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IMDbPro

The King of Havana

Original title: El rey de La Habana
  • 20152015
  • Not RatedNot Rated
  • 2h 5m
IMDb RATING
6.0/10
576
YOUR RATING
The King of Havana (2015)
Watch ’Tráiler [OV]’
Play trailer1:39
1 Video
8 Photos
  • Drama
Recently escaped from reformatory, young Reinaldo struggles to get by in the streets of Havana in the late 90s, one of the worst decades for Cuban society. Hopes, disillusionment, rum, good ... Read allRecently escaped from reformatory, young Reinaldo struggles to get by in the streets of Havana in the late 90s, one of the worst decades for Cuban society. Hopes, disillusionment, rum, good humor and above all hunger, accompany him in his wanderings, until he meets Magda and Yuni... Read allRecently escaped from reformatory, young Reinaldo struggles to get by in the streets of Havana in the late 90s, one of the worst decades for Cuban society. Hopes, disillusionment, rum, good humor and above all hunger, accompany him in his wanderings, until he meets Magda and Yunisleidy, survivors like himself. In one or the other's arms, he will try to escape the mate... Read all
IMDb RATING
6.0/10
576
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Agustí Villaronga
  • Writers
    • Pedro Juan Gutiérrez(novel)
    • Agustí Villaronga
  • Stars
    • Maikol David
    • Yordanka Ariosa
    • Héctor Medina
Top credits
  • Director
    • Agustí Villaronga
  • Writers
    • Pedro Juan Gutiérrez(novel)
    • Agustí Villaronga
  • Stars
    • Maikol David
    • Yordanka Ariosa
    • Héctor Medina
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 3User reviews
    • 16Critic reviews
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 5 wins & 13 nominations

    Videos1

    Tráiler [OV]
    Trailer 1:39
    Tráiler [OV]

    Photos8

    Maikol David in The King of Havana (2015)
    Yordanka Ariosa in The King of Havana (2015)
    Yordanka Ariosa in The King of Havana (2015)
    On the set of "El Rey de La Habana"
    Agustí Villaronga in The King of Havana (2015)
    Yordanka Ariosa, Héctor Medina, and Maikol David at an event for The King of Havana (2015)
    Yordanka Ariosa, Héctor Medina, and Maikol David at an event for The King of Havana (2015)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Maikol David
    • Reynaldo, the Kingas Reynaldo, the King
    • (as Maykol David Tortoló)
    Yordanka Ariosa
    Yordanka Ariosa
    • Magdaas Magda
    Héctor Medina
    Héctor Medina
    • Yunisleidias Yunisleidi
    Ileana Wilson
    • Fredesbindaas Fredesbinda
    Kimbo
    • Gravediggeras Gravedigger
    • (as José María Sánchez)
    Chanel Terrero
    Chanel Terrero
    • Yamiléas Yamilé
    Jonathan Maravilla
    • Cheoas Cheo
    Lia Chapman
    Lia Chapman
    • Daysias Daysi
    Celines Toribio
    Celines Toribio
    • Camareraas Camarera
    • (as Celinés Toribio)
    Jazz Vilá
    Jazz Vilá
    • Raulitoas Raulito
    Julián Martínez
    • Yumaas Yuma
    Hamlet Hiraldo Frías
    • Rey niñoas Rey niño
    Reina Oviedo
    • Madre del Reyas Madre del Rey
    Jean Luis Burgos
    • Nelsonas Nelson
    • (as Jean Luis Burgos Estevez)
    Orestes Amador
    • Policía Azoteaas Policía Azotea
    Teo Terrero
    • Teacheras Teacher
    Daniel Luciano
    • Ayudante Enterradoras Ayudante Enterrador
    Ramón Meritis
    • Limosneroas Limosnero
    • Director
      • Agustí Villaronga
    • Writers
      • Pedro Juan Gutiérrez(novel)
      • Agustí Villaronga
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The painting depicting a lady in red, which in the movie is supposed to be a rare Pablo Picasso painting, was done by Manolo Campoamor, acclaimed multimedia artist and former singer of influential proto- punk Spanish band Kaka de Luxe,
    • Goofs
      The truck that runs along the street with a loudspeaker is a 2005 Hyundai Porter, a model launched eight years after the setting.

    User reviews3

    Review
    Top review
    3/10
    King of Nowhere
    «The King of La Habana» revives the old debate between literature and cinema. I remember when I finished reading Pedro Juan Gutiérrez's homonymous novel I was extremely moved and impressed because I felt that the plot, the characters and the pain that emerges from the drama, all came from somebody who absolutely knew what he described. When I learned that Catalan filmmaker Agustí Villaronga --who showed his inclination towards shocking realism since his first work «In a Glass Cage» (1987) and made the exceptional «Aro Tolbukhin - In the Mind of the Killer» (2002), and whose «Black Bread» (2010) won seven Goya awards, including best film, direction and script (by Villaronga himself)—I feared that something was not going to work. Considering the admiration the literary source has and the director's reputation, the film had little resonance when released in 2015, and now that I have seen it I understand why. Villaronga is undoubtedly a very competent filmmaker, and, as he proved in "Black Bread", his film transcended the incidental because of his knowledge of the environment and the distinctive features of his own culture. Unfortunately, as with the Irish film «Viva», I perceived again a superficial approach to Cuba and its people, but while the melodrama of the transvestite boy and his boxer father appealed to the spectator's sentimentality, in «The King of La Habana» everything is so dehumanized, scabrous, libidinous and violent that I found no emotional or intellectual connection to what was described. I must state that Pedro Juan Gutierrez's novel is scabrous, libidinous, violent and much more, but it is so human, so painfully pertaining to the city and so deeply Cuban, that its reading strikes you, confronts you and moves you. To top it off Villaronga tried to "rebuild" the neighborhood of Centro Habana and its surroundings in the Dominican Republic, with a mixed result: if Santo Domingo can function as a surrogate La Habana for someone who does not know it, for those who do know how beautiful the Cuban capital is, even in spite of its wear and misery, the film lacks the magic of the city, which strangely evidences dignity and elegance amid its scarcity and ruin. There are some effective sequences (especially the last one, from the cyclone up to the ending) and good cinematography in compensation, but the acting is disparate, between the histrionic limitations of Maikol David Tortoló as Reynaldo "the King", to the powerful performance by Yordanka Ariosa as prostitute Magda, while Héctor Medina (again, as in "Viva", in the role of a transvestite) should avoid typecasting. At the end one cannot help but feel that a good film opportunity was missed. 3/10.
    helpful•7
    4
    • EdgarST
    • Apr 15, 2017

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 16, 2015 (Spain)
    • Countries of origin
      • Spain
      • Dominican Republic
    • Language
      • Spanish
    • Also known as
      • El rey de La Habana
    • Filming locations
      • Zona Colonial, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
    • Production companies
      • Bord Cadre Films
      • Canal+ España
      • Esencia Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

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    • Gross worldwide
      • $148,797
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

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    • Runtime
      2 hours 5 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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