Gypsies Are Found Near Heaven (Kino/Ruscico)

[Tommaso]

I was not quite sure whether to post this in the Kino or in the Ruscico thread, so I thought of starting a dedicated thread here, as the film is quite intriguing and deserves it in my view. The new Kino disc seems to be a straight port of the Ruscico, and on the pic on the Kino site there is not even the Kino logo on the disc sleeve.

I had never heard about Emil Lotyanu's 1976 film "Gypsies are found near heaven" before, but the director's name was familiar, as Lotyanu (or Loteanu, as his name is also transcribed) was the man who finally directed the film on "Anna Pavlova" in 1983 which was originally designed to be made by Michael Powell, and so I always wanted to see something by that director.

"Gypsies" is a quite striking and unusual film. Based on an early story by Maxim Gorki, its plot is a love story set in the gypsy milieu in Russia around 1900. The film is a curious mixture of adventure, romance and musical. Imagine a Bollywood version of "Shadows of our forgotten ancestors", and you get an idea. Stunningly photographed, and nicely acted, the film was a major success home and abroad. It verges on the sentimental at times (and the somewhat clichéd big orchestra versions of gypsy music don't make it any better), but it curiously managed to grip me in its mixture of the folkloric and magical combined with what is an apparently realistic portrayal of a vanishing culture. Part of the attraction, of course, was the commanding beauty of main actress Svetlana Toma, who was 28 when the film was made but looked like 18 (and who still looks like 40 on the extras, although she must be over 50 now....). Anyway, I would recommend this film to anyone interested in something outside the usual ways of 1970s filmmaking, and would like to hear some comments or other recommendations for similar films from Russia at that time. Yevgheny Doga in the extras talks about the film being an example of a 'romantic trend' in the Russian arthouse cinema in the 70s, a topic I would love to learn more about.

Having seen the announcement on the Kino site, I thought of better looking directly for the original Ruscico disc due to the usual problems of PAL/NTSC conversion with Kino discs, and was happy enough to find the Ruscico PAL version on ebay for a good price. Thus the following comments are about the Ruscico, but even though we go without the usual problems of Kino's and Ruscico's NTSC conversions, the image isn't great. Sharpness and detail are very good, almost no compression artefacts to speak of due to high bitrate on this DVD-9, almost no scratches etc., but the splendid colours seem either washed out or definitely off in places, with many scenes appearing to be too bright. I assume that the transfer suffers from similar problems like Ruscico's /AE's/MK2's "Dersu Uzala", i.e. it was probably made on 70mm stock which now cannot be processed anymore by the Russians, and I assume this transfer was made from a 35mm print which has lost its colours somehow in the last 30 years. It's a shame, really, because this film would deserve better. It still is watchable and hugely enjoyable (and at least the colours remain stable for the most part), but be aware that it is not as good as one wishes it to be. Extras feature interviews with composer Yevgheny Doga and the aforementioned Svetlana Toma, both of which offer some nice, but not very in-depth background on the film. Thankfully, the original Russian mono track is included along 5.1. upmixes in Russian, English and French. The usual amount of subs in different languages is also present. Aspect ratio (anamorphic) is 2.35, not 1.85 as printed on the disc, and it looks correct.

[jsteffe]

I'm glad you mentioned this one! TABOR UKHODIT V NEBO / GYPSIES ARE FOUND NEAR HEAVEN is one of my favorite Soviet films of the Seventies, and Emil Loteanu is a sadly underrated director. Undoubtedly the best director ever to come from Moldova. Nice to hear that Kino has released this Ruscico title in the US.

Yes, the print Ruscico used is a little faded and it has some unevenness that suggests problems in lab processing, but that may be due either to the kind of color process originally used or to the print used for the transfer. Soviet color stocks were notoriously unpredictable. But you can still appreciate the film's visual artistry.

I actually bought the NTSC version of the Ruscico disc a while back, and I thought it looked fine--not too many obtrusive PAL-NTSC artifacts. Those of you who don't have the film yet shouldn't hesitate to buy the Kino version.

Loteanu also directed the wonderful Chekhov adaptation MY TENDER AND AFFECTIONATE ANIMAL / THE SHOOTING PARTY (1978), starring Olek Yankovsky and (of course!) Svetlana Toma. (Not to be confused with the version starring James Mason.) It's not on DVD, but if you ever get the chance, don't miss LAUTARY / THE FIDDLERS (1971), which is possibly his masterpiece.

[Tommaso]

Thanks for your recommendations! There was a short trailer for "My tender and affectionate animal" on the "Gypsies" disc, and it looked interesting, although I was a little put off by the 'Mantovani Strings' on the soundtrack (something that irritated me on "Gypsies" as well). But if its from Ceckhov, it can't be too bad. "Anna Pavlova" isn't out somewhere on dvd, is it?

[Kinsayder]

"Anna Pavlova" isn't out somewhere on dvd, is it?

Yes. They have it at the Royal Opera House shop in Covent Garden. It's also available online here. The packaging announces it as a film written, directed and "by" Michael Powell, which is what caught my eye, though the opening credits just say "Western version supervised by Michael Powell."

[Tommaso]

Oh, thanks! Seems to be a very 'low-level' release, as none of the bigger internet stores seems to carry it. Must check it out sometime soon! That they market it as a Powell film is a curious marketing strategy, but it only shows that Powell's name has become pretty popular nowadays (which, of course, is a good thing).