Bitter Sugar

Starring:RenÃ© Lavan, Mayte VilÃ¡n, Miguel GutiÃ©rrez, Larry Villanueva, Luis Celeiro, Teresa Maria Rojas, Orestes Matacena, Caridad Ravelo, Jorge Pupo, Victor Checo, Augusto Feria, FÃ©lix GermÃ¡n, Virgilio MartÃ
Director: Leon Ichaso
Studio: New Yorker Video
Product Type: DVD

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In what may be the angriest portrait of Cuba ever made, director Leon Ichaso (Crossover Dreams) charts the journey of one young man from patriot to disillusioned dropout to angry rebel. Gustavo (René Lavan) is an idealistic young Marxist scholar who dreams of attending the University of Prague. When he falls for an earthy dancer with a more pragmatic view of her homeland, who plans to escape to Florida, his ideals are systematically chipped away in the face of poverty, repression, corruption, and police brutality until it all becomes too much for him to bear. A far cry from the more romantic work of Tomás Guti&eacuterrez Alea (Strawberry and Chocolate), this film speaks volumes about a generation of exiles burning with anger and hate for Castro and his regime. It's also manipulative and heavy-handed, with Gustavo less a hero than a straw figure poised for a fall, and it's far less revealing than such self-critical Cuban features as Portrait of Teresa and Memories of Underdevelopment. But its vivid and passionate feelings of betrayal can hardly be dismissed. Ichaso shot portions of the film in Cuba and smuggled the footage out, but Santo Domingo doubles for Havana through the bulk of the feature. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews:

Very disappointing.......2007-03-09

If you want to see a totally plastic piece of propaganda, don't miss Bitter Sugar. The two protagonists are not so much actors as models and pieces of the film touched on being soft porn. A far better film to see is the story about Sandoval, the famous trumpet player who, with the help of Dizzy Gillespie risked everything to escape Cuba, in order to play the jazz he loves (even listening to American jazz such as Charlie Parker, Duke Ellington, etc is illegal in Cuba, as it is not 'pro-revolutionary'). A few years ago I was traveling and doing aid work in Ctrl America and heading over to Cuba to investigate what Cuban life is actually like. Being from New Zealand I had often heard Cuba romanticised by people, I too had a naive romanticised image of the country. When I arrived it soon became clear that I was in the most controlled, propaganda-driven country I had ever placed foot in. Following my trip to Cuba I met a gay hairdresser in El Salvador who knew Cuba well and joked that Cuba was the only country in the world where one can sleep with a doctor or an engineer for a dollar-a-day. Sadly this joke sounded a disturbing ring of truth. There is no intellectual freedom in Cuba - yes, university is free in a financial sense but only as long as you get with `Castro's program'. When some people spoke to me about Castro, instead of using his name in speech a stroke of the chin was made, in the belief that if people around them heard what they were saying there would be trouble. In Cuba trouble often means jail. I met an old man who spent four years locked up for `eating beef' (only tourists are allowed to eat beef). He used to work in a hotel restaurant and was caught pocketing left-over meat off the plates of customers who had not finished their meals. The film 'I am Cuba' is a fascinating piece of propaganda from the other side, filmed with funding and help from the Soviet Union around the time of the Bay of Pigs crisis. Batista's Havana was hell for the Cuban people but Castro's Havana is no better. Unfortunately the acting done by the two main characters in this film is horrific and the film moves at the pace of a snail. As it is based on a true story that could have made a great film to illustrate a depressing truth about Cuba, it is a disappointment.

GREAT MOVIE: THE TRUTH ABOUT CUBA .......2006-08-18

LOVED THIS BEAUTIFUL MOVIE! THE ACTING IS SUPERB AND THERE IS A POIGNANT BITTER-SWEET SENSE OF HUMOR BEHING THE REALITY OF IT ALL. GREAT MUSIC TOO!

Sad Love story under Castro's regimen!.......2005-12-29

Erotismo, amor, desamor, triste al final como todas las historias de los que tienen que dejar su patria o a la persona que aman.

Illusions and Disillutions of Havana.......2005-12-23

Illusion and disillusion permeate the lives of people in post revolution Havana. Bitter Sugar offers the illusion of the "new man." Gustavo is an engineering student who graduates with the promise of a scholarship to study in Prague. His late mother was pro-revolution. His father, a doctor, changes careers to make ends meet. He now plays piano in the hotel bar for tourists. His brother Bobby, a rock musician is beaten by the authorities who see him as a subversive.

Things are going well for Gustavo until he falls in love with Yolanda, a free spirited dancer. Yolanda longs for a life in Miami. Her parents distrust Gustavo. They want the best the best for their daughter, thats why they look the other way when she becomes a prostitute. This contradiction in values is the only way the family can survive. Money is scarce. Empty promises of the revolution left people in poverty.

The characters here seem to draw a line in the sand, creative, subversives and free spirits versus those who support the party's ideal.

Bobby's character is the most interesting and underdeveloped. He's gay and injects himself with the AIDS virus. Its a form of protest that shows the horror of a country without hope.
Poverty and despair have pushed the people to the limit. The dramatic climax proves there is no happy ending in Havana.

Cuba's Notorious Legacy.......2005-03-28

This movie is a poignant look at modern Cuba and the continuance of the disparity and the opposition to basic freedoms in Cuba.
Rene Lavan, known for his stint in tv, and now for Dirty Dancing 2 and Christmas with the Kranks, is stellar as man who has awakened from the dream of equanimity to a nightmare of injustice.

Rene plays Gustavo, a young revolutionary who has received a scholarship to study in Prague. His father, a mediocre psychiatrist, tries to keep his family afloat with humor and cliches about the revolution.

Gustavo's brother Bobby, a protester by day and a rocker by night, and ironically wearing a Che Guevara shirt, takes matters into his own hands. After being mercilessly beaten, he and his friends decide to inject themselves with AIDS-contaminated blood, giving new meaning to the saying, "Give me Liberty or Give me Death."

Gustavo's girlfriend Yolanda is a different kind of rebel. On the outside, she is an overly optimistic gal like Gustavo, but on the inside, she longs for abundance and a more easy going lifestyle. She pains to go to the other side, which she does at the end of the movie. She seduces an Italian tourist in order to enjoy the better things in life, while she falls for Gustavo whose intentions are practically pure.

Gustavo's perceptions of his beloved "patria," or nation change after realizing that his scholarship is fake, along with the beliefs that he held dearly. His professor confesses to him a regret of missing the chance to emigrate to Miami with his family. The academic tries to convey to Gustavo that regardless of his beliefs, he is responsible for his own fate.

In the end, Gustavo takes a drastic decision one that is ill-fated.

Rene's performance is the only one that is truly worth mentioning along with a fairly decent performance by the guy who plays his brother. Mayte although noteworthy in a couple of scenes, including an Ophelian type soliliquoy in the boudoir, is barely noticeable. However, between the beautiful photography, Rene's sincere and emotionally charged performance, and Leon Ichaso's perceptions of his beloved Cuba, make this an unforgettable and truly haunting look at the Communist nation.

Average customer rating:

Azucar Amarga (Bitter Sugar)
Director: Leon Ichaso
Manufacturer: First Look Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000K8AOY4

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