Vengo
dir. Tony Gatlif
Opens Fri Jan 4
Hollywood Theater
The plot of Vengo is ancient: two families, once steadfast friends, who become bitter enemies after an interfamily murder. What started the rift that led to a stabbing is unimportant. What is important, as this story plays out across the scorching hills of Andalusia, Spain, is the feverish machismo, pride, and drama that exists among the two modern gitano, or Spanish gypsy, families. And the blood that throbs hotly through the veins of the story is flamenco dance and music, with its commanding foot-stomps and hand claps, its fiery beats, the forceful quarter-tones of its vocalists. Flamenco is possibly the most passionate folk music in existence, and with Vengo (I Come, in English), director/writer Tony Gatlif has done an exceptional job of capturing its burning essence.
Caco (played by real-life flamenco dancer Antonio Canales) is the wealthy, patriarchal figure of the main family. His young daughter is dead, and he weeps at her grave daily, but he still takes great care of his nephew, Diego, as much as he can, throwing wild and colorful flamenco parties in the desert that last until dawn. However, the rival family, the Caravacas, have sworn to avenge the murder of their brother; someone in Caco’s family must pay. Subtly, each character becomes an archetype of hope, pain, confusion, or sorrow as the film progresses, making Vengo feel enormous.
Again, it isn’t necessary for the plot to be specific, because the story is played out on the stage of time–the twelve centuries and Hebrew, Muslim, Moorish, Gitano, and Christian peoples that form the basis of flamenco music. It’s the music of nomads, and Gatlif’s backdrop shows as much–he’s filled the camera with endless hills, red-orange sunsets, humid clouds. Beautiful men and women dance gracefully, some with swathes of white cloth trailing them as they spin in circles. Gatlif, himself born to Spanish gypsies, puts Vengo on the screen almost as a documentary, and certainly as a love letter to the flamenco culture. But it never feels forced or falsified; Vengo just feels completely rooted in an ancient fire that has always burned.