Week 7 Posting

In class on Wednesday, we finished watching Latcho Drom, although we had to skip some scenes in the interest of time. Most of the movie revolved around the Roma people's movement in Eastern Europe. In both of these scenes, the violin was a common element.

The first scene we watched depicted a settlement in Romania. In the beginning, we saw a boy observing two older men playing and singing a song under a tree. One man played a hammered dulcimer, while the other man played a violin, occasionally using one string of the bow to draw against the strings of the violin, creating a unique sound. In this introductory scene, I noticed a clear difference in their dress, as compared to the previous scenes, which took place in the Middle East and Central Asia. Their dress in this scene appeared to be much more typical of what is commonly regarded as the dress of Eastern Europeans. I noticed that many, if not most, of the men in the Romania scene wore hats. I had always thought that this was just a stereotype about Eastern European men, but from the movie, it looked like many of them really do wear hats all the time.
In the scene of people coming out of their houses, it looked like the musicians were beckoning their neighbors out of their houses with the music. First we saw a man come out playing a violin, then there was a man with a flute, and another man with an accordion. When the company of musicians gathered together, I noticed many violins, a standing bass, an accordion, a large dulcimer, a smaller dulcimer, and a flute. The men played while the people in the audience, who were surrounding them, danced and clapped and swayed to the music. In particular, I noticed two older ladies who appeared as if they were enjoying the music very much. There was a portion of the song in which one of the dulcimer players used his instrument as a kind of drum, hitting his small wooden mallets against the non-stringed portion of the dulcimer. This scene appeared to be quite characteristically Romanian. It was also interesting to note the strong sense of community among the Roma people, as depicted here. I thought it was quite apparent that music played a significant role in drawing the community together, as a way to bring some pleasure to everyone who could hear the music.

The second scene took place at and around a train station in Slovakia. First we saw a group of Roma people singing a lament on the train, enumerating the plight of the Roma people. This song was sung a cappella by a young girl and an older woman. Next, we saw a large group of Roma people waiting at a train station. I noticed that they stood on the other side of the train tracks from a mother and child, probably of Slovakian descent. The people started a fire to warm themselves, and after a little while, the young Slovakian boy walked over to them and offered the man with a violin three coins to play music for him. The man chuckled, gave the boy back his money, and began to play. In this song, the violin was accompanied by snapping, an idiophonic drum, singing, spoons (idiophone), and dancing. The little boy was clearly pleased, as well, and danced to the music, much to his mother's enjoyment. Finally, the group of Roma people on the train arrived at the station as the music was still being played and sung. The scene ended in reunion and happiness, surrounded by music and dancing. I enjoyed watching this scene because it showed how music was able to bridge the gap between two disparate ethnic groups, both socially and physically. I think the use of the physical distance formed by the train tracks was a great way, on the director's part, to show how music could cross that distance and bring the people together.