Habana Blues (2005)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Benito Zambrano

Writers:

Ernesto Chao (writer)
Benito Zambrano (writer)

Release Date:

18 March 2005 (Spain)

Genre:

Drama | Music

Plot Keywords:

Havana Cuba | Singer | Cuba

Awards:

9 wins & 6 nominations

Cast

Alberto Yoel	...	Ruy (as Alberto Yoel García)
Roberto Sanmartín	...	Tito
Yailene Sierra	...	Caridad
Mayra Rodríguez	...	Lucía
Ernesto Escalona	...	Carlitos
Marta Calvó	...	Marta
Roger Pera	...	Lorenzo
Osvaldo Doimeadiós	...	Roger
Zenia Marabal	...	Luz María
Laris Vega	...	Betty
Jorge Alí	...	Nelson (as Jorge Ali Pérez)
Félix Pérez	...	René
Aurora Basnuevo	...	Estrellita
Tomás Cao	...	Álex (as Tomás A. Cao)
Giordano Serrano	...	Giordano
Lester Martínez	...	Lester (as Lester A. Martínez)
Alejandro Padrón	...	Alejandro
Alfredo R. Hernández	...	Alfredo
Rolando Berrio	...	Roly
Ismael de Diego	...	Gorki
Cocoman	...	Cocoman (as Cocoman {Luis A. Figueras})
Yuliet Cruz	...	Julia
Yanet Carrasco	...	Merlén
Alexis González	...	Adrian
Yipsia Torres	...	Girlfriend
Neyvis González	...	Wendy
Manuel Proenza	...	La Chari
Omar Ali Pérez	...	Lucio
Dianelys Brito	...	Mujer de Lucio
Julie Ladagnous	...	Valerie
Héctor Echemendia	...	Director Emisora (as Hector Echemendia)
Véronica Díaz	...	La Flaca
Antulío Marín	...	El Chino
Xiomara Melvin Calderón	...	Empleada Emisora
Susana Reyes	...	Celeste
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Fidel Betancourt	...	Músico 1
Alejandra Llorente	...	(uncredited)

Directed by
Benito Zambrano

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Ernesto Chao		writer
Benito Zambrano		writer

Produced by
Antonio P. Pérez	....	producer
Ignacio Santamaría	....	associate producer
Camilo Vives	....	co-producer
Fabienne Vonier	....	co-producer

Cinematography by
Jean-Claude Larrieu

Film Editing by
Fernando Pardo

Casting by
Laura Cepeda

Production Design by
Alain Ortiz

Costume Design by
Vladimir Cuenca

Makeup Department
María Julia Cabezas	....	hair stylist
María Julia Cabezas	....	makeup artist
Nereida Sánchez	....	hair stylist
Nereida Sánchez	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Ernesto Chao	....	production manager
Eduardo Santana	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Oriol Ferrer	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Carlos Faruolo	....	sound
Jorge Marín	....	sound
Alfonso Raposo	....	sound mixer
Kiku Vidal	....	foley artist
Ricardo Viñas	....	stereo sound consultant: Dolby

Music Department
Dayan Abad	....	musician
Equis Alfonso	....	musician
Descemer Bueno	....	musician
Enrique Chávez	....	musician (as Cuarteto Arcadia)
Telmary Díaz	....	music assistant
Telmary Díaz	....	musician
Enrique Ferrer Orsini	....	musician
José Luis Garrido	....	music producer
José Luis Garrido	....	musician
Jimi González	....	musician
Juan Antonio Leyva	....	music producer
Juan Antonio Leyva	....	musician
Jorge Marín	....	music producer
Kelvis Ochoa	....	musician
Bernd Voss	....	musician

Production Companies

• Canal+ España (with the support of)
• Consejería de Cultura de la Junta de Andalucía (with the support of)
• Eurimages (with the support of)
• Ibermedia (with the support of)
• Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industrias Cinematográficos (ICAIC)
• Instituto de Crédito Oficial (ICO) (with the support of)
• Maestranza Films
• Ministerio de Educación y Cultura (ICAA) (with the support of)
• Pyramide Productions
• Televisión Española (TVE) (with the support of)

Distributors

• Polychrome Pictures (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Cinema Mondo (2005) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Cinemien (2006) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2005) (Argentina) (theatrical)
• Warner Sogefilms S.A. (2005) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Xenix Filmdistribution (2006) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• Argentina Video Home (2006) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (2006) (Argentina) (VHS)
• Homescreen (2006) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Impuls Home Entertainment (2006) (Switzerland) (DVD)
• Vivarto (2007) (Poland) (all media)
• Warner Bros. Pictures de España (2005) (Spain) (all media)
• Warner Bros. (2005) (Italy) (all media)

Runtime:

Argentina:110 min | Spain:115 min

Country:

Spain | Cuba | France

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Argentina:16 | Finland:K-11 | Brazil:16 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Netherlands:12 | Germany:12 | Australia:MA | Portugal:M/12 | New Zealand:R13 | Spain:13

Filming Locations:

Cienfuegos, Cuba

Company:

Canal+ España

Cuban Blues Brothers

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...