Romanian cinema has only recently begun to deal more intensely with the fate of the over 5 million Romanians who live and work outside the country’s borders, with several very interesting films being released in the last year. These films have a precedent in the German movie ‘Gipsy Queen‘ directed by Hüseyin Tabak, whose parents are immigrants from Turkey. The film’s main heroine is Ali, a young immigrant of Roma origin from Romania, who tries to earn a decent living in Germany despite discrimination and prejudice. Hüseyin Tabak was probably inspired by Clint Eastwood’s much-awarded and acclaimed ‘Million Dollar Baby’, but the combination of boxing and immigration films works quite well, supported by the exceptional performance of Alina Serban. Paradoxically, although besides the name of the main actress there are quite a few other Romanian names that appear in the credits, no Romanian film company supported this film, which is an international co-production, and it is only now reaching the screens in Romania, over six years after its release, as part of an educational campaign. Better late than never.
Ali is expelled from her father’s house and from the Roma village where she grew up when her second child is born without her having been married. She ends up in Germany, which is far from being a welcoming country for her. She works odd jobs, day and night, as a hotel maid, as an illegal construction worker, as a waitress in a basement bar where illegal boxing matches take place. This latter place reconnects her with the world of competitive boxing, a sport she had practiced in her youth, under the guidance of her father. She, as well as her daughter, who is a student in elementary school and dreams about entering a good high school and making a trip to Paris, also suffer from the racial prejudices of those around her. Their response is sometimes violent (although not unjustified) and this will endanger – in the eyes of the authorities – the custody of the children. Ali, who has reached the edge of the abyss, is given the opportunity to turn the wheel of destiny by re-entering the ring, the world of boxing. Here, however, other challenges and dangers await her.
I liked Hüseyin Tabak‘s filming style – a mixture of neo-realism and sports film, sprinkled with many interesting ideas. The film is spoken in German and Romani mixed with a few Romanian words. Many of the actors are amateurs (among others, a former boxing champion who withstood seven rounds in the ring against Muhamad Ali and a real world champion in women’s boxing), and the professional actors fit authentically into their world. Alina Serban created a stunning role for which she had to learn the rules of competitive boxing and train like a real athlete. Hilary Swank was lucky that Clint Eastwood saw her before Alina, otherwise I think her casting in ‘Million Dollar Baby’ would have been in jeopardy. Boxing movie fans will find in ‘Gipsy Queen‘ a scene with three rounds of a boxing match filmed in a single frame – a technical and artistic achievement.
I think that this film holds up a mirror to German viewers about how they relate to immigrants who live on the outskirts of cities and do unwanted work and to the racial prejudices that have not disappeared from their society. A few flashbacks that define the relationship between Ali and her father are a bit melodramatic, in contrast to the brutal realism tone of the film. The ending is completely open. Some movie film fans might complain about the lack of conclusions in one direction or another. Not me. Whatever solution screenwriter Hüseyin Tabak would have chosen could have been criticized. As the film ends, the audience’s imagination is put to work and debates and assumptions can begin. ‘Gipsy Queen‘ reigns and will follow us, spectators, long after the screening is over.