Cuba

An enjoyable thriller, which although filmed in Spain, manages to capture the atmosphere and lunacy of the last days of Batista's dictatorship perfectly. Probably a contractual purposes project on the behalf of director Lester, he manages to inject just enough of his own idiosyncratic style to lift this adventure flick out of the run of the mill. Connery is totally convincing in his role as Brit counter-insurgency advisor/mercenary. Brook Adams is stunning. Good anglo-american supporting cast. Plot begins to lose its impetus about a reel before the end, and at a running time of nearly two hours, is overlong. But well worth renting the video. Socialists will not find its political interpetation of events offensive, but may be puzzled or angered by the soundtrack over the final titles - as a victorious Fidel approaches the podium, chants of 'Fidel! Fidel!' are over dubbed with a Nuremberg chorus of 'Sieg Heil!'. Discuss.

Richard Nester's 'Cuba' is set in the 1950's just in the Civil war against Batista's government...

Sean Connery stars as a free British counter-terrorist whom Batista's associates hope will help them beat Castro's revolutionaries...

Connery quickly figures out, almost as soon as he landed in the exotic and dangerous island, that the revolution will succeed and replace one elite with another... He gets much more interest in following an old sweetheart, and when the two see each other, memories of his first love affair come flooding back...

Connery begins to remember when he was once deeply and ridiculously in love with her... The 'woman in red' that passed before his eyes in Havana's airport terminal was the most exotic, breath-stopping creature he had ever known... Now she is Alexandra Pulido (Brooke Adams), a highly ambitious woman who runs a cigar factory while her husband flirts with other women...

Chris Sarandon is the profligate son of one of Cuba's wealthiest men, and the charming playboy in the romantic triangle who knows everything about Havana, 'every casino, every table, and every bed in it!'

Martin Balsam is the general in the corrupt Batista regime, who intends to ask Castro to 'get rid of the Communists.'

Hector Elizondo is the junior officer who realizes late in life why few were sorry about the fall of Batista...

Jack Weston is the fat American businessman impressed by the cigar factory...

Lonette McKee is the ardent lover who rejects all the ways of behavior in Cuba...

Danny De la Paz is the very bad brother with a handgun license...

Alejandro Rey is a money-grubbing menace who puts his personal ambition over public safety...

Denholm Elliott is the soldier of fortune who buys an old airplane so quickly...

Walter Gotell is the unfeeling father who is quite separate from the businesses run by his daughter in law...

In 'Cuba', Richard Lester reveals a likable if none too demanding talent for adventure and love... His film lacks the detailed exposition of the many twists and turns of Michael Curtiz's 'Casablanca.' There is no club so well organized in his movie, no open arena of conspiracy, counterspies, secret plans, black market transactions, no true democrat with women, and no traditional woman enclosed by two rivals...

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!).

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.