‘Gypsy Lore’ Gives Affectionate Lift to Lear Tale

With the warm intimacy and rueful humor so characteristic of Hungarian films, director Bence Gyongyossy recasts the legend of King Lear in his embracing, lyrical “Gypsy Lore,” Hungary’s official Oscar entry.

In place of Shakespearean tragedy we’re given a tale of atonement on the part of a proud old Gypsy, Lover (Dzsoko Rozsics), aware of his mortality and eager to settle accounts before it’s too late.

Lover’s odyssey is set in motion by a blunt, cruel fact of modern bureaucracy: a government relocation project evicting a Gypsy village, turning the area into a pond and packing off the villagers to public housing. Lover refuses to pack up his possessions like his neighbors and instead whitewashes the mud-and-stick shack in which he was born, bulldozers be damned.

But he’s fighting a losing battle, and after having resolutely stayed put his entire life, is forced to take to the road, accompanied by a talented but slow-witted young violinist, Tamaska (Mihaly Szabados).

Possessed of a mystical relationship with God and a gift for storytelling that allows him to envision his own life as myth, Lover is a man of dignity and integrity. He is welcomed with open arms by both his elder daughters, between whom he has already divided his money, but his larger-than-life presence, his Gypsy ways and Tamaska’s innocent troublemaking drives both his sons-in-law up the wall. The effect is to heighten his longing to locate and reconcile with his youngest, most cherished daughter, whom he foolishly disowned when their fierce senses of pride clashed. Armed with scant information, the old man and his young friend head for Budapest.

Lover’s journey allows Gyongyossy to celebrate Gypsy culture in all its humor, wisdom and richness--the film’s music is irresistible--while revealing how threatened it is in an increasingly modernized and materialistic Hungary. The way of life of the Gypsies is endangered in a society in which they are already regarded as second-class citizens, or worse.

Gyongyossy observes rather than preaches, and in the process creates a dark edge for his affectionate, often amused portrait of Lover, so gallantly played by the handsome, leonine Rozsics. “Gypsy Lore” is a vibrant, passionate folk tale, told with an effortlessness that sets off the sharpness of its social criticism.

* Unrated. Times guidelines: adult themes and situations.

‘Gypsy Lore’

Dzsoko Rozsics: Lover

Mihaly Szabados: Tamaska

Violetta Koleva: Sarolta

A Bunyik Entertainment release of a Europa 2000 production. Director Bence Gyongyossy. Producer Bara Kabay. Screenplay by Andras Nagy, Gyongyossy and Katalin Peteyi. Cinematographer Tamas Sas. Editor Maria Nagy. Music Ferenc Kiss. Costumes Janos Breki. Production designer Tibor Egenhoffer. Running time: 1 hour, 33 minutes.

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