Vientos de la Habana

A good film that follows Lieutenant Conde as he solves crimes, sleeps with a beautiful woman, and navigates the corruption and politics of his Havana police department. During the warm night in Havana, police inspector Conde (Jorge Perugorria) meets Karina (Juana Acosta), an enigmatic woman to whom he immediately feels attracted. At the same time, in another part of the Cuban city, a teacher at the pre-university institute where Conde studied is murdered. Thus in the film the tough inspector Conde is in charge of investigating the murder of Lisette Nuñez (Mariam Hernández). Meanwhile, he continues his intense relationship with the beautiful but mysterious woman Karina with their usual ups and downs. Conde builds a portrait of Lisette's hidden life, in addition to discovering that the setting of her old student memories has changed too much, as has the indecipherable and contradictory city of Havana. Conde is also on the trail of a drug lord with ties to the high school he once attended.

It is the first international production to be filmed in Cuba, a thriller in which characters from the Cuban police force are portrayed and as director Viscarret himself explains: "I have tried to create a particular police-Caribbean genre, or as I like to call it: a "Havana Noir". An exceptional group of actors playing eccentric characters, including the fine main and support cast made up of: Jorge Perugorría, Juana Acosta, Carlos Enrique Almirante , Laura Ramos, Yoima Valdes and Vladimir Cruz, who starred along with Jorge Perugorria the classic Fresa y chocolate (1993) . All of them make a darker side of the populous city of Havana attractive. Despite the poverty and disillusionment of these old revolutionaries, there is deep affection and communication among them. This tends to overshadow the murder investigations on certain occasions, but in a good way. The world of Padura's novels presents an irresistible universe: police stories in the midst of the decadent and sensual beauty of Havana. Crimes investigated by a disenchanted and hungover police detective, the bureaucracy, and lack of transparency of the very particular communist regime of the Caribbean country and surrounding deep passions that are unleashed in the midst of a hot, humid climate, in a city that survives miraculously a long decline, reflecting an exciting atmosphere. Based on the novel ¨Vientos de Cuaresma¨ - third installment of the tetralogy of the Four Seasons by Cuban writer Leonardo Padura - this is a police thriller focused on one of the cases of the unorthodox Havana police officer, Lieutenant Conde, a character created by Padura and usual protagonist of his novels. In reality, this ¨Vientos de la Habana¨ turns out to be an episode of the TV series ¨Cuatro Estaciones de La Habana¨ (2016-2017), four episodes starring Jorge Perugorría, Carlos Enrique Almirante, Vladimir Cruz, among others.

The film was well produced by Gerardo Herrero who has financed many South American and Spanish co-productions. Gerardo is a famous producer as well as a director. He was President of the Spanish Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences (1994-1994). Great producer of great hits, being especially known for The Secret of Your Ears (2009), Sin Retorno (2010), Balada Triste de una Trompeta (2010), Crimenes De Oxford (2008) and El Hijo De La Novia (2001). He also directed some good films like ¨Silencio En Nieve¨, ¨Nocturnal Corridor¨, ¨Principio Arquímedes¨, ¨Crimen Galíndez¨, ¨Frontera Sur¨, ¨Territorio Comanche¨, ¨Desvio a Paraíso¨, ¨Al Acecho¨ and ¨ Heroina¨. And under the professional direction of the Spaniard Felix Viscarret, bringing the now legendary character of Padura to the cinema for the first time, this is Viscarret's second feature film, after the multi-award-winning ¨Bajo las Estrellas¨ (2007), a film that won two Goyas, Un Fotogramas and four awards from the Malaga Festival.

I've been watching Four Seasons in Havana on Netflix. Very high production values and good sound quality. I love to read and watch thrillers and crime fiction. Maybe it's my many years of the solitary life of reading court records and writing legal opinions, many of them criminal. I am loving Four Seasons in Havana, although I suspect they use the same visual clichés I always see in films about New Orleans - the presumption that everyone is always sweating and hot all the time - not true you snow-bound directors! Another interesting visual is the contrast between the decaying structures where everyone lives and the immaculate groomed tourism areas. The protagonist is the clichéd divorced alcoholic policeman who does a great job of solving cases while he rebelliously doesn't obey the rules - a guy who in real life in any type of organization would have been out the door before anyone got the chance to be impressed with his "skills". But actor Jorge Perugorria does a great job of pulling it off without making it look clichéd. I don't speak Spanish, but the English subtitles really work with the nuanced performances of all of the older actors, especially Enrique Molina who pays Major Rangle. The pervasive attitude of paranoia among the civilians - as if they could arbitrarily disappear at any time for no reason added another dimension into this very different world. The struggle for food emphasizes the plight of the majority of people in this society.

By episode 2, I had a craving for Coffee Cubano. Here is how I made mine this morning. Brewed pour-over DARK ROAST coffee with chicory. Warmed 1/2 c milk at heat level 2 out of 10 per serving in another pot. In a third saucepan or pot, put 1 Tablespoon of real refined sugar for each serving, spread thinly across entire bottom of pot. Put the pot on an electric stove at heat level 5 out of 10, watching all the time. Sugar melts to a liquid and then gets caramel colored. Remove sugar from heat and quickly add hot milk to sugar. Watch it foam up. Quickly stir in any caramelized sugar stuck to the side of the pot. Immediately pour hot milk and hot coffee together in glass in 50/50 proportions. Put liquid soap in hot sugar pot and clean immediately with hot water or you will have a permanently dedicated pot!

I am always on the lookout for good crime / detective shows and since I understand Spanish, I figured this was worth a try. Well I must say that this series is an excellent choice for a Netflix and chill evening. The acting is top notch and the stories are very believable due to the well written scripts. The two episodes I have seen so far intertwine the cases with personal lives that are very interesting and almost better than the cases. They actually shoot the episodes in Cuba, mostly Havana, and it takes place in 1997-98. The decadence of the old Havana is shown throughout the series by showing those beautiful building and architecture as they fall apart from a lack of maintenance and tender loving care (probably based on the embargo). I highly recommend this series and would have scored it higher except for the occasional lapses in continuity in story telling. But it is still a very worthwhile show that makes you want to continue watching other episodes. I hope more episodes are in the making.