Salsa (2000)

At age 24, Rémi Bonnet, brilliant pianist, abandons Chopin and Toulouse to play the music he has secretly loved for years - Salsa! He heads for Paris, the salsa capital of Europe, only to ... See full summary »

Director:

Joyce Buñuel

Writers:

Joyce Buñuel, Jean-Claude Carrière

Stars:

Christianne Gout, Vincent Lecoeur, Catherine Samie

1 win.

Cast

Credited cast:
Christianne Gout	...	Nathalie
Vincent Lecoeur	...	Rémi
Catherine Samie	...	Letty
Michel Aumont	...	Monsieur Redele
Roland Blanche	...	Henry
Alexis Valdés	...	Félipe
Elisa Maillot	...	Françoise (as Eliza Maillot)
Aurora Basnuevo	...	La Goya
Estéban Socrates Cobas Puente	...	Barreto
Christiane Cohendy	...	Madame Redele
Naím Thomas	...	Stéphane
Pierre-Arnaud Juin	...	Jean-Charles
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Olivier Bernard	...	L'appariteur
Sylvain Corthay	...	Le directeur du Conservatoire
Isabelle Coutançais	...	La pianiste

Storyline

At age 24, Rémi Bonnet, brilliant pianist, abandons Chopin and Toulouse to play the music he has secretly loved for years - Salsa! He heads for Paris, the salsa capital of Europe, only to discover to his great surprise, that nobody wants a white boy in Latin band! Felipe, his Cuban friend, sets him straight: " You don't have the Latino look, muchacho! Today, if your are not Cubano or Columbiano, you are out!". Undaunted, Rémi deliberately takes on the identity, accent and complexion of an unemployed alien in a city where most foreigners will do almost anything to become French. Barreto, 75, the legendary Cuban composer, who is about to close down the once famous Casa Cubana, offers Rémi a job giving dance lessons to the locals. It is here that Rémi falls in love with Nathalie. Her family's "secrets and lies" reveal parental links to Barreto. Do these links explain why this shy beauty ought to be a bomb on the dance floor?

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Genres:

Comedy | Music | Romance

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Details

Country:

Spain France

Language:

French

Release Date:

9 February 2000 (France)

Also Known As:

O erotas horevei salsa

Company Credits

Production Co:

Canal+ España, Eurimages, M6 Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Color:

Color

User Reviews

Forget the silly story; enjoy the music.

In the middle of a classical music competition, Remi Bonnet, a brilliant young pianist, switches from Chopin to salsa. The highbrow audience has a fit. People start throwing things. The judges faint. And Remi's piano teacher tells him that his career as a pianist is ruined. Remi kisses the bust of Chopin, asks for forgiveness, and heads for Paris. The stage is set in the first three minutes of `Salsa'.

Remi is dying to be a salsa musician. We will never know how or why Remi became so hooked on latino music. Nor do we really find out how Nathalie, a dour parisian travel agent who he meets in Paris, is transformed into a superb, sexy salsa dancer capable of winning a dance contest on the first try. But we don't really care, because this is a musical comedy looking for every opportunity to show off music and dance. And that's not bad at all.

`Salsa' reminds me of `Round Midnight', Bertrand Tavernier's homage to Dale Turner and the American jazz musicians who came to Paris in the 1950's. There, too, it is the story of a Frenchman who adores 'exotic' music from the other side of the Atlantic. Of course, `Round Midnight' is serious, whereas `Salsa' is a cliche-ridden comedy about one Frenchman's desire to join the fun that Cubans in contemporary Paris are having. Don't take it too seriously; enjoy the music.