Geronimo (2014)
Directed by Tony Gatlif

Film Review

"It is a tale... full of sound and fury, signifying nothing..."  This lament from Shakespeare's 'Scottish play' feels cruelly appropriate for Tony Gatlif's most Shakespearean film to date, a grittily rumbustious social musical that rages with the untamed frenzy of a forest fire for much of its daunting 100 minute runtime but somehow fails to add up to anything of any real substance.  Admirers of Gatlif will tend to agree that, in France at least, he is pretty well unsurpassed when it comes to making films that blaze with vitality and colour - who could not fail to be stunned by the sheer spectacle of Latcho Drom (1993)?  He is also virtually unrivalled in helping us to see the world from the perspective of society's underdogs, be they persecuted gypsies or unwelcome immigrants.  Tony Gatlif remains one of the most idiosyncratic and individualistic filmmakers of our time, but he has yet to master the art of constructing a coherent narrative with solid, believable characters, and this is where his latest cinematic extravaganza falls down.

Geronimo shows both the best and worst sides of Gatlif's art.  As a social portrait depicting a frenzied outburst of clan rivalry in the south of France it is vivid but not particularly convincing.  The characters are, without exception, thinly sketched archetypes awkwardly portrayed by mostly non-professional actors who, for the most part, appear under-directed.  Even the central protagonist, a tough, streetwise educator (nicknamed Geronimo) who somehow manages to instil fear and respect into the lawless hotheads she has to deal with, fails to ring true, despite a credible performance from Céline Sallette.  After a promising first twenty minutes, the plot loses momentum, goes completely out of control and ultimately peters out, so that nothing seems to be resolved satisfactorily.  It is as if Gatlif lost interest in the film and just gave up.

So much for the film's bad points.  On the plus side, Geronimo is as vibrant and energetic a film as Gatlif has made so far.  The grand musical set-pieces are inspired works of art in their own right, offering an improbable but strangely effective fusion of music and dance from various cultures (Spanish and Turkish folk tradition livened up with the odd burst of Verdi and hip-hop).  The overall effect is a kind of wild, Latin/Turkish version of West Side Story, and if only the camerawork had been a little more consistent the result would have been stunning.  Unfortunately, in trying to maintain the same level of energy throughout the rest of the film, Gatlif merely succeeds in rendering virtually every scene excessively hysterical.  For the drama to be effective, there needs to be a greater contrast of mood and tone, but this is what the film lacks.  Geronimo has an exhilarating passion to it but it lacks focus and this is what ultimately undermines a film that could so easily have been one of Gatlif's best.

Film Synopsis

In the south of France, in the sweltering heat of August, Geronimo, a young teacher, is committed to easing tensions between young people in the district of Saint Pierre.  A crisis flares up when Nil Terzi, a teenager of Turkish origin, flees from an arranged marriage so that she can be with her true love, a young gypsy named Lucky Molina.  As two gangs suddenly come to blows, Geronimo does everything she can to halt the madness that has suddenly taken possession of the region...