El Benny (2006)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Jorge Luis Sánchez

Writers:

Abrahán Rodríguez (writer)
Jorge Luis Sánchez (writer)

Release Date:

27 July 2006 (Cuba)

Genre:

Drama | Musical

Plot:

Based on the life of Benny Moré, the film concentrates on a period in the early 1950s when Moré...

Plot Keywords:

Cuba | Orchestra | 1950s | Mambo | Bandleader

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Rakel Adriana	...	Doñita
Ulyk Anello	...	Duany
Renny Arozarena	...	Benny Moré
Laura De la Uz	...	Irene
Husmell Díaz	...	Arnulfo
Jorge Fedecaz	...	Olegario
Carlos Ever Fonseca	...	Angeluis
Serafín García Aguilar	...	Gutiérrez
Mario Guerra	...	Monchy
Bárbara Hernández	...	Lydia
Carlos Massola	...	León Arévalo
Mayra Mazorra	...	Mamá de Beny
Limara Meneses	...	Aida
Enrique Molina	...	Olimpio
Marcela Morales	...	Natalia
Félix Pérez	...	Genaro
Enrique Quiñones	...	Pedrito (as Kike Quiñones)
Isabel Santos	...	Maggie
Salvador Wood	...	Abuelo
Cheryl Zaldivar	...	Sofía

Also Known As:

Divina desmesura (Cuba) (working title)

Runtime:

132 min

Country:

Cuba

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Havana, Cuba

Company:

Coral Capital Entertainment

Trivia:

The film went through several names whilst in production, including "El Barbaro del Ritmo" ("The Wildman of Rhythm") and "Divina Desmesura" (~ "Divine Excess"). Other ideas included "Oh Vida!" ("Oh Life!") and "Los dioses mueren jóvenes" ("Gods Die Young").

Soundtrack:

Soy Guajiro

Music And Politics Make For Strange Bedfellows

I recently had the window of opportunity to see at least three quarters of this fine,but somewhat flawed film biography on Cuba's beloved singer,Benny More, who wowed audiences in not just Cuba,but Mexico & most of South America too. The story spans More's career from the mid 1940's, until his untimely death in the early 1960's at the age of 44 from complications brought on from his chronic alcoholism. The film also acts as a time line for some of Cuba's social history from the mid 1940's,onwards to the early 60's. The films musical soundtrack is studded with Cuba's vibrant musical scene from that era. The screenplay seems to be a bit scatter shot & fragmented at times (although anyone with a good handle on Cuba's social/political history of that era could easily wade through the quagmire that most of us Americans could only guess to). Sadly, as there is no North American distribution of this film, the screening was limited to a DVD copy that developed some serious technical glitches in the last half hour of the film (resulting in the screening being abandoned for the evening). Hopefully, some distributor with brains will pick up on this flawed gem & either give it a proper distribution in 35mm (with readable English subtitles,as it's spoken entirely in Spanish),or on DVD. As there is no MPAA rating, it contains some rough language,sexual situations & some rather unpleasant alcohol abuse scenes.