At one point in this giddily entertaining documentary on New York–based “Gypsy-punk” band Gogol Bordello, a talking head remarks, “You have to invent freedom.”
October 30, 2008 by Ernest Hardy
Director Margarita Jimeno spends five years following the sprawling band and its charismatic front man, Eugene Hutz (who’s acted in Everything Is Illuminated and Filth and Wisdom), while they do just that. As the camera traverses the globe, tilting from Hutz’ biography (including home movies from his native Kiev) to rehearsal footage, raucous live performances and interviews with various members of the Gogol collective, the film becomes a heady, inspiring discussion of art, politics and personal identity, and the points at which they all intersect.
ArcLight Hollywood
Sat., Nov. 1, 7:10 p.m.; Wed., Nov. 5, 12:30 p.m.
“Special to the Observer: AFI Festival 2008 Must See Festival Films”
Culver City Observer October 30-November 5, 2008
Also online at: Culver Pages 12 &13, Movie Shark
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