Chico & Rita

As Brad Bird of Pixar fame has said, animation is not a genre, but an art form. Chico & Rita is an artfully made romantic drama that captures the hearts and imaginations of its audience through its storytelling as much as its animation. By turns reflective and reactive, this is a cosmopolitan saga of two lovers' struggle to find themselves and each other. The key notes of jealousy, passion and ambition set the story in a minor key, while the action moves with the syncopated beats of a mambo. The dialog is sharp and smart. Adults will appreciate the nuances of this excellent script. Love hurts, and the movie's main characters creatively express their bittersweet experiences with the virtuosity and greatness of the stars that they orbit and shine alongside. More of a character than a soundtrack, the music is evenly folded into the movie, as is the tension between the lovers. I wonder if people who go to see Chico & Rita only for the animation might possibly be disappointed, since it is less squash and stretch and more gouache and sketch. But the animation does convey the moods and emotions of the characters whilst taking us on a thrilling ride through dizzying cinematic vistas. The colours and lighting are somewhat stepped, but have an illustrative verisimilitude, that provides a convincing variety of bold panoramas and atmospheric interiors. Still, if you didn't like Waking Life or Belleville Rendezvous merely because of the flickering and the occasional detached 3D elements, then you may find watching this movie similarly distracting. I think that the story is compelling enough and the musical and visual elements such a treat that anyone willing to look beyond the animation is rewarded with the best that cinema can offer.

Chico & Rita is a sublime and highly original animated film. It is a very adult film with some animated adult situations. Set in Cuba just before and the years after the revolution, it tells the story of Chico, a talented jazz pianist and Rita, a beautiful singer. Through the story of this couple's turbulent love affair over these years, where Rita finds fame and fortune in US and Chico goes through some hard times, we also get a brief history of both Cuba and jazz music. The animation is wonderfully evocative and colorful and as for the music; well if you are a fan of jazz or Latin American music you are going to fall in love with this movie. Highly recommended.

Chico and Rita is a nice little film with some great music, animation that really brings out all of the vivid colors, and atmosphere that takes you into it's setting. It all blends it in so seamlessly. It's main problem? A weak screenplay that is filled with predictable plot points and turns. It never rises to become anything special, despite some great stand-alone scenes. Still, recommended for the great blend of music and what style it has! The voice-over performances are quite effective, and it isn't hard to see the passion put into it. It's also quite refreshing to see an animated film in Spanish, and definitely for one to get an Oscar nomination. But it doesn't hold a candle to Rango, which will deservedly win the Oscar.

As a big animation fan, I loved Chico and Rita, one of the most beautiful and most unique films I have seen recently. I also didn't care much for Estrella Morente, but that wasn't enough to be a massive problem. The film has one of the most unique visual styles I've seen not just in recent memory but perhaps even ever, and it looks gorgeous. Everything from the colours, sceneries and colours are rich in detail and beautiful on the eyes. Chico and Rita is a very musically rich film as well, with Cuban and Jazz music providing so much character to the atmosphere. The two titular characters are likable and engaging, the screenplay is good if nothing completely mind-blowing and the story is very touching. In conclusion, a wonderful film, animated or not. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Chico & Rita follows Chico, an old and retired Cuban pianist, as he remembers his impossible love with a jazz singer called Rita and his rise and fall as a music performer. Having taken four years to make, Chico & Rita is first and foremost visually mind-blowing. Its animation is as nothing you have seen before and the cinematography, the lights, the angles, the music, just everything related to the technical aspect of this film is absolutely perfect.

But what's best and most refreshing about this film is its old-fashioned love story. In a time where all romantic films try to be as realistic as possible, it seems unthinkable to watch a relationship like this unfold on screen. Following a bolero-like structure, the main characters fall in love as easily as they fall apart, but they never forget each other, having an outdated loyalty that is deserving of such all-time classics as Casablanca or Gone With The Wind, and ending in the brilliant and moving bittersweet final scene.

Jazz music plays a main role in the film and gets to be the third character in what we could call a love triangle between the jazz, Chico and Rita. The two title characters are extremely talented musicians that are sometimes in the position of having to choose between their lover or their musical success and fame. Real jazz performers, such as Charlie Parker or Tito Puente get enjoyable cameos in the film and, practically, all the performances in the film are very delightful and entertaining.

Although the film has some minor elements that prevents it from being a masterpiece, like the appearance near the end of Estrella Morente, they are so insignificant compared to the whole of the film that Chico & Rita is still an exceptional film appealing to an extremely large audience.

Chico & Rita is an animated old-fashioned musical romance with a highly original aesthetic, a both refreshing and outdated love story and sublime original and adapted music.

Rating: 4.5/5.