Chala, une enfance cubaine

Conducta - Behaviour This film starts with powerful images and the authentic energy of the young talent Armando playing Chata. This film is not just a actual insight view of the Cuban social reality and its change, this film is much more. This film is statement.

First it needs to be mentioned that the performance of the actors especially the play of the young actors is absolutely world class. Congratulations to the casting department.

The story, or better the multiple stories that are told during this 108 minutes fits. Every narrative makes sense. No minute is lost. Writing, acting, shooting, music - everything was created on a very high level.

But why is this film a statement.

This film offers for everyone and everywhere on this earth a lesson to learn. This lesson is created around Carmela, the teacher. It is a story of courage against cowardice. A story about real and authentic humanism against the brutality of indifference. The counterpart of the moving behavior of Carmela is played great by Silvia Águila in the character of the social worker Raquel.

This universal lesson is: It is easy to follow rules, laws and prejudices. Everywhere and in every social system we have those that hide themselves behind political correctness, adjusted unit and titles. In the name of nice labels as for example child care they bungle into the life of other humans. A bad but widespread behavior.

A great film. Highly recommended.

A quite interesting and satisfying movie though, for me, less so than BUQUENQUE but more so than PABLO (for those of you who follow recent Cuban productions). CONDUCTA shows the harsh side of Cuban life in various ways and demonstrates attitudinal differences very reflective of Cuban society in 2014. Wonderful acting by the young cast. Music use seems like a last-minute and cheap addition to the movie, which deserves an original score that would in fact be quite achievable in Cuba. The movie has theatrical release in Cuba, which demonstrates the liberal approach Cuba has taken to providing public funding for films that are constructively critical of Cuban society.

The stray dogs we think we own, the Coca-Cola bottle caps or iron pennies left on train tracks to be flattened, the careless, indifferent, and yet always self-righteous parents... The economic and political impasses of a nation, mirrored in the faces and moods of its people... Dogfights, cockfights... Pigeons raised on rooftops...

It baffles the mind how someone living 15-20 hours away by plane could craft a screenplay that feels like a snapshot of one's own childhood.

The world's state between 1930 and 2000 ought to be examined by sociologists. For though we speak different tongues, dwell in different lands and continents, and follow different faiths, we have grieved for the same things and rejoiced over the same. And yet, we have been hurt in identical ways.

My love for the cinema and literature of Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking nations is no coincidence. Conducta only deepens this affection and, as always, remains sorely underrated.

This is no teacher-student film in the vein of Hollywood's tiresome "White savior teaches humanity to immigrants" nonsense.

Cuba, Havana... Turkey, Istanbul...

The true protagonist of this tale is Saintly Teacher Carmela, a woman who decides for herself, filled with love and compassion. She teaches her students to be individuals like herself. She teaches them the most essential lesson of all: to be themselves, to resist, to fight - no matter who stands before them. By the film's end, you'll see that only two people truly walk their own path: Teacher Carmela and her student Chala. And perhaps also Chala's sweetheart Yeni and her proud father.

The moment when Yeni covertly gifts White Fang by Jack London to guide Chala away from dogfights and toward maturity filled me with delight. For those who know me are aware of my deep admiration for Jack London. That act, much like the priest giving Jean Valjean the candlesticks, was a gesture of profound nobility.

These four stand apart, for the rest are either pawns of the street's lawlessness or puppets of the state's rigid, loveless ideological rule.

Yeni's father's words linger in one's mind: "The worst masters rise from the ranks of servants."

This is a shining example of tender discipline between a teacher and a child, a crowning achievement for Cuban cinema. The acting is splendid, the continuity flawless. The camera roams Havana's streets with an almost poetic precision. Armando Valdés Freire, portraying Chala, delivers a remarkable performance for one so young. Likewise, Amaly Junco, playing the lovely Yeni, shines with equal brilliance. But most of all, I was captivated by Teacher Carmela. For it is evident she is one of those children who never truly grow up. Actress Alina Rodríguez understood this perfectly, and in the opening and closing scenes, her mischievous grin in response to Chala's call, without even turning her gaze, encapsulates the film in its entirety.

While editing the film's IMDb page, I noticed that Armando Valdés Freire, born in 2000, had not appeared in any other films. A profound loss for the world of cinema.

It's surprising the Cuban government let this film pass-it doesn't show a flattering picture of Cuba, as it doesn't disguise the poverty, rigid politics and injustice.

But the film is good not because it deals with the situation as a whole, or the education system, but because it focuses on a small group of people. It shows a teacher, an aged woman, responsible for helping her pupils cross the hell of their childhood.

The most troublesome boy in her current class in Chalah, whose mother is an addict and his father may or may not be a fight dog trainer for whom he works.

The most important thing-the story never becomes the old unbearable shtick about a teacher taming and saving students.

The child actor Armando Valdes Freire is simply amazing. He portrays a boy who is tough, street-smart, and reckless, and who deeply cares about his negligent mother. He feels that the teacher, Carmela, is the one person on whom he can count, and he's devoted to her. He also likes an immigrant girl who's in danger of being exiled with her father any minute.

Alina Rodríguez, who does Carmela, never misses. Her acting is so precise, she seems to be the teacher herself. She goes through her own hardship so she's aware life is rough, but she is willing to be that little Dutch boy who puts his finger in the hole in the wall to prevent the ocean from washing over the city.

Clearly, as it is not a soap opera, some things remain open, and nothing reaches an ideal solution. However, the film convinces that there is hope where one special person can open the way for others.

Going to a film which gets good remarks still happens to be ordinary or cute and boring. I was actually thinking about passing this. Thank God I didn't. Conducta (Behaviour) is a true gem on all accounts, and has been a monster hit in it's native country Cuba.

Aging teacher Carmela has an extra place in her heart for the kids coming from broken families and difficult family relations. 11 year old Chala is a troublemaker, and earn the money to keep his mother running on drugs and alcohol by training special pigeons and dogs for illegal dog fights.He is infatuating with class mate Yeni, which hasn't got the proper right to attend school, because her father is work-less and outside of his county. Carmela gets in trouble by her support for these two pupils, and the young headmaster wants her dismissed. It's also a love story, and a story about a teachers' importance.

This film is simply amazingly well made. Perfect photography, amazing acting in a perfect script. This could simply not be made better in any way! Young Chala is played so amazingly well by Armando Valdez Freire that it's almost unbelievable. The others are equaling the play. Such amazing instruction. So natural, so real, and upright charming.

The film in some way resembles Walter Salles amazing "Central do Brazil" (1998) and also to some extent "Dead Poets Society" (1989), but is even better.

I saw this film with English subtitles on the premiere night at the Films from the South Festival in Oslo in a packed theater giving standing ovations after screening.

Treat yourself to see this. In fact, go head over heels to see it. But remember to bring some napkins to stop the tears. What a gem! What a film!

What to criticize on such a film? Hm... I surrender!!!