Only 5.2 Rating? Ridiculous
As of today, 5/30/2008, this movie has garnered only a 5.2 rating. Since there are only a few posters/messages on this board, I can only assume that some people were giving it a negative rating based simply on the fact that it was a Riefenstahl film.
I don't have all the facts about the "gypsies" brouhaha and the few stories I've seen seem to contradict each other.
I can only judge this film based on what I viewed and that was enough for me to go ahead and give this movie a much higher rating, which it justly deserves.
The photography was absolutely stunning and surreal at times. I'll admit that Riefenstahl was too old for the part (which she readily admitted later on, but given the circumstances at the time of filming...she was basically the only one she felt could do the role correctly). The sensuality of the film was surprising and overwhelming at times. All of the lead actors were memorable in their roles, including the newcomer who played the part of Pedro (the shepherd)in a believable manner.
I'm sure if I were to analyze this film much deeper I could find some flaws to point out, but I choose not to do so at this time. I felt the 5.2 rating was an insult to this well-done film and I'm going to give it a well-deserved rating of 8.