Gypo

A pointed dig at tabloid refugee-baiting, this British Dogme drama sees a tired mother’s grey existence brightened by a friendship with a young Romany Czech woman. Telling events from three points of view, it starts with Helen (Pauline McLynn) struggling to get a response from her obnoxious, unfaithful husband Paul (Paul McGann) and forming a hesitant bond with cash-strapped refugee Tasha (Chloe Sirene), taking the perspective of each character in turn. The largely improvised dialogue varies in credibility and the narrative moves slowly, but escalates to a dramatic climax. ‘Gypo’ isn’t as confident as Dogme greats such as ‘Festen’ but it captures its working-class setting effectively while exploring both subjectivity and aggressive attitudes towards immigrant culture, of which Paul is quite the posterboy – although with its liberal arthouse packaging, it seem unlikely that ‘Gypo’ will ever reach the Pauls of this world.