Vengo

As he has in earlier films like GADJO DILO and LATCHO DROM, writer-director Tony Gatlif uses the haunting, mournful music rhythms of his gypsy forefathers to give his film depth and resonance. Here the focus in on flamenco; unfortunately, the film (whose title means "I come" in the Rom language) suffers from Gatlif's apparent inability to decide whether he wanted to make a documentary-like look at the consequences of certain traditional Romany practices or a flat-out vendetta melodrama. Gatlif struggles throughout to find a satisfying medium, but in the end both halves of the film suffer. And that's a shame, because the story has all the juicy elements of a poor man'...