The familiarity of the Title song is a common thread throughout the movie, with the lyrics adjusted to fit the story. The song is catchy and serves as a metaphorical "glue" to tie together the various aspects of Cuban life and strife during the 1990's. The somewhat satirical humor of Adolfo's planning of the funeral route to save money, lends a comedic aspect to the journey. The mishaps that take place along the way seem to weave together the lives of several characters to the point they intertwine at times. The use of camera angles to show facial close-ups of the characters as they ponder past events affords viewers an insight into the emotions taking place at those intervals. The camera lens subtly lingers on those characters' expressions to further implant their nostalgic reflections into the viewers mind. The effective use of black and white shots for flashbacks separates the past from the present. An example of this was when Mariano first ran into Gina and was reminded of his being a student in her class, thus eliciting a "flashback memory." As the funeral entourage passed through Bayamo en route to Havana, we see a tour group being told of the historic smuggling that was central to the city and its history. That seemed to be a tourist draw, yet these tourists would have been Cuban, most likely. One cheers for the romance of the movie and the self-discovery Gina realizes when she wears a particular style dress favored by her aunt. The dress is significant as it gives Gina the courage and resolve to finally stand up to Adolfo and his controlling ways. Throughout the film, there are subtle nuances to hint at other actions to follow later on. Some of these subtleties were so cleverly placed that they seemed to be more noticeable when watching the film a second time. These film techniques gave a somewhat surreal feeling to and about the characters and the portrayal of Cuban family life during the "special period" of Cuba's history.
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