Miel para Oshún

The movie had some good moments. The acting (especially the taxi driver) is decent. The view of the Cuban landscape, from one end of the country to the other, is, at times, delightful. The movie well evokes the yearning and pain of exile and the joy of reunion.

But, oh, oh, did the pace have to be so glacial?! I screened the movie with the idea of showing it in class (I'm a high school Spanish teacher). After about 15 minutes, I could easily imagine the entire class with their faces on their desks, sound asleep. Not good! Even the bleeping credits crawled across the screen for about fifteen minutes at the beginning of the film, soon becoming an annoying distraction.

And the central premise of the film...that Roberto "doesn't know who he is" because he's neither Cuban nor American...is completely ridiculous. There are about 100,000 other Cuban-American men just like Roberto in Miami who know exactly who they are. And the idea that a Cuban has to marry an American in the U.S. in order to get respect is just laughable. Tell that to the hundreds of thousands of Cubans here who are married to other Cubans or other Latinos and are doing just fine, thanks.

I guess this has to be seen as a movie that "could have been."

I missed this film when it was shown as part of a Latin American Film cycle about a couple of years ago. Thanks to the Sundance network, I was able to catch up with it recently. Having seen a couple of Humberto Solas' films, I was curious about this one. It is not one of the director's best efforts but it gives the viewer an idea of what is going on in Cuba, a land so near, but yet so far away!

The returning Roberto goes back to Havana to find a mother he hasn't seen in 32 years. As a young boy, he was taken by his father to the country of the enemy, never to return until now. It is curious how Roberto's mind has not changed in the years he spends away from Cuba. He falls right in step with a culture that must be foreign to him now, yet he is so much aware in his own heart where his loyalties are. In order to find his mother, Roberto goes to the extreme end of the island, literally.

The film presents a hard panorama for the average person that lives in the island. Even though there is a semblance of criticism, it is always presented in a way that serves the regime propaganda machinery. All what happens there is due to the evil American imperialism, but never because of the government failures. How can anyone justify a losing cause that has lasted this long? It is only for more evolved political minds to debate that issue.

What really is surprising is how everything has a price in US dollars. The lesson seems to be that only those that have access to them will survive in the system. It is pitiful that Marta, Pilar's neighbor is forced into prostitution. The only explanation is she wants to leave the country! The way Antonio swindles Roberto by charging inflated prices for his services is also condoned since the Cuban has the upper hand over the naive visitor.

The travelogue part of the film is sometimes pointless. The joke about the Cuban transportation system goes on too long. The only good thing about this part of the movie is that we get to see the interior of the island which not too many get to see.

Jorge Perigurria has done better on other films. Isabel Santos, an actress that has appeared in other Cuban films is much better. At least she is more convincing as the one who, for circumstances beyond her will gets to stay in that country and has to eke out a life out of whatever she can get her hands into. She is the survivor!

Let's hope the director finds a better idea for his next film.

The first time I watched the film, I wasn't that impressed, but I watched it again and realized that there's a lot more to it. Solas uses melodrama as a vehicle to explore the pain that Cuban exiles feel when they come back to the island, but it's a very restrained form of melodrama and a lot of the changes the main character, Roberto (Jorge Perugorría) undergoes are subtle. It takes time for someone to change a lifetime of thinking and learn to see the past in a different light. The pace may seem slow compared to Hollywood films, but this really isn't a light romantic comedy. It has moments of humor and fun, but essentially it's a serious drama about the search for identity. Perugorría does a great job of portraying the uptight, emotionally crippled Roberto, and it's great to see him loosen up and become more "Cuban" once he gets to the island. Pilar and Antonio are fantastic characters who help him understand more about life in Cuba. He realizes everything he's missed by growing up in the U.S. and not sharing the same fate as Cubans on the island. He gives up his starched shirts and rental cars and ends up riding bikes and hitchhiking like everyone else. He leaves the five star hotel in Havana and sleeps in the huts where country people live. You can literally see him transforming himself into someone else as he moves through the film. This film doesn't show Cuba in overly romantic terms, but it's a pretty realistic and intelligent look at what it means to be Cuban. Roberto isn't as likeable as some of the characters Perugorría has played in other films, but I think that just shows the range of Perugorría's talents. We don't have to love Roberto to sympathize with him.

A Cuban American returns to Cuba in search for his long-lost mother. But his bags, alas, do not contain a hearing aid for director Humberto Solas, who's tone deaf for dialogue. Nor a Dictionary of American Slang, so his protagonist can use the right cuss words in English. Otherwise, in Spanish, he sounds as corny as a blurb on a romance novel's cover.

In exchange for a few politically incorrect venial sins, Mr. Solas delivers the neo-official party line, where only Cubans on the island know who they really are (despite "everything"), while Miami Cubans have to marry an American to get any respect. Are you sure? In Miami?!

Before Miel para Oshun, Mr. Solas handn't made a movie in a decade. Who said it was better to let sleeping dogs lie? Well, lie he did.

In 2004,I met Senor Humberto Solas at a film festival in India. After having discussed Latin American cinema at length with him,I got the impression that he is one of the legendary figures not only of Cuban cinema but also of World cinema. He spoke in particular about the enormous problems faced by certain filmmakers from Latin America. So it is in this context that people must watch this excellent film "Miel para Oshun". It is quite true that this film has not been shot using latest expensive gadgets. However there is no valid reason to believe that this could affect anyone's viewing pleasure. This film might be of interest to all regardless of one's language. What I found the most appealing is the manner in which Cuba has been portrayed in a positive light. Although at times, Miel para Oshun might appear maudlin but nevertheless the end result is bound to remain in viewers'mind for a long time to come. Leading player Jorge Perugorria is a joy to watch.