Guantanamera

A small look at life in Cuba, "Guantanamera" portrays a world-famous Cuban singer returning to her hometown and suddenly dying. Her funeral procession reveals several things about the people involved, namely the love-starved existence of a woman sick of her creepy husband.

Obviously, we in the United States only get to hear about Cuba occasionally, so at the very least this movie should provide some insight into the state of affairs there (or just to hear the Cuban dialect, with its dropping of esses). But anything looking at people's individuals lives and how policies have affected them gets praise from me. We see how people have to abide by food rationing, among other things (of course, this is mainly due to the US blockade against the island). So I recommend this film.

Guantanamera, a Cuban light drama by accomplished director Tomas Gutierrez Alea (1928-1996), is a tropical road movie. The setting is the 1990s, following withdrawal of USSR support for its little-brother Communist regime. A woman dies, some distance removed from Havana, and the goal is to transport her to the capital for burial. A tiny entourage of family accompanies the hearse.

Some snippets, though not central to the plot: How do government-run funeral homes work exactly, in a Communist country? Well, first, there is a per-person quota of refreshments for the bereaved and acquaintances who are paying last respects. But doesn't this attract inauthentic freeloaders? Second, there is a scene involving a meeting of regional mortuary-manager bureaucrats. If travel expenses for hearse trips are allocated according to the relative mileage of the territories through which vehicles traipse, the funeral home functionary in a crossroads region takes more than her share of budgetary hits. Is that fair? Third, there is the question of why the burial in Havana in the first place. If everybody and everywhere in Cuba are socialistically equal, what's wrong with the deceased staying put where she was? Meanwhile, we also have organized hitchhiking. Officials have the power to commandeer vacant seats from those who have for those who need.

There is some Latino romance, and some lightly subversive free enterprise. All in all, a likable movie. Mirta Ibarra, who starred twelve years earlier in Alea's 1983 film, Up To a Certain Point, gets an encore. She plays the niece of the deceased, who is also the wife of the over-serious Daniel Ortega-looking official who's in charge of the expedition.

Interesting satire on the Cuban bureaucracy. During the special period. Undresses the weakness of communist systems and their inability to provide logical answers within their rigid structure.

It is one of Titon's last works. But you can see the hand of the best Cuban film director. An excellent acting collective bringing together many of the best actors available at that time on the island. It is not the best film of its director but it makes it a adjustable time. The skinny part is that its problems are very local, which means that it is not received abroad as a strawberry and chocola by example. Also that limitation in time and space means that over the years I go losing the luide and the sympathy of its extreno.

Hearing the word Guantanamera, a word surge raced through my mind; Cuba, Guantanamo prison, Guatemala, or one of the most common Latin American songs? What could it be? I wondered. It is not much of the above but a sound track to a road movie Guantanamera, a death and love story.

In matters pertaining to birth, death and burial, people may not choose the place of birth or death, but they chose where they want to be buried. And this becomes a central issue in this road movie. It portrays the core values of a typical traditionalist Cuban family in a socialist country. It is for this reason that a dead body gets flown either out of state or country for burial. A song (Guantanamera), well spiced and crafted to fit each and every moment and character plays throughout the movie. This movie exposes the economics of a socialist run country. Road side vendors price their items in dollars. This suggests the instability of the national currency (possibly inflation).

When Gina puts on a new dress and let her hair run loose, it symbolizes self discovery and a sense of freedom. For the first time in this movie, she stands up to her husband and tells him that the days of subordination are over, she would not take off her dress. But also this could or symbolize people who live under a communist run regime, that there is limited freedom of choices. Those who are fed up of the system migrate, or export themselves to America through illegal means.

The directors did a great job in telling the general public about the flaws of a communist run country; corruption, dilapidating buildings and failed economy. Also the directors employed an excellent editing technique MONTAGE. Gina paces up and down and finally walks away from the funeral and finds comfort and love in Mariano. Both Gina and Mariano ecstatically share a smile and laughter whilst the funeral is still in procession. The MONTAGE suggests the anguish of people in Cuba go through in deserting their beloved country in search of freedom and better life.

Guantanamera is a movie that encompasses the genre of a road movie and love story. Gina's Aunt Yoyita from Havana, who was once a famous performer, is in Guantanamera to receive an award. During the award ceremony, she notices her long lost love from 50 years ago, Candido. The relationship rekindles and the two are in love once again. When Yoyita suddenly dies, her body needs to be transported back to Havana. Gina's husband Adolfo, who is an undertaker for the state, takes charge of everything and arranges Yoyita's long complicated journey home. Adolfo is an arrogant abuser who has no respect for his wife. At one point he visualizes himself on top of a statue, as the leader. Accompanied by a driver, Adolfo, Gina, and Candido make the long complicated journey to Havana transporting Yoyita from vehicle to vehicle implementing Adolfo's new money saving plan. During the journey, Gina encounters one of her prior students, a womanizing trucker named Mariano, who has longed for Gina since she was his teacher. The two find themselves running into each other at different points along the way. Is Adolfo worthy of Gina's love, or does Mariano finally win his long lost teacher? The director makes it a point for the camera to show us the lush tropical background of Cuba, as well as the poor, dirty, poverty stricken areas displaying billboards with political messages indicating corruption. During the journey, Mariano and Ramon are seen picking up hitchhikers delivering them, as well as, the product on the bed of the truck. The roads are unpaved and dirty showing the economic hardship of the region. Favors are done in exchange for monetary reward, evidence of economic corruption. The film techniques used are similar to those used in Hollywood. They include the use of brightly lit scenes, with most being filmed outside, using natural daylight. The cinematography was mostly at eye level with a motion picture camera,showing steady, smooth scenes. The film was slow paced but kept my attention.