Zanimljivosti ROMI.HR

Percepcija o Romima u Sovjetskom Savezu bila je dvosmislena. S jedne strane, vlada nije odobravala njihov je nomadski način života. S druge strane, isti način života obični su ljudi u SSSR-u romantizirali  zbog romskih tradicija, hrabrosti, i gotovo neograničene slobode. Zbog toga se očekivalo da će slika o Romima u sovjetskoj kinematografiji biti pozitivna. Kulturne promjene u društvu također su rezultirale pozitivnom slikom o Romima. U kasnim 70-ima, ljudi u Sovjetskom Savezu navikli su na stabilnost. Teške poslijeratne godine bile su iza njih. Godine nakon bile su prijelazne: bio je to prvi put u nekoliko desetljeća da su ljudi mogli usporiti životni tempo, više nije bilo ratne prijetnje ni gladi, ali uz sve nestašice zaliha u trgovinama, i nedostatka zabavne industrije, budućnost se nije činila tako svijetlom kako su ljudi očekivali. Ljudi su odlazili u kino kako bi pobjegli u svoj život iz snova s poželjnim, ali nedostižnim idealima. Upravo je zbog tog razloga film Cigani lete u nebo doživio neočekivani uspjeh u kinima.

Godine 1976. sovjetska su kina bila u potpunosti popunjena. Ljudi su diljem zemlje stajali u dugim redovima kako bi kupili karte za poznati film Emila Lothianua o romskom životu. Emil Lothianu bio je redatelj iz Moldavije i bio je poznat i prije nego što je stvorio svoje remek djelo Cigani lete u nebo. Čak 10 godina prije stvaranja ovog filma, on je napravio mnoge filmove o Moldaviji. Romi su u njegovim filmovima bili zastupljeni zbog toga što se Moldavija ponekad nazivala i zemljom Roma. Lothianu je bio zaintrigiran romskom kulturom, tradicijom i načinom života. Htio je napraviti ovaj film još od početka svoje karijere u ranim 1960-im, ali nije mogao pronaći dovoljno dobar scenarij. Odlučio je scenarij napraviti sam i pisao ga je 10 godina.

Radnja je temeljena na kratkim pričama Maksima Gorkog, Makar Chudra i Starica Izergil. Riječ je, naime, o izrazito romantiziranoj priči u kojoj nema previše stvarnog prikaza teškog života Roma nomada na prijelazu iz 19. u 20. stoljeće. Ova kostimirana drama temeljena je na tradicionalnom romskom folkloru i uobičajenim stereotipima. Unatoč svim pretjerivanjima i stereotipima, to je jedan od najautentičnijih prikaza romskog života punog pozitivne energije i sa pozitivnim likovima.

Radnja se odvija na samom početku 20. stoljeća, unutar romskog naselja na rijeci Tisi u Karpatima, na periferiji Austro-Ugarske Monarhije. Radnja započinje pokušajem grupa Roma da ukradu krdo vojnih konja, a zatim slijedi ljubavna priča o hrabrom kradljivcu konja, Lojku Zobaru, i zapanjujućoj romskoj čarobnici Radi. To je film o ljubavi, slobodi i strasti. Emil Lothianu stvorio je romantičnu himnu za romsku kulturu. Rome je u filmu prikazao kao ljude antičke kulture i istinskih vrijednosti. To je manifestna pohvala. Romi širom Sovjetskog Saveza bili su ponosni na iznimnu popularnost koju je ovaj film stekao.

Filmska ekipa podijelila je svoja sjećanja o snažnoj energiji karpatske regije. Snimanje na tako lijepom i duhovno jakom mjestu bilo je važno za ugođaj filma. Dodatni je razlog bio blizina romskog tabora. Filmska ekipa je po dolasku na lokaciju pitala lokalne Rome žele li sudjelovati u snimanju filma i ponudila im pozamašnu svotu novca. Romi su bodrili filmsku ekipu, a priča im se iznimno svidjela! Toliko su Romi voljeli kinematografiju, a posebno rad Emila Lothianua. Kasnije je u intervjuima Lothianu naglašavao kako su svi rado pristali pridružiti se snimanju filma. Zbog toga su čak i sporedni likovi koji se kratko pojavljuju bili toliko autentični. Romi su u glumu uložili sav svoj duh.

