Salsa y Amor

Salsa The Movie is really one of the most rare and most amazing movies about Latin dances.Watching that movie means getting charged with Latin spirits and feel for dancing.It describes the arduous life of a french artist whose passion the music itself becomes salsa dance passion. He start studying the main steps of salsa and soon he becomes sophisticated salsa dancer.In the next scene he mets the beautiful Natalie who is also dancing salsa. Together they start training for a large salsa competition. The watchers can really feel the rhythm by watching the steps of the couple. This feeling also comes from the uncountable dance scenes in the movie. The movie ends with a lot of spirits. You should really sea this film. Amazing.

In the middle of a classical music competition, Remi Bonnet, a brilliant young pianist, switches from Chopin to salsa. The highbrow audience has a fit. People start throwing things. The judges faint. And Remi's piano teacher tells him that his career as a pianist is ruined. Remi kisses the bust of Chopin, asks for forgiveness, and heads for Paris. The stage is set in the first three minutes of `Salsa'.

Remi is dying to be a salsa musician. We will never know how or why Remi became so hooked on latino music. Nor do we really find out how Nathalie, a dour parisian travel agent who he meets in Paris, is transformed into a superb, sexy salsa dancer capable of winning a dance contest on the first try. But we don't really care, because this is a musical comedy looking for every opportunity to show off music and dance. And that's not bad at all.

`Salsa' reminds me of `Round Midnight', Bertrand Tavernier's homage to Dale Turner and the American jazz musicians who came to Paris in the 1950's. There, too, it is the story of a Frenchman who adores 'exotic' music from the other side of the Atlantic. Of course, `Round Midnight' is serious, whereas `Salsa' is a cliche-ridden comedy about one Frenchman's desire to join the fun that Cubans in contemporary Paris are having. Don't take it too seriously; enjoy the music.

"Salsa (2000)" gives you what it was designed for and what you should expect: Good music, good dancing and good fun.

It is not a pretentious movie at all. The story is simple but not obvious and also contains some interesting moments and twists. The acting is good and the music excellent (Yuri Buenaventura, Sierra Maestra, Ruben Gonzales). The dancing parts are not outstanding but certainly very enjoyable.

It's also a very cheerful and energising movie so it's perfect before going dancing.

Note that this "Salsa (2000)" is much better than "Salsa (1988)", which is boring, predictable and serious ; with some good dance sequences though.

By the way don't miss the delightful "A paradise under the stars" ("Un paraiso bajo las estrellas", CUBA 2000)

Easy classical and salsa music that makes you feel good. This is for sure a cross-cultural movie. The Latin, French and Spanish culture comes across. The plot gives you a positive memory of empowerment. However although this film contains salsa dance scenes, it is no film to train and practice dancing.

After having red the overwhelming reviews this film got in my country, I but wanted to see it. But - what a disappointment! To see a bunch of one-dimensional characters in a plot that lacks of originality is not worth the money and the time to spend. I sometimes wonder about the filmcritics in switzerland.