Gypsy Blood

Gypsy Blood Analysis

'Fred, he'll come to you in your dreams, he's a raving lunatic and he's not a man to mess with'.

Its a bright and sunny day in rural England, the ocean blue sky interspersed only with the occasional cloud as the sun beams down on a shambolic camp site; 'its a perfect day for a fight'. The camera shakes frantically as it tries to keep up with a congregation of sportswear clad locals as they power through the litter strewn site into a hard concrete drive. Above the chaos we hear a non diegetic voice over, taken from an interview with one of the titular gypsies; 'its a lovely thing to see, that there is still men out there who'll have a fair fight'. A brief gap in speech ensues, giving the oxymoron time to linger and then hell breaks loose; two men begin swinging frantically at one another, with a scary precision. There's a sickly crunch as clenched fist meets cheek and one of the men drops to the floor, the tone has been set for Leo Maguire's observational documentary: Gypsy Blood.

The film follows two families, The Doherty's (who are Irish traveller royalty) and the Buthchers who's children fear for their fathers life as they are torn between two worlds. Throughout its one hour twelve minute run time, the documentary provides the viewer with a harrowing study of masculinity, violence and the lengths to which people will go to protect their family name. The film doesn't glamorises the traveller's visceral lifestyle, nor does it provide a damning indictment of their way of life, it remains impartial and shadows the two families giving us an intricate portrait of the turmoil that their actions create. The graphic and shocking on screen violence is punctuated by cut aways to rich, warm nature shots, often scattered with lense flare, almost making the violence more guttural when compared to scenes of such overbearing beauty and purity.

Throughout the film's run time we are provided with a very intimate relationship with the two families through frequent interviews captured in medium shots, it is through these moments that we are provided with a close, almost voyeuristic insight into the their worlds. We are told by a child of only seven that he is terrified that his father will one day be killed as a result of their culture; an admition that is starkly juxta posed by a similar interview with a child of another family who can't wait to grow up and fight for his family name. Its a concept that is hard to understand and leaves the viewer feeling incredibly uneasy as we witness first hand the innocence of a small child being drained away by his overpowering culture and reckless need to fight for his family name. One particularly disturbing scene shows the child in a fist fight with another youngster as they mercilessly beat one another in a battle we are told raged on for almost three quarters of an hour. Combine this with frequent scenes of cruelty towards animals and drunken brawls and you're dealing with a very challenging film that holds no punches with its approach to portraying the gypsy culture.

The film culminates in an excruciatingly painful scene to watch as Fred Butcher graphically bottles a man in the street and is mown down by a group of rivals wielding machetes as a result. A scene made even more gut-wrenching as the film has forced us to empathise with his son who is constantly admitting to his fears of such an event happening. Its not long after that the film ends and the credits roll, leaving the viewer stunned as the images and opinions slowly sink in. Gypsy Blood is a documentary that has been masterfully pieced together; beautiful wide shots of scenery intersperse graphic violence, captured up close with shaky camera work, whilst all the while we are provided with contrasting opinions from interviews with the family's children and adults.

There is a lot to be taken away from this documentary aside from its powerful moral message, its style and form have provided a great deal of inspiration for my documentary. For example the film has taught me that cleverly crafted questions are essential, and that mixing sections of interviews together creates a powerful impact and coherence.