Gypsies are Found Near Heaven and 1970's Film

Gypsies are Found Near Heaven is a russian film that was released in 1975. Telling the tale of russian gypsy, Zobor, who stole horses for a living and eventually fell in love. This story, while intriguing, also fits with some of the themes that surrounding movies during the 1970's.

Zobor

At the beginning of the movie, Zobor is talking to a wise, dying, old friend who tells him many things he should remember throughout his life. One thing he says is to, "Never fall in love with a woman, they will betray you." Zobor doesn't listen. While on the brink of the death from a bullet that was in his side, he was saved by a gorgeous gypsy women who met him in the woods. After healing him she disappeared. The women stayed in his mind until one day, he ran into a group of traveling gypsies, and she was there. Her name was Rada.

Zobor stayed with the group for a while before he went again stole more a horse, except this time it wasn't to sell. The white mare was for his love, Rada. He got a little caught up bringing it to her as he was turned over to authorities by his father, but after escaping the noose, he returned to Rada. Offering her the horse, she fell in love with him. However, like every good russian movie, a happy ending wasn't what was offered. While going to propose to Rada, he struggles to bow down to her, like she had asked. Overcome with frustration, he stabs her with his knife. Shocked, he catches her in his arms. Rada's father, who was very protective of his daughter, approached Zobor and stabbed him as well. The lovers died together.

Every good Russian movie needs a tragic ending.

The movie, with it's compelling story, shows some ideas that were very loud in 1970's cinema. The first of which was that Zobor ignored that law. He stole horses for a living, and sold them to other people. This was a crime punishable by death, and the law almost claimed him. However the 'hero' of the story got away right when he was supposed to hang. Zobor knew that stealing was a crime, however it didn't bother him. He had a special relationship with horses. It seemed that he was able to justify his actions by saving the horses from cruel owners. However, in reality, when push came to shove, he payed little attention to the kindness of the owners. This is similar to social anarchism, or the rejection of the rule of law. Many films of the 70's had this idea floating around in the storylines.

Gypsies are Found Near Heaven also attempts to shock it's audience near the end of the film by adding a little bit of mild sensuality and nudity at the end. The reason for this is that for a long time, film makers were very restricted in what they were allowed to show. There was a big change in America as rules slipped and now, not only were people allowed to show the stomach in movies, they could show whatever they wanted. This way of shocking the audience by showing things that were previously not allowed was also just directors exploring and using this new 'tool' that they had for their movies.

The story of the Gypsies are Found Near Heaven is a fun, compelling plot, but the film also gives us a glimpse into what society as whole uplifted and thought about. While America often led the way in movie making, Russia was one of the countries that tagged along for the ride. A lot of what is found in American films from the 1970's can be found in Russian movies. Like my teacher said, "Just dialed back ten notches."

Zorbor and his stolen horses.