Adieu Cuba

The music is great, of course, it is Cuba. The costumes are beautiful; so are the women and the men. Worth a look though for it's style and feel of the glamor that was Havana, the physical warmth and affection that lives in Cuban families and it's interesting anti-Castro portrayal of events. It even challenges the hero status of Che Guevara.

But Andy Garcia's tale of a wealthy family coming apart like this lovely island during the Cuban revolution suffers from the self-indulgence that so often weakens the work of writer/director/producer combos. Who is going to say, "Andy, enough of those close-ups of you looking longingly at your lost loves? After about an hour and a half, we sure wish someone would! It leaves me wondering why, with all Cuba has gone through, our government continues to punish Cubans with economic sanctions that do no harm to Castro, but keep the Cubans from thriving from their hard hard work and record breaking high literacy rates.

I think that for those who do not know what happened in Cuba during the revolution, this movie is a great film to watch (no matter what the critics believe). Not only do we learn how it happened, we also learn about the struggles of the Cuban people. As in a work of art, everything in this movie has meaning or significance. The story is real and is expressed with sentiment... a romantic, but also nostalgic feeling. Also, the movie captured many details of the Cuban culture (including family values). Finally, I'd like to add that to watch a movie about Cuba without the glamorizing of the revolution or any of its leaders is like a breath of fresh air. Andy Garcia is a genius!

I had hoped for better from Andy Garcia. The general idea is a good one: a quick look at the forces motivating the Cuban middle class to flee the island in the late 50's-mostly for the US, shown in terms of the disintegration of one upper-class Cuban family. But the dialogue is utilitarian and not much more, the characters are predictable, and what on earth was Bill Murray doing in it? He seems to be a sort of American clown visible only to Andy Garcia's character, like Harvey the giant rabbit. There are memorable visual moments in it, like the acres of white canopied tobacco plantation, with towering palm trees protruding; or Castro's guerrillas materializing out of the head-high sawgrass to intercept a mounted volunteer, or those great moody night shots along the Havana corniche. But the script is flat. It doesn't amplify the characters, and it barely advances the story. Judging by the comments preceding mine, I guess that my problem is that I'm not of Cuban extraction. I like well-made films, not films that stroke my particular political sensitivities, as this film seems to do for some viewers. THE definitive film about the Cuban revolution and/or the Cuban exodus and diaspora has yet to be made.

As an AmeriCuban who remembers her visits to Cuba as a small child, I was very touched to see on screen the Cuba that I knew was not just in my dreams.

What an excellent job in picking places that can make you really think it was filmed in Havana! You can feel as if you are really there! There are those who wonder how Andy Garcia could have portrayed Cuba so realistically when he left the island as a 5 year old child. But it is at those very young tender years that impressions are made that stay throughout ones lives. My early trips to Cuba have remained very vivid in my mind. I understand him so well.

You can feel that he put his all in this movie. Countless Cubans can relate to the story that is told. What a heart-wrenching moment when he leaves Cuba and his only keepsake is taken away from him! How many Cubans must have passed through this same scene?

The music warmed my soul. I would listen to it over and over.

And that last scene! well, I don't want to give it away. You have to see it.

Born in 1962, in the mist of the turmoil, I left Cuba in 1967 thanks to the "Freedom Flights" at the age of 4. It was about time a film like this was done. I commend Andy Garcia and all involved for its historical accuracy. I am grateful for the "Ficos" of the time, like my parents. What courage and resolve. If history is not to be repeated, we must embrace it, learn from it, and not wash it from our memories. Incredible acting, music, scenery (thank you Dominican Republic). We need to remember "where we've been" so as to know "where we're going" - bring plenty of tissues; one box is just not enough. The only reason I gave it a 9, as opposed to a 10, is because I would have really liked to have seen some time dedicated to the family, specifically, the brothers, in their youth. The important relationship of the Cuban family would have been better understood if we had seen it from early on. The significance of the family nucleus, born of the parents' rearing, is crucial in the story of the Cubans. The relationship between the uncle and his nephews was synonymous with that but could have been further developed.