I even met happy gypsies

Movie
German title	I even met happy gypsies
Original title	Skupljaci perja
Country of production	Yugoslavia
original language	Serbian , Romanian
Publishing year	1967
length	78 minutes
Age rating	FSK 18
Rod
Director	Aleksandar Petrovic
script	Aleksandar Petrovic
production	Avala movie
music	Dušan Radić
camera	Tomislav Pinter
cut	Mirjana Mitic
occupation
Bekim Fehmiu : Bora Perjar Olivera Katarina : Lenče Bata Živojinović : Mirta Gordana Jovanović : Tisa Mija Aleksic : Pavle Milivoje Đorđević : Sandor Rahela Ferari : Igumanija Etelka Filipovski : Bora's wife Milorad Jovanović : Toni Severin Bijelić Stojan Decermic Zoran Longinović Branislav-Ciga Milenković Bozidar Pavičević-Longa Velizar Petrovic Djordje Pura Nina Sajin Milivoje Tomic Janez Vrhovec

I even met happy gypsies (original title: Skupljaci perja , German feather collector ) is a 1967 Yugoslav film drama directed by Aleksandar Petrović , who also wrote the script. In the main roles are Bekim Fehmiu , Olivera Vučo , Bata Živojinović and Gordana Jovanović . The film came to the cinema for the first time on March 27, 1967 in what was then Yugoslavia . It had its premiere in the Federal Republic of Germany on February 1, 1968.

action

The story is set in the Yugoslav province of Vojvodina of the Republic of Serbia . Like many gypsies living in his environment, Bora does not have a regular job. He plays, drinks and works here and there as a buyer of goose feathers. When Bora is not out and about, he lives - surrounded by a screaming and dirty crowd of children - in a hut with his wife, who is several years older, who regularly insults him and whom he abuses. When the brutal and impulsive Mirta, with whom Bora has done a lot of business together, married his stepdaughter Tisa to a boy in order to be able to pursue the girl unhindered, Bora intervenes. He kidnaps Tisa, lets a depraved Orthodox priest marry her and takes her home with him.

Tisa runs away again after a short time. She goes to Belgrade , where she tries in vain to become a successful singer, but soon returns to her stepfather. Then Bora stabbed him in blind jealousy. - The body won't be found until spring. All investigations by the police fizzled out because Bora remained missing.

Awards

At the 1967 Cannes International Film Festival , the film was awarded the special prize. In the following year it was nominated for an Oscar in the category “ Best Foreign Language Film ” . The state film evaluation agency in Wiesbaden awarded the work the title “Particularly valuable”.

Reviews

The Protestant Film Observer sums up his criticism as follows: “A film document of outstanding artistic quality about the wild life of the gypsies, which is dominated by elementary passions. The tendency to uncritically acknowledge and glorify the otherness does not, however, help to illuminate the situation and prevents deeper insights. With this restriction it is highly recommended from the age of 18. "The lexicon of international films comes to a similar assessment:" A feature film that tries to provide a documentary report on the gypsies in northern Serbia. Visually very intense, critically observing and staged with skill, but little differentiating in the portrayal of people. "

Web links

• I even met happy Gypsies in the Internet Movie Database (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Evangelischer Filmbeobachter , Evangelischer Presseverband München, Critique No. 71/1968, pp. 67–68.
2. ↑ I even met happy gypsies. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed December 11, 2016 .