Critic Reviews

• Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader

  For its glimpses of various lifestyles and personalities -- an ancient but spry fiddler, a young male who performs in drag -- it isn't bad.

• Richard Nilsen, Arizona Republic

  If you have any ear for non-Western music, Gypsy Caravan is a must.

• Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press

  The emphasis remains on the personal stories of the players themselves who, for all their backstage squabbling, identify more with each other than any of the countries in which they've settled.

• Bill Stamets, Chicago Sun-Times

  The camera work is always note-perfect.

• Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune

  If music were all, Gypsy Caravan would be amazing. As is, it's worth seeing, but you may get frustrated at the way Dellal raises provocative questions about ancestry and prejudice...

• Peter Howell, Toronto Star

  Gypsy Caravan succeeds in its primary goal to open ears and minds to Roma music, accurately described as being about 'the rhythm, the language, the feeling.'

• Kelly Vance, East Bay Express

  Dellal's documentary often seems like a cleaned-up, homogenized version of the chaotic Roma world presented by Gatlif, Kusturica, et al. But even toned down and packaged, the music itself has the power to thrill.

• MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher

  [P]rimarily a catalogue of performances, and they are magnificent...

• Brian Gibson, Vue Weekly (Edmonton, Canada)

  The energy is electric, the camerawork crisp and colourful, the editing note-perfect. . . . for the Roma, music sounds the notes of a harsh, maligned cultural history, making them all the more unforgettable while demanding remembrance, even awe.

• Martin Hoyle, Financial Times

  Gypsy Caravan - When the Road Bends evokes the US tour of Roma musicians whose astonishing diversity ranges from the Indian group with their bejewelled drag dancer to oompah-based Romanians.

• Sukhdev Sandhu, Daily Telegraph

  So long seen as ragged leftovers from an older historical epoch, the Roma turn out to be a modern people who have a lot to teach over-developed societies about what it means to be human.

• Peter Bradshaw, Guardian [UK]

  These extraordinary musicians ought to put an end to any sniffiness about Gypsy music.

• Billy Mowbray, Film4

  Blessed with a wealth of characters, moving stories and roof-raising performances, Gypsy Caravan is as rich as the music it promotes. Fans of Buena Vista should definitely join the club.

• David Jenkins, Total Film

  It's a slow, sometimes grating process for an hour or so, but once everyone wises up to their shared heritage, a euphoric celebration of what it means to be a gypsy takes flight.

• Jamie Russell, BBC

  The poverty contrasts sharply with the excitement of the tour bus and cuts to the heart of the songs themselves, famed for their "joy and sorrow".

• Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone, TheMovieChicks.com

  The characters are as lively as their music and I enjoyed riding along with them.

• Sean Means, Salt Lake Tribune

  While the backstage tour footage is sometimes repetitive, it's delightful to see the musicians take up each other's songs as the tour progresses.

Read all 17 critic reviews