Havana

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?

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.

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.

The island of Cuba is a long way from Morocco, but in Sydney Pollack's film of the same name the city of Havana isn't too far removed from 'Casablanca'. The two films share a similar exotic locale, the same shady intrigue, and an all too familiar bittersweet romance. All that's missing are Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet, but what's surprising about Pollack's film is how well it stands up under the comparison. Robert Redford portrays a tough and charismatic (if slightly disreputable) gambler who drifts into the decadent Cuban capital during the last, desperate days of the Battista regime, and it's a pleasure to watch him playing, for once, a character without a built-in halo. The foreign intrigue, played against a background of political unrest, is perfectly suited to the swinging tropical setting, but the romance between Redford and beautiful revolutionary Lena Olin isn't as convincing. Don't blame the talented cast; the script lets them down too often during the last half of the film, undermining an otherwise attractive and entertaining bit of high-grade, escapist fluff.

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.