Hot Picks
|
|
|
Sin La Habana
Canada / Cuba 2020
produced by Menaic Raoul, Gabrielle Tougas-Fréchette for Voyelles Films, CBC Films
directed by Kaveh Nabatian
starring Yonah Acosta, Aki Yaghoubi, Evelyn Castroda O'Farrill, Julio Cesar Hong Ortiz, Ahlam Gholami, Yoel López Montané, Yadil Aramburu Lopez, Juan Carlos Roque, Alejandro Silva, Isabel Portuondo, Raul Rojas, José de los Reyes, Dayron Bonachea, Carmen Ruiz, Iroso Obba, Rumba Morena, Ulik Anello, Ana Margarita Ocha, Sofia Rama, Mathis Pomminville, Bahram Nabatioan, Chimwemwe Miller, Omar Alexis Ramos, Helieh Matefi, Baharan Baniahmadi, Farzaneh Morovati, Arthur Holden, Layla Rivet, Karl-Antoine Suprice, Axelle Munezero, Léo Caron, Michel Lim, Maxime Robin, Marc-André Goulet, Sylvie Chbat, Sasson Khazzam, Raúl Capote Brana, Bernard Arène
story by Pablo D. Herrera Veitia, screenplay by Kaveh Nabatian, music by Kaveh Nabatian, Pietro Amato
review by Mike Haberfelner
|
|
Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
|
|
|
|
|
Leonardo (Yonah Acosta) is a supremely talented ballet dancer, and he's
also a man with a plan: Go on an international tour with his ballet
troupe, that way ditch Cuba for the US or Canada, and then save up enough
money to get his girlfriend Sara (Evelyn Castroda O'Farrill) out of Cuba
as well - after all, his sheer talent should grant him a place in any
ballet troupe around the world. The main thing that stands in the way of
this plan is his temperament that soon loses him his place in the troupe,
and thus his plans are shattered. Sara has another suggestion though, to
seduce a tourist at the salsa school he works at and then let her invite
him to wherever-it-is. Sara goes even allowing him to have sex with her,
as long as he avoids looking in her eyes. And soon enough,
Iranian-Canadian salsa student Nasim (Aki Yaghoubi) does show interest in
Leonardo, and eventually does invite him over to Canada, even going so far
as to paying his fare. At first, everything goes alright, especially since
Nasim sees Leonardo more as an adventure than an actual boyfriend, and she
suspects him having a girlfriend back home. The problem is, no matter
where he auditions, Leonardo seems to be unable to get a job as a dancer,
and eventually ends up a meatpacker. And given this job isn't paying
particularly well, he has trouble accumulating enough money for Sara's
passage - when his friend Julio (Julio Cesar Hong Ortiz) comes up with the
solution, offering to go to Cuba and marry Sara to take her back to Canada
as his legal wife ... for a price of course. Once Sara's over in Canada
the problems only really start as for once, Julio wants his money, while
Leonardo sees himself forced to hide Sara from Nasim, even though she time
and again gives him a chance to come clean. And then Nasim gets pregnant
...
A quite compelling movie that works quite so well because it
doesn't go for spectacle or big emotions but in a very relatable and
believable sort of way, more going for slice-of-life than maximum effect,
this way giving the story space to breathe. And well fleshed-out rather
natural characters embodied by a solid ensemble cast only help here, while
the directorial effort is subtle enough but shows its love for the arts -
from dancing to glass painting -, going for a slick but never glossy look.
And all of this sums up to a pretty touching drama.
|
|
|
review © by Mike Haberfelner
|
Feeling lucky? Want to search any of my partnershops yourself for more, better results? (commissions earned) |
The links below will take you just there!!!
|
|
|
Thanks for watching !!!
|
|
|
Robots and rats,
demons and potholes, cuddly toys and shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill Your Bones to is all of that.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to -
a collection of short stories and mini-plays ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle,
all thought up by the twisted mind of screenwriter and film reviewer Michael Haberfelner.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to
the new anthology by Michael Haberfelner
Out now from Amazon!!! |
|