Gatlif, Tony
Djam, Bande Originale Tony Gatlif
"I discovered rebetiko in 1983 when I went to Turkey to present my film "Les Princes". The music developed in the slums of Athens and Thessaloniki, and then moved into the islands when AtatUrk chased the Greeks out of Turkey. There is never any anger in this music; but you can hear revolt and melancholy, as in all the music I love. It's music for the unpopular, but people who are proud to be what they are. It's subversive music_ The lyrics in rebetiko songs are words that can cure (_) Leaving your own country can be positive: new horizons, another way of living together_ What I like about rebetiko is the assembly inside, West and East. That's where I come from: West and East have been inside of me since I was born."Tony GATLIFAfter his "Geronimo", an admirable portrait of the tense relations between traditional culture and urban identity, filmmaker Tony Gatlif has now given us Djam, a masterful original soundtrack devoted to the music known as rebetiko. The humanity behind this popular music of Greek origin, a music of exile, migration and the cultural mix, stems from its origins in the region that ties Europe to Asia, a giant crossroads for migrating civilisations and historically a region of economic crisis. It is the centre of the world. Tony Gatlif is a filmmaker who symbolizes rhythm and liberty, and music is a central element in his filmography, with one CEsar Award already for "Gadjo Dilo" and another for "Vengo". His music in Djam follows the initiatory voyage of the heroine from Istanbul to Mytilene on Lesbos, and in turn its melodies breathe whisps of drunkenness, emotion and jubilant frenzy. Augustin BONDOUX & Patrick FREMEAUX