'Fresa y Chocolate' better, but watch them both Filmmakers Tomás Gutiérrez & Juan Carlos Tabio made 'Guantanamera' almost back-to-back with 'Fresa y Chocolate' (Strawberry and Chocolate), and that's how I recommend you view them - rent/buy them as a pair and watch them chronologically, 'Fresa' first.
First, there's the thrill of seeing Mirtha Ibarra and Jorge Perugorría in repeating appearanences, portraying vastly different characters. Of special note is Perugorría's demonstrated range and acting ability. I spent the first half-hour of Guantanamera thinking "That just can't be the same guy."
It was. Amazing stuff.
Also, the film itself presents a take on Cuban life that, while patently absurd to any American, no doubt rings all too true with anyone who has experienced life under Fidel's heavy thumb. Taken together, these two films represent 3 hours of what movies are all about: for me, they were enjoyable and educational; for the filmmakers, they scored a direct hit on the target of their disdain and sarcasm.
Left me laughing and crying all at the same time!!! As much as I loved "Fresa Y Chocolate" (Strawberry & Chocolate), I love this one even more. The script is superior, and we have the opportunity to meet a wider range of characters, with equally brilliant casting and filming.
If you have seen "Fresa Y Chocolate", then you already love Mirtha Ibarra and Jorge Perugorría. If not, then you will after having seen this film.
If Cheech & Chong, the Marx Brothers & Woody Allen had all collaborated, they couldn't have come up with a film more irreverent, more bitingly satirical, or more delicious with both romance and irony.
And speaking of irony, it seems both impossible that such a film could have come from Cuba in the 1990's, and yet equally impossible for it to have come from any other place. For we have been told, on the one hand, that such burlesque of the Cuban government is not tolerated. Yet, it has always seemed to me that the greatest art arises from the greatest suffering. And Cuba is one of the world's greatest examples of this paradox of human nature. For few nations have suffered as much as the people of Cuba have suffered through out her entire history. And yet, from that island emerges the most beautiful music on earth, and now this!!!
Do yourself a big favor: Don't miss this film!!!
A refreshing Cuban road movie not lacking a sense of irony The last movie that Cuban director, Tomás Gutiérrez managed to put together alongside his partner, Juan Carlos Tabio, before his death, Guantanamera pretty much can be considered a road movie, but with a very peculiar twist. Irony, an exquisite sense of the most Cuban humor and an important dose of reality can be found in this production, that came only one year after their super-successful "Strawberry and Chocolate," with repeating stars, Mirta Ibarra and Jorge Perugorría, who proved how versatile of an actor he could be: playing a gay character on the first one and a straight macho man on this one. Check it out. You will find it delightful and refreshing. I just give it four stars because it does fall short compared to S&C, its predecessor.
Lovely!!! It's just like what I saw in Cuba Funny and touching at the same time. Lovely!!! It's just like what I saw in Cuba
A Charming Funeral Story Thats Witty and Wise A hearse-led road trip across Cuba's lush tropical countryside and cluttered urban areas is the main plot element in "Guantanamera." Yoyita, a famed ex-patriot, returns to her homeland after many years to be celebrated for her triumphs away from home. She dies suddenly, in the arms of a former lover, now old like her, but nonetheless still enamored. On her death, Candido (the old gentleman) joins Yoyita's niece Gina and her communist comrade husband on a trip to bury her aunt in an Havana cemetary. The characters they meet along the way are finely etched - full of pathos and humor, and real as real can possibly be. The road trip becomes an endless series of folly and error, with dual caskets, broken down cars, and a host of characters who somehow dovetail in and out of each other's lives. In the end, Gina find redemption in the arms of another man - a former student who is inexplicably traveling the same stretch of road. And throughout, the song "Guantanamera" (Girl from Guantanamo) is lyrically molded to suit the story, becoming part of the script in ingenious ways. A lovely film, for all audiences - in any language - this is an example of the great Cuban cinema's powerhouse director Tomas Gutierez Alea, and stands as a triumph of spirit, love and passion much like other love stories that have been told in English over the years. Solid acting, and scenes of heartwrenching sadness are etched against the inexplicable beauty that remains on the island, despite its dilapidated state. See it and enjoy!
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