Havana

IMDb RATING

6.1/10

8.8K

YOUR RATING

Lena Olin and Robert Redford in Havana (1990)

After six decades in show business, Robert Redford announced that 2018's 'The Old Man & the Gun' will be his last performance. The role is a familiar one for the screen legend: a con with conviction. Let's travel "Through the Lens" to explore how Redford developed this character and how this on-screen persona perfectly culminates in his cinematic swan song.

Play clip5:10

Watch Robert Redford: The Con With Conviction & the End of a Legendary Screen Persona

1 Video

29 Photos

Drama Romance War

In 1950s Cuba, a professional gambler falls for a woman heavily involved in the revolution movement.In 1950s Cuba, a professional gambler falls for a woman heavily involved in the revolution movement.In 1950s Cuba, a professional gambler falls for a woman heavily involved in the revolution movement.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.1/10

8.8K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 3 nominations total

Videos1

Clip 5:10

Robert Redford: The Con With Conviction & the End of a Legendary Screen Persona

Photos29

+ 22

User reviews52

6.18.8K

Featured reviews

7Nazi_Fighter_David

A love story set against one of the sexiest, most dangerous and most glamorous cities in the world

Jack Weil, played by Robert Redford, feels at home in this corrupt city He's a professional gambler looking for the game of his life He played in every Elks Club and Moose Hall in America He remembers every hand of every game and now he wants a shot, only one shot in Havana

But while he is on the verge of winning everything Bobby Duran (Lena Olin) has lost all she ever knew Olin plays the wife of a Cuban revolutionary, Raul Julia Bobby has nothing to lose or to protect And in a super-natural and strange way Jack reaches her And so, as Cuba crumbles Jack is drawn in Bobby's world of the revolutionaries and, in one crucial moment he sees himself he must choose between the greatest card game of his life and the woman he loves

There's a kind of exotic combination between Redford and Olin's characters Between Redford's very American, blond, golden look and Olin's dark, intense Swedish expression

Sydney Pollack's "Havana" is a love story that takes place during the week of Christmas, 1958 which was the last week Batista was in power before Castro came in It was the last week of this kind of a circus that Havana was An attractive city full of gambling, of burlesque, of every kind of hedonistic pleasure possible

Kirpianuscus

the flavor

I love it for its ...flavor. For Lena Olin and Robert Redford. For the clash between romance and politic. For the old image of people in the womb of bad times. And for a Cuba who was so easy lost. And that is all.

grosst001

Amazingly Accurate

I did not see this movie when it first came out 21 years ago, but saw it recently on a cable television station.Having been in my 30s when Cuba had its revolution, I was truly amazed at how accurately the film portrayed the regime of Batista. It was corrupt and brutally treated the citizens of that island country. I appreciated the acting of Redford --- actually underplaying the role. The gambling casinos in Cuba were actually run by the Mafia and made billions for them and for Batista. The photography was excellent When it was obvious that the Castro forces were winning the war, the Batista followers fled to South Florida. I truly wish I had seen this picture when it first came out.

7ddelamaide

It's all about the passion

How does a cool professional gambler show passion? He gives up the Big Game to rescue his beloved. How can a passionate woman reconcile the two loves of her life--the noble hero and his cause and the man who makes her feel most like a woman? Yes, it's Casablanca revisited. And Lena Olin portrays her ambivalence as ably as her Swedish compatriot, Ingrid Bergman. Fault the script for not delivering the depth of Casablanca, the humor--Alan Arkin could have been the equal of Claude Rains but didn't get the lines. But the cinematography makes pre-revolutionary Havana palpable, in its glamour and seaminess, its whiff of a bygone era. Who wouldn't want to drive a Cadillac convertible onto the ferry at Key West and debark in Havana?

coboconk

Better than mediocre

Havana is a favorite of mine. Sure it's a slick Hollywood movie but I thought Redford and Olin were marvelous together and fit their roles perfectly. Doesn't it seem natural to find Redford in exotic Havana playing cards on the eve of the revolution? And doesn't Olin's intelligence , charm, and beauty fit her role ? The supporting cast were flawless and the intriguing plot stood on it's own merit. The sentimental ending was superb and the musical score which received an academy award nomination was brilliant. Better than mediocre.

Storyline

Edit

Did you know

Edit

Trivia
Actor Raul Julia appeared in a significant supporting role in the film without any credit or billing at all in the film. Julia chose to be uncredited because producers for contractual reasons could not accommodate Julia's request for him to be billed second alongside Robert Redford, as the top two above-the-title star-teaming credits had already been signed over to top first-billed Redford and second-billed actress Lena Olin, with the third billed credit already having been contracted to actor Alan Arkin. According to the "LA Times," Raul Julia's agent Jeff Hunter said: "Our usual above-the-title credit wasn't available. So, we decided not to take any credit at all." Director Sydney Pollack said told the same paper: "The only billing left for Julia was to be stacked with the rest of the names . . . his agent felt that would be a step backward" and there is a dilemma when there is "an actor on the ascendancy, like [Raul] Julia, and you ask the actor to do a role that's somewhat smaller [than their emerging star status]." Julia had found rising-star status since his performance in the Academy Award winning film Le baiser de la femme-araignée (1985).

Goofs
Although the film is set in 1958, the garage scene uses a 1961 re-recorded version of Rum And Coca Cola by The Andrews Sisters. This version was recorded for Dot Records, two years after the movie's setting.

Quotes
Professor: Take the advice of an old man. There's nothing like a woman, or two. They love men. Even jerks. The biggest jerk you ever knew somewhere somehow has a woman that's nuts over him. Women are perfect. The rest is bullshit.