Suite Habana (2003) Reviews

• Only for Cubans?

  placetasvc2005-04-09

  It only took to see the trailer for me to break in tears. I don't know to what point the movie is selfish in a way that if you never had to live in Cuba, the film can be "just a bit plain" and nothing else, the film will unfold flat before your eyes. However for "the others" the ones "had to leave" but lived there, every shot, every image and every sound counts. The Lighthouse at "El Morro", the Malecon, those delicious Cafe con Leches in the morning and sandwiches at lunch (if lucky) can mean a whole different deal. It was hard to watch the airport lounges and the runway, and the guy getting on the plane. Also the part where you can see an old Silvio still singing "Mariposas" after so many years, Is tough for anyone to go back and think of those moments, or think of the people that we left behind.

• Dreams

  jotix1002007-12-24

  "Suite Habana" is aptly titled; it feels just like that, a musical suite in which the cadence and the rhythm come from within the people one meets. It's a tribute to all the men and women whose daily lives are basically the same, day in, day out. There seems to be no hope for most of the people we see in this magnificent documentary by Fernando Perez, an accomplished filmmaker, who had the courage to show the world that in spite of all the poverty one sees, the dignity of the subjects presented comes through loud and clear. Our heart goes after the older woman who has been reduced to selling peanuts in the street in order to make a living for herself and what appears to be a sick husband. There is a moment in the film when a different picture of her is shown from her wedding. Obviously she never thought of living in this condition many years later, yet, she shows us such pride in what she is doing! Then there is little Francisquito, an autistic boy who is being lovingly brought up by his widower father, an architect, who now free lances as a house repairer. After the boy's mother died, the father gave up his career in order to be close to the child. We watch the boy in school interacting with his teacher and the other children. He is accepted by the his peers and functions normally. The love of his father and the grandparents feel for the boy speak volumes. A day in the lives of these Cubans is shown in a realistic way without any dialog. Words are not necessary for anyone to understand the pains, and the joys of most of the people in the film. The beauty of it all lays in the fact Mr. Perez, the director, and writer, is not taking any sides, as he presents the story as an every day occurrence without taking any sides. "Suite Habana" is enhanced by the marvelous cinematography by Raul Perez Ureta, who does wonders with his view of a city that still shows its beauty in spite of the hard times it has seen in recent years. Also, the atmospheric music score by Edesio Alejandro and Ernesto Cisneros fits well with the images on the screen. Ultimately the praise must go to Fernando Perez, a man whose body of work is impressive and keeps on getting better all the time.

• A poetic visual jewel: a harmonious suite

  khatcher-22005-12-24

  "Suite" is a piece of music; well, that may be so until you see this visual jewel: music is converted into images. No great or famous actors or actresses - just simple ordinary people living out their daily lives in La Habana, Cuba, that so-poorly treated country. But forget any and every political implication: this film has nothing to do with such pretensions. "Suite Habana" is a splendid portrait of Cubans, from kids to the most elderly, so splendidly photographed, hopping from scene to scene, among the different persons making up this visual poem. There are no words to describe this; indeed, there is a saying which says "an image is worth a thousand words". And in this film of a little more than 84 minutes you have millions of words which get nowhere near the story-less story unfolding before your eyes: because these are real people living real lives - not actors trying to interpret some such rôle. Here you have the beauty of Cuban citizens en La Habana, white, black, mestizo or whatever, which just sums up into one glorious film. It does not even matter that the portrayal is La Habana: it might just as well have been Manila, Kolkota, Mumbai, Kabul, Manaus.................. but Fernando Pérez and Raúl Pérez Ureta have masterfully carried out one of those little jewels that the great mass of the public will not appreciate, let alone comprehend, and ably helped by the suitable music of Alejandro and Cisneros (occasionally a little reminiscent of the music by Vangelis "1492: Conquest of Paradise")(qv). I thoroughly recommend "Calle 54" (qv) and "Buena Vista Social Club", and "Suite Habana" will make more sense to you. But in no way should you see any of these films thinking of political stances: no such implications are present. Menos mal......... Ah, no need for subtitles: there is very little dialogue, and what little there is, is obvious to any intelligent viewer with the scenes unfolding such that "translations" are totally unnecessary. This is just one beautiful "suite" - a concerto, a symphony, a whole choral interlude. My vote is a little more than the 8,0 for 141 voters at present registered on IMDb

• Poetic

  NewMexicanCinemaLover2005-11-02

  Its so easy to fall in the typical Cuban clichés, both for the filmmakers and for the viewers watching it. But Suite Habana is a beautiful movie. It doesn't talk about poor people. It talks about Cuban people. Its not against Fidel. Its just a quasi documentarian effort to tell the daily story of Cubans. Its the story of geographical separation. There are more than 5 million of Cubans living in exile. There's the story of a clown who has to work just hours after he said goodbye to his brother at the airport. There's the story of the Cuban couple that spends the entire day planning and setting up their night: going to dance "casino" to a club. Their only escape. In that country where Cubans get paid in "Pesos" and almost all the clubs have to be paid in "dollars" while 1 Dollar = 24 Pesos. Its the story of a talented ballet dancer who has to live an odissey to arrive to the "Gran Teatro de La Habana" for his show. In that same country where you have to ask the taxi driver where is HE going and not the other way. Because in Cuba the taxis for Cubans never go where you want to, they have their own routes whether is convenient or not. It doesn't matter. Thats why I say that its quasi docuemtarian because it tells stories that really happens. But despite of all this, Its beautiful. And its beautiful because it reflects how Cubans manage to find beauty everywhere. How they manage to keep dancing and smiling. How they manage to write tremendous novels. To make great films, to make great music. You have to watch this film. Technically its great. La Habana is one of the most photogenic cities in the world. But run 90 minutes without a dialogue its amazing. It keeps you interested, excited, emotive. Its a great great movie. Watch it!

• What connects one human being to another...

  ilpintl2005-02-24

  An almost wordless portrait of modern-day Havana with sublime music. The camera follows ten Havana citizens through one day. The chosen subjects are ordinary folks: an old peanut vendor with a bed-ridden husband at home; a hospital laundry worker who performs in a drag show by night; a sad-eyed medic who moonlights as a clown (the only spoken words in the film are the clown's manic spiel at a children's birthday party); a young man who slogs as a menial worker, then when night falls, dazzles as one of the principal dancers in a ballet performance; a widowed factory worker who lovingly tends his Down's syndrome-afflicted son; a railway employee who morphs into a jazz saxophonist by night. The failure of the Communist experiment in Cuba has marked each of these people, yet they find, to a degree, salvation in art, and in loving somebody. While the aged peanut vendor roasts the nuts that she will sell the following day, the camera moves to the walls behind her. On one crumbling wall, is a yellowed photograph of her and her husband on their wedding day, beaming with youthful energy and optimism. The factory worker and his son are the poorest of the lot; when their day is done, they climb up on the roof of their tenement building and gaze at the full moon with an appreciation that is truly humbling. The most mundane details of what comprises life are observed with the most exquisite thoroughness: a child joyfully rushing into the arms of a parent at day's end; a performer applying his make-up with an almost religious concentration; the effort, in empty night-darkened streets, of wangling a ride to a performance. I was moved to tears by this haunting empathetic examination of the human condition, by the ability to love despite having nothing left to give, and the restorative powers of Art.