Preview

Rowan Atkinson returns to the iconic role that made him an international star in MR. BEAN’S HOLIDAY.  In his latest misadventure, Mr. Bean—the nearly wordless misfit who seems to be followed by a trail of pratfalls and hijinks—goes on holiday to the French Riviera and becomes ensnared in a European adventure of cinematic proportions. 

Tired of the dreary, wet London weather, Bean packs up his suitcase and camcorder to head to Cannes for some sun on the beach.  Ah…vacation.  But his trip doesn’t go as smoothly as he had hoped when the bumbling Bean falls face first into a series of mishaps and fortunate coincidences, far-fetched enough to make his own avant-garde film. 

Wrongly thought to be both kidnapper and acclaimed filmmaker, he has some serious explaining to do after wreaking havoc across the French countryside and arriving at his vacation spot with a Romanian filmmaker’s precocious son and an aspiring actress in tow.  Will Bean be arrested by the gendarmes or end up winning the Palme d’Or?  It’s all caught on camera as Atkinson again applies his awkward athleticism to a comedy of errors in MR. BEAN’S HOLIDAY.

Gypsy Caravan

 “Gypsy Caravan” is a spirited but flabby documentary about a Romani
concert tour in the United States. It was originally called When
the Road Bends: Tales of a Gypsy Caravan.” 

The film was made by Jasmine Dellal, who also directed the short lived
reality TV show, “Beauty School,” as well as the intriguingly titled
documentary, “American Gypsy: A Stranger in Everybody’s Land.” 

“Gypsy Caravan” tries to do the same thing for gypsy music that “Buena Vista
Breakfast Club” did for Cuban music, but the results are more mixed. “Gypsy
Caravan” is overlong and drags a bit.  The film grinds to a halt in the
non-musical scenes which often serve to dilute the film. The film would be
 better if it were trimmed a bit, and some of the deleted scenes could
have been put on the DVD as extras. 

Nonetheless the film has achieved some advanced festival acclaim. It won the
Audience Award at the Flanders Film Festival “Gypsy Caravan” depicts a major
tour in which four Romani bands from five countries went on the six week Gypsy Caravan tour across the United States. The tour helped introduce many Americans to an almost alien musical form that they had never seen before. 

The full range of Romani musical styles is shown including Indian folk, raga, flamenco, Romanian violin, and exotic jazz. But the scenes involving the ups and downs of the tour could be found in almost any music tour documentary. 

“Gypsy Caravan” hits some of its targets but considering the great untapped
potential of its subject, the film should have been much better.  

But it’s still possible that a gypsy equivalent of “A Harder They Come”
will be made, but I’m still waiting. However, the “Gypsy Caravan” soundtrack
is definitely worth owning.