Children of liberty Tony Gatleaf is a gypsy filmmaker living in France. He was born near Algeria in a very poor family, his childhood calls "a real hell", was tried several times for theft. The first film was shot on stolen film and almost died, by misunderstanding, on the set at the hands of a policeman (Gatleaf, according to the script, fled, shooting with a pistol). The director’s films absorbed the centuries-old traditions of his people, imbued with the spirit of freedom and rejection of the rigidity of modern society, many of them were shot in the Roma language. The idea of the road, in the broadest sense of the word, is one of the main themes of the director. Gatlif’s tapes participated in prestigious festivals, the Exiles received the Grand Prix in Cannes. I liked his picture Mondo, a poetic film about a homeless boy.
Romain Duris, who played the main role in the film “I brought the stork” told about the director’s manner of Gatlif: “He works under the influence of the moment, without rehearsals.” We land at the intended location, use what we bring with us and what we find on the spot, play with randomness, with something that is impossible to predict: if it rains, we will play in the rain, if someone drives past in their car, we will drag him into our film. It's like we're always making documentary films. Nothing is controlled, we are not over-organized, everything is very flexible. Therefore, actors should always be on the lookout: Tony can start shooting without telling him beforehand.
The characters of this film are thrown to the margins of French society. Unemployed Otto sells newspapers. German hairdresser Luna kicked out of the apartment for non-payment. The young Arab Ali is in conflict with his father, not wanting to integrate into French culture, adheres to leftist views and loves intellectual cinema. They steal a car, meet on the road talking wounded stork, calling himself Mohammed.
The director exposed the sore points of modern Western civilization: social injustice, unemployment, xenophobia, problems of migrants. The picture is shot in a spontaneous, pseudo-documentary manner - the characters periodically turn to the camera, reminding that the film is being shot. The stork is a symbol of human homelessness and, at the same time, hope for the best. For some people, this bird portends spring renewal and new life. Behind the humorous entourage of the tape lies a piercing yearning for a new, just world: “Better times will come, on the charred remnants of earth and blood, we will build everything again, without borders and doors and will never again live in hope.”
The film will appeal to lovers of the anarchist spirit of road-movies (", Wasteland, Natural Born Killers).