Chico & Rita

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.

The story of "Chico and Rita" is told with a big wink towards the "Buena Vista social club" and I must admit that the end is really moving. However two people who spend 60 years to come to the conclusion that they can't live without each other stretches the probability of the story a bit too much.

The animation however is very well done. Originally mainly used in films for kids, in the first decade of the new century animation was more and more used is films for grown ups. In this respect "Chico and Rita" was preceded by films like "Les triplettes de Belleville" (2003, Sylvian Chomet), "Persepolis" (2007, Marjane Satrapi) and "Waltz with Bashir" (2008, Ari Folman).

From the character of Gollum in "The lord of the rings" (2001 - 2003, Peter Jackson) I knew that at the basis of computer generated images (CGI) there is sometimes real human acting. In the case of Gollum a real actor played this character dressed in a suit full of sensors. Based on the measurements thus generated the computer made the images we see in the film. What I never knew was that "Chico and Rita" was made according to more or less the same procedure. Actors played the part of Chico and Rita, after which artists used these images to make the drawings. Purpose of this procedure was to make facial expressions as true to nature as possible.

Too much has been made of the animated films that DIDN'T get an Oscar nod ("Cars 2" Really? REALLY?) and not enough attention has been paid to the two foreign films that DID earn a nod - "A Cat in Paris" and "Chico & Rita." I reviewed "A Cat in Paris" after screening it at last year's San Francisco International Film Festival, and was pleasantly surprised to see it on the list. Check out my review and you'll see I think it deserves its spot.

Having just screened "Chico & Rita," I can tell you that the Academy did right by this film as well. Not quite computer animation and not quite rotoscoping, the process of animating this film is too damn complicated for me to explain.

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The title characters are Cuban artists. He's a musician/composer, she's a sultry singer. They both are chasing dreams - artistic and human. Their journey begins in Havana and makes stops in New York, Paris, and, ultimately, Las Vegas. It's a journey worth taking.

"Chico & Rita" has a unique look, with vibrant colors that compliment a terrific soundtrack of jazz greats. The voice work is spot-on, and the voice artists have the advantage of having a solid - though, to be honest, a wee bit clichéd - story to tell about adults for adults.

I hesitate to write that, as the first thing that comes to mind when you link "adult" and "animation" is Ralph Bakshi / "Fritz the Cat." This film does have sexual content, but it is not exploitative in any way. It is truly an animated film for the adult mind.

What a nice surprise (and a well deserved one,) if either of the two foreign film entrants in this category were to hear their names called from an Oscar envelope. "Puss in Boots?" Really? REALLY?

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Not the most ground-breaking of plots - but it sure is pretty. The cityscapes in particular are beautiful and the music is well-represented. It's very atmospheric and although the ending feels quite old fashioned the narrative is woven into history with admirable authenticity.

The new animated romance Chico and Rita follows the relationship of two young Cuban musicians: Chico is a gifted piano player looking to bring the sound of Havana to New York; Rita is a beautiful singer who treads the precarious path between Latin musicians and white investors looking to cash in on the popularity of this new music. Like all star crossed lovers, their journey is not an easy one – their musical and romantic tribulations will continue over 60 years against the striking backdrops of Havana, New York, Paris, Hollywood and Las Vegas.

The real strength of the film is its ability to portray a classic love story in both an innovative, sensual and sensitive way. The syncopated grace of Cuban Jazz combines with a disarmingly child-like animation to create a sparkling tribute to 1940s and 50s Havana culture.

The film exudes real passion for both the music of the period and the locations of the film, beautifully re-crafted within the animated landscape. The Cuban sound is brought to life with a truly uplifting assortment of records, including classics from Charlie Parker, Dizzie Gillespie and Thelonius Monk. Like the heady improvisation of a be-bop trumpeter, this film bounces between soft melody and excited fragmentation, always bursting to give the audience something new and exciting.

Yet this does not mean that the film is purely for Jazz aficionados – the affection that directors Javier Mariscal and Fernando Trueba bring to their work ensures that this film doesn't become simply a musical tribute aimed at a conceited minority. The scale of the narrative will leave you breathless, and yet the story is all told through the seemingly innocent hand of traditional cartoon animation. In a post-Pixar world, this kind of hand-drawn animation has gained a retro charm all of its own. Chico and Rita is a delicate reminder that genuine action and emotion can still be expressed without the pixellated glossiness of CGI.

Chico and Rita really succeeds in bringing the colour and vibrancy of early 50s Havana back to life – from the delightfully evocative soundtrack, to the re-telling of a classic love story through the medium of hand-drawn animation, the film is a fitting expression of the vision and compassion of its creators.

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