U prikazu nomadskog načina života Roma, Emil Lothianu pokušao je autentično prikazati romsku svakodnevnicu i atmosferu u taboru. Sve je bilo stvarno: blato, prašina, vrućina, tradicionalni kostimi. Međutim, u filmu je potrebno prikazati duh tabora, a ne dokumentaristički prikaz stvarnosti svakodnevnog života. Za potrebe snimanja filma, filmska je ekipa u svemu morala pretjerivati i romantizirati stvarnost. Kako bi postigao još veću autentičnost, Lothiany je iskoristio i nekoliko fraza iz dijalekta lokalnih Roma. Uložio je mnogo truda u učenje osnova. S vremena na vrijeme koristio je te fraze, a naučio ih je toliko dobro da je mogao iz njih stvarati dosjetke. Karpatski Romi, koji su sudjelovali u projektu, bili su zabavljeni Lothianovim stavom i ponosni što on od njih uči!

Još jedan primjer autentičnosti je i akcijska scena borbe. U filmu su korišteni pravi lovački noževi, a ne plastični ili kartonski rekviziti. Prema prisjećanju kaskadera, bila je to prva borbena scena u Sovjetskom Savezu u kojoj su korišteni pravi noževi. Svi izrazi na licima glumaca bili su itekako realni.

Konji su bili važan dio priče. Životinje su trebale biti zdrave, dobro hranjene, trenirane, trebale su biti specifične pasmine i boje. Neke su od njih dovedene s lokalne farme, ali one koje su bile glavne dovezene su s moskovskog hipodroma. Scena u kojoj Rada zaustavlja konja svojim moćnim pogledom bila je opasna, međutim izvedena je odlično i konji su stali u zadnji trenutak. Čarolija Radinog oka zbilja je upalila!

Nakon premijere 1976. godine, Cigani lete u nebo odmah je postao film godine u Savezu. Rada je postala narodna junakinja i miljenica ljudi. Film je kupilo 112 zemalja. To je bio rekord za sovjetsku distribuciju filma! U Španjolskoj je film osvojio glavnu nagradu, voljeli su ga u Francuskoj i Latinskoj Americi, a neke su ga zemlje prikazivale u kinima više mjeseci jer su se ljudi vraćali gledati film i po nekoliko puta. Film je u Jugoslaviji prikazan 1977. godine pod nazivom Cigani lete u nebo. Redatelj je dobio nagradu na Međunarodnom filmskom festivalu „FEST“, 1977. godine.

Iznimna popularnost filma Cigani lete u nebo izazvala je interes za Rome i nomadski način života. Na primjer, poznati modni časopis Burda Moden, u kojem se nalaze svi uzorci za dizajn predstavljen tog mjeseca, nekoliko je puta prezentirao i široke suknje i bluze u romskom stilu. U Jugoslaviji je to 1977. godine stvorilo trend nošenja romskih haljina. Usprkos činjenici da je film Cigani lete u nebo istaknuo neke predrasude i stereotipe o Romima, on je i istaknuo nomadsku kulturu i stvorio val pozitivnog priznavanja. Ovaj romantizirana i preuveličana priča podsjetila je ljude na neke pozitivne stereotipe o Romima i njihovoj kulturi.

In the Soviet Union, the perception of Roma people was ambiguous. On the one hand, Roma lifestyle was disapproved by the government due to the nomadic lifestyle. On the other hand, the same lifestyle was highly romanticized by ordinary people of the USSR because of Roma’s traditions, braveness, and almost unboundaried freedom. That is why image of Roma people in Soviet cinema was expected to be positive. It was also a result of cultural changes in the society. In the late 70-s, people of the Soviet Union were used to stability. The harsh after-the-war years were over. It was some kind of transition years: the first time in a few decades when people possibly could slow down the pace of life, the threat of a war or hunger was no longer in the air, but with all the shortages in stores and lack of entertainment industry it was not yet the bright and prosper future as people expected. People were going to cinemas to escape into dream life with desirable and unreachable ideals. It was the reason for unprecedented success of „Gypsies Are Found Near Heaven“ in cinemas.

