Azúcar amarga

I felt that this movie was a great example of the Cuban government. This movie shows through a love story that the Cuban government is killing its' own people. The movie had many great examples of how the government treats its' people and that they see other opportunties outside of their own country. One major part of the movie is that many people want to leave Cuba to come into the United States for a better life. The movie can be directly related to the case today of Elian Gonzalez. The debate over where he should go, Miami or Cuba. This movie did a nice job of portraying Socialism in Cuba throughout the movie. I really enjoyed this movie because I learned a lot about the Cuban government but I also enjoyed the movie.

This movie is a great movie. It tells the story of Cuba through the eyes of those who are for Fidel and those who are against him. It also has a love story. The two lovers believe opposite ways when it comes to Cuba, but they still love each other. I highly recommend this movie for both its drama and its information on Cuba.

Although this film does depict the struggles that Cubans face in long lines, tourism versus professional jobs, prostitution that arose from opening up the country again to Americans and other foreigners (after the Revolution, it was at a record low), it is incredibly one-sided. It talks about the woes of the country without depicting the positives. Therefore, for anybody starting to learn about Cuba, I highly recommend to watch more informative films. I need not warn about the dangers of basing information based on a one-sided film that makes you presents a complex country through a narrow lens. This film reflects the perspective of the director who was exiled from Cuba. It is a good start, but other perspectives need to be considered. Films I would recommend that are both incredibly engaging and tell a more holistic story from multiple perspectives: Fresa y Chocolate, Lista de Espera, Guantanamera, and Viva Cuba, to name a few.

I would like to say that this is not a Cuban movie as identified in many video stores and the IMDB. This is a film made by exiles. I think it somewhat does reflect many things true in Cuba. They do have a reverse pyramid there as displayed by the young man that was educated resorting to serving drinks to tourists. The educated people don't make as much money as a low skill worker in tourism. Prostitution as portrayed in the movie is highly accurate. The exiles that made this movie definitely have good information of contemporary Cuba, which I can't say about most exiles. Most exiles have a very ignorant impression of cuba (see the 'Elian' conflict). Some of the story lines were a bit over the top: The needle injection; the ridiculous ending. But the work situation and problems of 'jineterismo'(prostitution) are very acurately portrayed. These exiles can't be from Miami. Miami would make a movie similar to '1984'.

It is amazing how many people are ready to criticize this movie when they have NO direct knowledge of Cuba or its sociopolitical situation.

Myself, I have been to Cuba, traveled its highways, walked many of its cities and towns' streets, and had long conversations with the common people as well as government officials.

As a result, I can tell everyone reading this that in no uncertain terms that the problems portrayed in Azucar Amarga are very real. The prostitution, tourist aparteid, and growing dispair shown in this film are completely accurate.

Cuba is a country coming apart at the seams due to its contridictory existence as a communist state embracing the capitalist tourism industry to survive. Those Cuban with access to tourist dollars are surviving and those without access now beg in the streets. It is heart-wrenching but true.

Please avoid snap judgements of this film's accuracy until you too have spent weeks living the Cuban experience. Until then, you know nothing.