El amor gitano: A relic that actually has some pulse

Is it worth the time?

Look, if you are the type of person who needs crisp pacing and modern editing, stay away. You will probably hate the way the scenes just sit there, breathing for way longer than necessary. But if you have a soft spot for dusty, earnest black-and-white dramas where everyone is acting with their entire soul, then sure. It's a nice little time capsule for a rainy Tuesday.

Watching El amor gitano felt a bit like finding an old, slightly frayed photograph in a box of junk. It’s got that specific texture of old film stock that makes everything feel a little bit more important than it probably is.

Mapy Cortés is really doing the heavy lifting here. There is this one moment near the middle where she just stares into the camera during a musical number, and I swear she wasn't even blinking. It felt less like a performance and more like a challenge.

The pacing is… well, it’s not there. Sometimes a scene ends and you wonder if the editor just took a coffee break and forgot to cut the last ten seconds of blank wall. It makes the whole movie feel like a long, slow sigh. 🚬

Odd bits and pieces

• The background music kicks in at the most random times. Like, someone drops a spoon and suddenly a violin starts sobbing.
• I’m pretty sure I saw the same extra walking past the window three different times in the same scene.
• The dialogue is so theatrical it makes a soap opera look like a documentary.

It reminded me a little bit of the vibe in <i>Entre ruinas</i>, where the environment is almost more important than the people living in it. You get that same sense of space, that feeling that the set is trying to tell you something while the actors are busy crying.

I didn't care much for the secondary characters. Most of them are just there to stand around and look concerned while the leads have their big blowouts. It’s a bit silly, honestly.

Still, there’s an honesty to it that you don't get in movies today. Nobody is trying to be clever. They are just trying to be loud and miserable and in love, and sometimes that’s enough to keep you watching. I stopped checking my phone about halfway through, which is high praise for a film this old.

It’s not a masterpiece. It’s not going to change your life. It’s just a movie that exists in its own little world, and for ninety minutes, I didn't mind visiting.