Latino Bar

After "Barroco", Mexican director Paul Leduc continued his trilogy of films on music and no dialogues as common denominators, with this film produced by Venezuela, Spain, Cuba and UK. "Latino Bar" is by far the best, a new version of one of the first Latin American sound films, Santa, based on a novel by Mexican writer Federico Gamboa, that has been filmed many times before and after. Besides Ernesto Gómez Cruz as the blind pianist, the two other main characters –the prostitute Santa and Jarameño, an ex con– were played by Dolores Pedro and Roberto Sosa, who were reunited again in the next and last installment, "Dollar Mambo".

This is why some things should be left alone. I don't care how 'master' Paul Leduc is (I like some of his work) and I don't care what he wanted to tell me with this movie. The only interesting thing about it could be the cover, but it also looks borrowed from 'Pierre et Gilles' or 'Astrid Hadad'... If I had only not known that they wanted to remake SANTA to show how could the story be in modern times, I guess it could have been all right, but I don't like the fact that they take an original idea, and make in into something that makes no sense. Don't include the blind musician, don't say it was 'inspired' by Federico Gamboa's novel, create something new with hints of whatever they want to include, because otherwise, it looks bad to have to go through this silent movie, so dark and so unattractive, knowing that is not even an original idea. Sad!

I saw this years ago after spending 3 months in Venezuela. Is there anyone out there that can advise on where I could find this film on DVD ? I would like to revisit it. I don't think it ever had a wide release and I can't track it down on any format. Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks

Paul Leduc pulls off a huge gamble in this film. He opts not to use any dialogue, although the sound track is rich with ambient sound. Set in Venezuela, the characters are the denizens of a run down bar/brothel. There is no dialogue because the characters--the dispossessed--have no voice in society. A profoundly left-wing film, it does not preach but rather lets the audience come to its own conclusions. Leduc is a too-little-known master.