Strawberry and Chocolate

Morango e Chocolate estreava há 30 anos no Festival de Havana. Presumo que em 1979 o Vargas Llosa ainda não tinha se tornado o fascista filho da puta que se tornaria mais tarde. Se bem que ele brigou com o Garcia Marquez já em 1976. Enfim, provavelmente teria gostado mais do filme se assistido quando lançado. VXT.

This late period gem from Tomás Gutiérrez Alea (co-directed by Juan Carlos Tabío due to Alea's illness) reflects significant late life skepticism on his part about post-revolution Cuba. It's not a rejection of the goals of the Cuban Revolution, but a questioning of the value of a revolution that denies people the right to read, enjoy music and art, and to be themselves and enjoy life. This was, to date, the only Cuban film nominated for an Oscar.

Interesting, albeit just a tad hard to follow as I watched in college for spanish class without subtitles.

A character movie which is 60% dominated by the flamboyant Diego who seems to cast a spell over those around him. It was interesting to see how people live, talk and act in modern day Cuba, although not much in the way of contrasting lives or locations in the city/country were shown. Even if the story did have a political message, it was the simpler theme of friendship which took over. A memorable, theatrical 2.5-hander, with good performances, though not really a classic in my eyes.

Tomás Gutiérrez Alea is so good at showing the viewer the difficulty of being a intellectual petite bourgeois in Cuba after the revolution. If you like this, you will fall in love with his "Memories of Underdevelopment".

Uma história de amor e amizade entre dois homens que é não se rende ao clichê e surpreende o espectador com seu desenrolar fora do esperado hollywoodiano. É um filme que também apresenta boas reflexões e críticas ao regime cubano, especificamente na questão da censura e o tratamento dado às artes; sendo quase paradoxal que uma produção de nacionalidade cubana faça esse tipo de análise.

Watching 2 characters w/ seemingly nothing in common slowly become close friends as they discover shared interests & values could easily be sappy, contrived & highly implausible. This is none of those things. Heartfelt & funny, w/ likeable yet imperfect characters (impeccably played by very good actors, esp. Perugorria, who gets 2 b brilliant in the much shinier role), this feels genuine throughout & w/ Cuba as a backdrop u get an interesting glimpse in2 its civilian life and culture 2 boot.

It does have charm, especially with the character of Diego, but for a drama with added political aspects it feels lacklustre and lacking.

An interesting take on the ideological battlefield of the Cuban revolution.