron if she didn't actually exist. As is, anyone who knows anything about Eugene and women would be slightly puzzled and feel sorry for her.
In some ways, I can understand her. I, like what are probably thousands of other girls, have been nursing a hopeless crush on Eugene for years. I touched his hand once at a concert, and I completely melted into a blissful little pathetic puddle of fangirl.
But I don't understand what kind of girl would expect someone like Eugene to fall in love with her. I can't imagine perceiving him as the "I'd better not, I have a girlfriend" kinda guy. I've heard he tends to go for the girls who are literally half his age, but even so, I don't think there's a worse demographic to date than the eastern European rock star.
If this was a movie, we would have a better sense of what actually happened, there would be arguments and tears, but then at the end she would learn something, she would realize how childish she had been, he might realize how insensitive he had been, and some old gypsy lady would say something wise, and they would come away better people. I'm sure that someone could come up with something less corny than that, but I feel that this is a story that needs to be picked at quite a bit by someone much more experienced than I to become something phenomenal, but that it is not a story that should be lost.
All in all, the documentary seems to be hastily slapped together. The musical sequences are good, but everything is too brief and cursory to really give a sense of the magic and the heartbreak that always seems to follow the gypsies. There are some more interesting characters, but they don't stay for long enough. And another limitation of reality is that this is actually someone's personal life, and it's really none of your business. That part is only hinted at, and we don't actually see Pavla or Eugene's interaction with the "other woman". When a huge component of any story is only vaguely alluded to, it's irritating. All I could really gather was that Eugene was irritated and Pavla was horribly disappointed and depressed.
The thing that ended up being the most disappointing to me was what a waste of a great story this was.