Lăutarii

Lăutarii
Film poster
Directed by	Emil Loteanu
Written by	Emil Loteanu
Produced by	N. Paliy
Cinematography	Vitali Kalashnikov
Edited by	V. Slavich-Dimitriu
Music by	Eugen Doga Isidor Burdin
Production company	Moldova Film
Distributed by	International Film Exchange (IFEX)
Release date	December 1972 (1972-12)
Running time	141 minutes
Countries	Soviet Union, Moldova
Languages	Russian, Romanian

Lăutarii (Russian: Лаутары) is a 1972 Soviet romantic musical film directed by Emil Loteanu. The movie was a success, particularly in Italy. The film received the Special Jury Award at the San Sebastián International Film Festival in 1972. The film also received the prestigious Spanish San Fedele prize in 1978.

Plot

Toma Alistar is a gifted lăutar who works as the leader of a traveling gypsy band, wandering the steppes of the mid-nineteenth century Bessarabia. He is a skilled violinist whose fame takes him on tours around European capitals and royal courts. He falls madly in love with the beautiful gypsy Leanca. However, she is marrying a rich Hungarian. Toma spends the rest of life and his fortunes in a desperate search for her. And only before his death he meets an old gypsy woman in whom he recognizes his one true love.

Cast

• Sergei Lunchevici as Toma Alistar
• Dumitru Hăbășescu as young Toma
• Jenea Rolko as Toma as a child
• Galina Vodniațkaia as old Leanca
• Olga Câmpeanu as young Leanca
• Angelica Iașcencu as Leanca as a child

External links

• Lăutarii at IMDb