In 1976 Soviet Union cinemas were literally overcrowded. People across all of the Country were forming long waiting lines for tickets to see Emil Lothianu’s epic musical movie about Roma life. Emil Lothianu is a film director from the Moldavian SSR and was already famous for making joyful and colorful movies about Moldavia for more than 10 years before creating his masterpiece - „Gypsies Are Found Near Heaven“. Roma people were a significant part of his previous movie since Moldavia sometimes even called the Roma land. Lothianu was amused by Roma's culture, traditions, and lifestyle. As a film director, he wanted to make this movie since the beginning of his career in the early 60-s but couldn’t find a scenario that would be good enough. So he spend 10 years writing it himself.

The plot of the musical is based on short stories by Maxim Gorky - "Makar Chudra" and "Old Izergil". It is, in fact, a highly romanticized story that has not much real depiction of the hard life of nomadic Roma at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. This costume drama is based on traditional Roma folklore and the basic stereotypes. But with all the exaggerations and representations of stereotypes, it is also one of the genuine and authentic depiction of Roma life with upbeat energy and bright characters.

The action takes place at the very beginning of the 20th century, inside a Roma settlement on the Tisa river in the Carpathian Mountains, on the periphery of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The plot starts with an attempt to steal a herd of army horses by a group of Roma, then follows the love story of a brave horse thief Loiko Zobar and stunning Roma sorceress Rada. It is a movie about love, freedom, and passion. Emil Lothianu created romantic anthem for Roma culture. He showed Roma in the movie as people of ancient culture and true values. It is a manifesto praise. Roma across USSR were proud to see how phenomenally popular this movie became.

The film crew shared in their memories how powerful was the energy of Carpaty region. To shoot at such a beautiful and spiritually strong place was important for the atmosphere of the movie. Also there was a real Roma tabor nearby. When the film crew arrived and asked local Roma to join the movie shootings and offering fair reward for acting – Roma people cheered the film crew and answered that they love the story! That was how much Roma loved cinema and especially Emil Lothianu’s work! Later in interviews Lothianu was highlighting how everyone gladly agreed to join the movie. This is why even a short-time background character was so authentic in „Gypsies Are Found Near Heaven“. Roma people put their souls into acting in the frame.

Depicting the lifestyle of Roma nomads, Emil Lothianu tried to show the authenticity of Roma's everyday life and the atmosphere in the tabor. Everything was real: the mud, dust, heat, traditional costumes. But in the frame is needed the spirit of the tabor, not the documentary reality of everyday life. So, for making a good and popular movie the crew had to exaggerate and a little romanticize everything. For authenticity, Lothiany remembered a few phrases on the dialect of local Roma people. He put a lot of effort to learn language basics.  He used these phrases from time to time and at some point been even able to create puns with it! Carpathian Roma's, who participated in the project, were amused by Lothianu’s attitude and proud that he was learning from them!

Another example of authenticity is the fighting action scene. There were real hunter’s knives, not a plastic or a carton props. According to stunts’ memories, it was the first fighting scene in Soviet Union cinema where real knives were used. It made all the emotions on the actors faces extremely real.

Horses were another important part of the story. Animals must have been healthy, well fed, trained, should be specific breed and colors. Some of them been brought from a local farm, but the main ones travelled from Moscow hippodrome. The scene of Rada stopping the horses with her powerful stare was a dangerous one. But it had really worked well and the horses stopped at the last moment. Rada’s magic of the eye was truly working!

After the premier day in 1976 „Gypsies Are Found Near Heaven“ instantly become the movie of the year inside the home country. And Rada has become a folk heroine and the people's favorite. The movie been bought by 112 countries. It was a record for USSR cinema distribution! Later there was a Grand Prix award in Spain, national love in France and Latin America, and some countries were screening the movie in cinemas for many months because people were coming to see it many times. The movie was released in Yugoslavia in 1977 under the title “Cigani lete u nebo” and was awarded a diploma for Best Director at the International Film Festival "FEST” 1977.

Extreme popularity of “Cigani lete u nebo” created interest in Roma people and nomad lifestyle. For example, famous fashion magazine “Burda Moden”, which contains patterns for every design featured that month, been offering a few times patterns of loose skirts and blouses in Roma style. In Yugoslavia it created a fashion trend for Roma dresses in 1977. Despite the fact, that “Cigani lete u nebo” emboldened some prejudges and stereotypes about Roma – the movie spotlighted nomad culture and created a wave of positive recognition. Thus, this romantisized and exaggerated story reminded people also about the positive stereotypes around Roma people and culture.