Cuba

Although the film is not terrific, what can be said for it is that a lot of effort was put into the creating of the film that was full of diverse action and story; from the film's beginning to the film's end not everything is so clear, and where the film is going is also uncertain.

By following the individual characters around Cuba, and by observing the personal backgrounds & lives of these characters, one gets a decent idea of what Cuba was like at this period of time (from the corruption to the guerrilla war) that is at the same time entertaining. Although at points some of the subplots interfere with the overall film, a decent job was done in this well-acted, well-shot film that combines a lot of themes and a lot of ideas with a diverse story. Overall, worth watching.

This drama/love story could have been excellent. Played out against the last months of the corrupt and US/UK-supported Batista regime, the collapse of the old society as Castro's fidelistas begin to take over is shown compellingly. The point is well made that a revolution will only succeed if the people are behind it which, in this instance, they clearly were.

It's a shame that the movie couldn't have been filmed in Cuba, as of course all the famous landmarks of Havana are missing, but its real problems are threefold.

Firstly the storyline is confusing, complicated and unconvincing, with none of the characters being allowed to hold one's attention.

Secondly, the acting is poor. Even Sean Connery - who is normally excellent - seems to have had his mind on other things the whole time.

And thirdly, for some inexplicable reason, the chanting of 'Fidel' as Castro enters Havana in triumph morphs into a Nazi crowd chanting 'Sieg Heil'. Whatever was this trying to say? When Castro actually came into power, one of the first things he did was to open all the 'whites-only' clubs to black people, and to make it clear in an early speech that there was no such thing as a superior race. To liken Castro to Hitler is a travesty of the facts.

So, ultimately a flawed film. Watch it not for the story or the 'message' but for what is going on in the background.

There's something about Cuba, just ninety minutes south of Key West in Florida, and its revolution at the end of the 1950s that has fascinated filmmakers and artists. Perhaps because it marked the end of an era for American interests in the country or how it set the stage for some of the major Cold War confrontations of the decade that followed, including the failed invasion at the Bay of Pigs and the dramatic events of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Whatever the case, director Richard Lester would be one of those who brought their lens to bear exploring it with this 1979 film.

The film's focus, as much as it had one, would be on a former British army major turned mercenary, hired by the toppling Batista government to help deal with their guerilla insurgency. Who better to play Major Dapes than Sean Connery? Connery brings a sense of both presence and world-weariness to the part, a man who comes to do a job only to be surrounded by fools and a chance to rekindle an old flame. Wandering between exasperation, earnestness, and hope for love, it's arguably one of Connery's most underrated performances and one that deserves more attention.

Backing Connery was a large supporting cast, perhaps too large. Brooke Adams plays the old flame Alexandra that seemingly conflicted object of desire whose motives are as elusive to viewers as she is to Major Dapes. More understandable as a character, if far less sympathetic, is Chris Sarandon as her playboy and womanizing husband, blowing money and sleeping his way around. From there, the cast features character actors is ranging from Jack Weston's slimy American businessman to Martin Balsam as the corrupt blowhard of a Cuban general who hires Connery and Denholm Elliott as a fellow British ex-pat flying for anyone with money. There are some notable then up-and-comers in the cast from Hector Elizondo's as Connery's Cuban military escort to Roger Lloyd-Pack as a Cuban revolutionary. While the film is guilty of too much casting of white actors as Cubans, it's full of good actors in parts that too often aren't enough for them to use to the utmost of their talents and seem to wander in and out of the plot without reason.

Mentioning the way characters wander in and out of the film brings us to something that is both a strength and weakness of it. Under both Lester's direction and at the pen of screenwriter Charles Wood, this is a kaleidoscope of a film. One that takes us from the streets, hotels, and clubs of Havanna into the factories and plantations of the countryside. From the strip shows of Louisa Moritz's Miss Wonderly to a group of guerillas and the ex-pats taking advantage of it all, the various strata of Cuban society teetering on edge ready to fall are on display. Thanks to a mix of location filming in Spain, sets, and costumes, it's also vividly presented. Full of both borderline poverty and decay mixed with decadent excess and splendor, and ripe for a change that was perhaps inevitable.

The problem is that it also means the film never comes together. In an ideal world, or maybe with some slight editing, Cuba would flow together as a series of interconnected events, the tale of disparate people who wander in and out of each other's lives. Instead, and where the blame lies isn't clear, the film feels like the scripts for several different ones tossed together. Or like an anthology of short stories linked together without enough connective tissue. Combined with dialogue that can border the cliche at times and downright wooden in others, it knocks the whole work down a few rungs.

Cuba then remains an intriguing but flawed piece of work. So many of its elements, from Connery's performance to its location and kaleidoscope view, work so well. Yet it's scope is in some ways too wide, with no one and nothing well-defined enough to come entirely into focus. Nevertheless, as a portrait of a time and place, Lester's Cuba works far better than it does as a drama and remains watchable even with its flaws.

There have been many stories of people going to countries on the eve of a revolution and finding out why there's a revolution. "Cuba" is kept afloat by strong performances. Sean Connery plays Maj. Robert Dapes, sent to Havana to help Batista fight the revolutionary army, but he soon figures out that the revolution is clearly going to succeed. In the process, he meets Alexandra (Brooke Adams), an old flame now married to a philandering cigar factory owner.

I guess that overall, there's nothing here that we haven't seen before. But the way that they filmed it gives one the feeling of a society about to explode. Also starring Jack Weston, Hector Elizondo, Denholm Elliott, Martin Balsam, Chris Sarandon, Lonette McKee, and Alejandro Rey (aka Carlos Ramirez on "The Flying Nun"). Worth seeing.

One more thing that I have to ask is whether or not Sydney Pollack remade this as "Havana". The two movies don't have the exact same plots, but they're certainly pretty close.

There are a number of links between this film and the James Bond movies.

As well as the obvious presence of Sean Connery, we have Walter Gotell who played Morzeny in "From Russia with Love" and then played General Anatol Gogol in 5 Bond films as well as the "James Bond Jr" TV series.

In addition, the Spanish city of Cadiz in Andalucia was used for much of the location shooting - a location which also doubled as Cuba in "Die Another Day".

Aside from that, the film creates a wonderfully atmospheric impression of a regime on its last legs, attempting the resist the seemingly inevitable regime change sought by the rebels.

Not a great film but perfectly watchable (even if I did find myself looking out for familiar Andalucian scenery as much as following the plot!).