Habana Blues (2005) Reviews

• Amazingly beautiful

  bluetears2005-04-20

  I must say I wasn't really interested in this movie at first, and more or less was dragged to the theater to watch it. Which I am definitely grateful for, since it's one of the best movies I've seen this year by far. The bittersweet story, the uncommon picture of the less known 'real Habana' and the strong friendship between the main characters really got to me. The only annoying thing was the music during the first half of the movie. But the songs played during the second half (the ones the main characters play) are really pretty too. I really liked how the plot wasn't over-dramatic, how everyone, both good and bad ones, is flawed and there's nobody perfect in the story (especially the main character). And how they make the message of the movie (choose your own path and live up to your decisions) reach the audience. The only thing that ruined the movie for me was Marta's character (the Spanish woman). Or rather, the actress playing her role. She's bad to boot.

• Emotion, sentiment, feeling, all sensations the artist believes and lives for

  poseidonricardo2005-11-02

  This a story about the underground rock scene in Cuba. It starts when 2 longtime friends-rockers are met with the opportunity to meet an agent/scout who offers a chance to certain musicians to leave the island and work in Spain. But its much more than that, it portrays the internal struggle normal people endure in a impoverished country. The subdued energies of yearning reach the lower and higher limits of reality. Were upon some cruxes are to be met with crucial decisions were there is no turning back. In you are an artist of any medium, a admirer of drama (as in the genre), and specially if you have a band, Don't loose the opportunity to catch this film, it is a special feature experience.

• Cuban Blues Brothers

  Lextical2005-12-06

  No, there is more to it than that! This recent film does compare similarities with John Landis's classic in the plot, but the competent acting and general mood of the piece sets it apart in its own league. The contemporary mood of troubles people coping in a troubled Havana is well caught by its director Benito Zambrano. I very much admire the originality of this piece, and also its attempts to make the film accessible to many audiences by using several traits which one may call 'stereotypical'. Albeit the plot of two down on their luck desperate musicians is a familiar one but the genre of music struggles to make original in its own right. One of the main problems is, its a situation many audiences have met before and there is not much Zambrano and his cast can do to avoid this. Personally, some of the music performed initially is quite weak but maybe this is to show Tito and Ruy's development in their music. I am not sure... Some of the songs have real flavour- as personally I find a lot of Latin American produced Music does. Some try to heighten the films' messages- others seem just to be there to fill the running time. The ensemble performances are very good, almost every character makes an impression- in particular Yaridad Sierra who plays Ruy's wife, Caridad is very very convincing. I also really liked the straight talking grandmother- she was excellent! It's characters like that light up the movie, when things started to become very serious overall, thats the movie works really well as an ensemble piece. The individual performances were of a similar standard, the two leads Alberto Yoel (Ruy) and Roberto Sanmartin (Tito) were well cast. Overall, this is an enjoyable movie if you do not analyse the film too much (probably my biggest mistake), there is a lot of sentiment that some may find endearing and others repulsive. However the content of the piece is so well thought out and fairly well presented that I can't help but like in its own way...

• Habana Booh

  Chrysanthepop2010-07-03

  Benito Zambrano's 'Habana Blues' has got all the clichés to make it marketable internationally. The story is very deja-vu and unfortunately, there isn't much to offer. Nothing new in any case. The themes of friendship, partying etc have been done to death. In the first half, the pace just drags on. For a movie that's about music, one would expect at least a few great tracks and here while the instrumental tracks work to an extent, the songs fail because either the lyrics are syrupy or they're too preachy. The execution is quite poor. Cinematography is flat and the background score give it an out-of-date feel. The only sequences that got my attention were the ones with Caridad. This is perhaps majorly due to Yailene Sierra's terrific performance. In addition, I also liked the scenes with Tito's grandmother. Roberto Sanmartin is passable while Alberto Yoel's wooden acting is one of the major factors that contribute to 'Habana Blues's list of flaws. As a whole, 'Habana Blues' just did not work for me.

• nice for pupils

  avi-422006-01-28

  Just saw the movie, together with some 140 students (14 - 17 years old, Dutch but mixed backgrounds) Was an absolutely gorgeous experience. Not used to non-Hollywood productions, they were both chocked and charmed by the non-happy ending, and they did really like both the story and the music, as well as the film's central ideas of love and friendship. I'd recommend it to every teacher that wants to do something with either music or history or politics or drama or a combination of any of these subjects to use the film for educational purposes, esp. with not all-too self-confidential / intellectually orientated groups of students. At least in the Dutch version, there was perhaps a bit too much sex (at least what the Muslim viewers were concerned) but that need not bother too much...