Time of the Gypsies (1988)
There are films that feel like they arrive from a particular place and moment so completely that watching them is almost anthropological, and Time of the Gypsies is very much one of those films. Released in 1988 and co-produced across Yugoslavia, Italy, and the United Kingdom, it arrived at a point when Yugoslav cinema was earning serious international attention, and when the Roma community remained almost entirely invisible as the subjects of their own stories on screen. Kusturica drew directly from real-world reports of Roma children being trafficked into Western Europe as petty criminals, and the film's grounding in that social reality gives its more fantastical elements an uncomfortable weight. It won the Best Director prize at Cannes in 1989, confirming that European art-house audiences were ready to look at a world most mainstream cinema had simply ignored.
Emir Kusturica had already announced himself with When Father Was Away on Business (1985), which took the Palme d'Or at Cannes and put Yugoslav cinema firmly on the map for international audiences. Time of the Gypsies pushed him further into territory that would define the rest of his career: big, noisy, morally knotted stories told with a kind of reckless exuberance that can feel equally thrilling and exhausting depending on your patience. If you've seen his later Underground (1995), you'll recognise the same instinct to pack every frame with incident, music, and a sort of organised chaos that hovers somewhere between folk tale and nightmare. The budget here was modest by any Western standard, shot largely on location in the Roma settlements of Macedonia and Slovenia, and that material constraint ended up being one of the film's genuine strengths, lending the production a roughness that no amount of studio money could have manufactured. Goran Bregović composed the score, his brass-heavy, frenetic arrangements becoming almost a character in themselves, a signature that would follow both men through much of their subsequent work.
The film rests largely on the shoulders of Davor Dujmović, a young actor playing Perhan, the telekinetic teenager at the centre of the story. Dujmović had no significant screen credits before this, and Kusturica cast much of the supporting ensemble from within actual Roma communities rather than from established acting pools. That choice sits alongside a similar impulse you can find in films like Yeelen (1987), which drew on Malian cultural authenticity rather than external interpretation to tell its story. Ljubica Adžović, playing Perhan's grandmother, is perhaps the most striking example of that casting philosophy in practice. Borivoje Todorović brings a slippery, surface-level charm to the role of Ahmed, the man who draws Perhan into criminal life, and the film is shrewd enough never to make him simply a villain. The cast, professional and non-professional alike, speak predominantly in Romani throughout, which was an almost unheard-of choice at the time and remains rare today.
As someone who is half Romani, watching Emir Kusturica’s 1988 picture Time of the Gypsies was a genuinely fascinating experience.
The Romani experience in the UK is vastly different from the realities of life in what was then Yugoslavia, so seeing this world depicted with such raw, unfiltered authenticity was a revelation. What struck me most immediately was hearing the film spoken predominantly in Romani. It’s an incredibly rare and powerful choice for cinema, grounding the picture in a linguistic and cultural truth that you simply don’t get in mainstream Western portrayals.
The narrative follows Perhan, a young man gifted with telekinetic abilities, who falls for a local girl and is subsequently seduced into a life of organised crime. It’s a classic, tragic arc, but it’s the sheer vitality of the cast that makes it sing. The absolute standout for me was the grandmother, played by Ljubica Adžović. Fair play to her, she brings a fierce, matriarchal gravity to the screen that anchors the whole chaotic family dynamic. It’s a brilliant bit of trivia that she was actually a self-taught actress who ended up running off with another actor from the set, because that same untamed, real-life energy is palpable in every single scene she’s in.
Now, I’ll be honest, the film is undeniably rough around the edges. But when you’re watching a low-budget, 1980s Eastern European production tackling such a massive, sprawling subject, you have to accept that it can be a bit of a mess narratively at times. The middle act does drag a little, pacing-wise, as the story meanders through Perhan’s descent into the criminal underworld. However, this sluggishness is largely forgiven thanks to the absolutely cracking musical accompaniment. Goran Bregović’s score is a relentless, driving force that injects a manic, celebratory energy into the picture, ensuring the film never loses its heartbeat even when the plot momentarily stalls.
Ultimately, this is a deeply affecting, culturally vital piece of cinema that manages to be both a magical realist fable and a harsh social commentary. Kusturica crafted a visually vibrant, emotionally resonant world that feels lived-in and fiercely authentic, even if the storytelling occasionally stumbles under its own ambitious weight. It’s a decent, highly watchable story elevated by its unique perspective and unforgettable characters.
Time of the Gypsies sits in interesting company when you consider the broader 1988 film landscape, a year that also gave us very different kinds of ambitious, culturally specific animation in Akira. Both films, in their own ways, use a young man's uncontrolled power as a lens for examining social collapse and the corruption of innocence, though Kusturica's approach is rooted in mud and music rather than neon and machinery. It is a film that rewards patience and a willingness to meet it on its own chaotic terms, neither a comfortable watch nor a tidy one. For a certain kind of film viewer, that is precisely the point. It is, to borrow a phrase, a beautiful mess that knows exactly what it is.
Rating: ★★★½ | Year: 1988 | Watched: 2026-07-27
Trailer
▶ Watch the official trailer for Time of the Gypsies (1988) on YouTube
Where to watch
Watch in the UK
Rent: Apple TV Store · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Buy: Apple TV Store · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi
Watch in the US
Rent: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US
Affiliate disclosure: Movies With Macca may earn a small commission on purchases or subscriptions started via these links. It costs you nothing extra.
