Un hombre de éxito (1985)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Humberto Solás

Writers:

Juan Iglesias (writer)
Humberto Solás (writer)

Release Date:

6 July 1989 (Australia)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Javier Argüelles, an opportunistic young man from Cuban middle class, survives all kind of political changes in Havana...

Awards:

2 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

César Évora	...	Javier Argüelles
Raquel Revuelta	...	Raquel
Daisy Granados	...	Rita
Jorge Trinchet	...	Darío Argüelles
Rubens de Falco	...	Iriarte
Mabel Roch	...	Ileana Ponce
Carlos Cruz	...	Puig
Miguel Navarro	...	Lucilo
Omar Valdés	...	Facundo Lara
Ángel Espasande	...	Father Rubén
Ángel Toraño	...	Ponce
Isabel Moreno	...	Berta
Nieves Riovalles	...	Darío's wife
Jorge Alí	...	Baseball player
Denise Patarra	...	Puig's girlfriend

Also Known As:

A Successful Man

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

Cuba

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Estudios Fílmicos de Cubanacán, Cubanacán, La Habana, Cuba

Company:

Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industrias Cinematográficos (ICAIC)

Soundtrack:

Love is a many splendor thing

30 years of Cuban history includes a scene reminiscent of a Bugs Bunny cartoon

Humberto Solas's "Un hombre de exito" ("A Successful Man" in English) portrays three decades in the life of an affluent Cuban. The movie starts in 1932, during the dictatorship of Gerardo Machado. Our protagonist always looks for ways to benefit from the socio-political status quo over the years, while his brother never ceases protesting. But the triumph of the revolution in 1959 throws things into flux.

I admit that I may be the only person who interpreted a similarity to a Bugs Bunny cartoon (especially given the circumstances of the scene). In a scene set in 1937, some people are holding a party praising Nazi Germany's support of Franco's forces in Spain. So, they put on a performance of Wagner's opera. The music is the same that got used in Chuck Jones's "What's Opera, Doc?" (needless to say, here they don't use Bugs Bunny's and Elmer Fudd's lyrics).

Like I said, that's a very loose interpretation, and possibly inappropriate due to the portrayal of a Nazi-Falangist party. I just come up with all sorts of unusual connections. As for the movie itself, I thought that it constituted a good look at the eras depicted, although it helps to know Cuba's history. Worth seeing.