Suite Habana (2003) Online

It only took to see the trailer for me to break in tears.

I don't know to what point the movie is selfish in a way that if you never had to live in Cuba, the film can be "just a bit plain" and nothing else, the film will unfold flat before your eyes. However for "the others" the ones "had to leave" but lived there, every shot, every image and every sound counts. The Lighthouse at "El Morro", the Malecon, those delicious Cafe con Leches in the morning and sandwiches at lunch (if lucky) can mean a whole different deal. It was hard to watch the airport lounges and the runway, and the guy getting on the plane. Also the part where you can see an old Silvio still singing "Mariposas" after so many years, Is tough for anyone to go back and think of those moments, or think of the people that we left behind.

"Suite Habana" is aptly titled; it feels just like that, a musical suite in which the cadence and the rhythm come from within the people one meets. It's a tribute to all the men and women whose daily lives are basically the same, day in, day out. There seems to be no hope for most of the people we see in this magnificent documentary by Fernando Perez, an accomplished filmmaker, who had the courage to show the world that in spite of all the poverty one sees, the dignity of the subjects presented comes through loud and clear.

Our heart goes after the older woman who has been reduced to selling peanuts in the street in order to make a living for herself and what appears to be a sick husband. There is a moment in the film when a different picture of her is shown from her wedding. Obviously she never thought of living in this condition many years later, yet, she shows us such pride in what she is doing!

Then there is little Francisquito, an autistic boy who is being lovingly brought up by his widower father, an architect, who now free lances as a house repairer. After the boy's mother died, the father gave up his career in order to be close to the child. We watch the boy in school interacting with his teacher and the other children. He is accepted by the his peers and functions normally. The love of his father and the grandparents feel for the boy speak volumes.

A day in the lives of these Cubans is shown in a realistic way without any dialog. Words are not necessary for anyone to understand the pains, and the joys of most of the people in the film. The beauty of it all lays in the fact Mr. Perez, the director, and writer, is not taking any sides, as he presents the story as an every day occurrence without taking any sides.

"Suite Habana" is enhanced by the marvelous cinematography by Raul Perez Ureta, who does wonders with his view of a city that still shows its beauty in spite of the hard times it has seen in recent years. Also, the atmospheric music score by Edesio Alejandro and Ernesto Cisneros fits well with the images on the screen. Ultimately the praise must go to Fernando Perez, a man whose body of work is impressive and keeps on getting better all the time.

"Suite" is a piece of music; well, that may be so until you see this visual jewel: music is converted into images. No great or famous actors or actresses - just simple ordinary people living out their daily lives in La Habana, Cuba, that so-poorly treated country.

But forget any and every political implication: this film has nothing to do with such pretensions.

"Suite Habana" is a splendid portrait of Cubans, from kids to the most elderly, so splendidly photographed, hopping from scene to scene, among the different persons making up this visual poem. There are no words to describe this; indeed, there is a saying which says "an image is worth a thousand words". And in this film of a little more than 84 minutes you have millions of words which get nowhere near the story-less story unfolding before your eyes: because these are real people living real lives - not actors trying to interpret some such rôle. Here you have the beauty of Cuban citizens en La Habana, white, black, mestizo or whatever, which just sums up into one glorious film.

It does not even matter that the portrayal is La Habana: it might just as well have been Manila, Kolkota, Mumbai, Kabul, Manaus.................. but Fernando Pérez and Raúl Pérez Ureta have masterfully carried out one of those little jewels that the great mass of the public will not appreciate, let alone comprehend, and ably helped by the suitable music of Alejandro and Cisneros (occasionally a little reminiscent of the music by Vangelis "1492: Conquest of Paradise")(qv).

I thoroughly recommend "Calle 54" (qv) and "Buena Vista Social Club", and "Suite Habana" will make more sense to you. But in no way should you see any of these films thinking of political stances: no such implications are present. Menos mal.........

Ah, no need for subtitles: there is very little dialogue, and what little there is, is obvious to any intelligent viewer with the scenes unfolding such that "translations" are totally unnecessary.

This is just one beautiful "suite" - a concerto, a symphony, a whole choral interlude. My vote is a little more than the 8,0 for 141 voters at present registered on IMDb

Its so easy to fall in the typical Cuban clichés, both for the filmmakers and for the viewers watching it. But Suite Habana is a beautiful movie. It doesn't talk about poor people. It talks about Cuban people. Its not against Fidel. Its just a quasi documentarian effort to tell the daily story of Cubans. Its the story of geographical separation. There are more than 5 million of Cubans living in exile. There's the story of a clown who has to work just hours after he said goodbye to his brother at the airport. There's the story of the Cuban couple that spends the entire day planning and setting up their night: going to dance "casino" to a club. Their only escape. In that country where Cubans get paid in "Pesos" and almost all the clubs have to be paid in "dollars" while 1 Dollar = 24 Pesos. Its the story of a talented ballet dancer who has to live an odissey to arrive to the "Gran Teatro de La Habana" for his show. In that same country where you have to ask the taxi driver where is HE going and not the other way. Because in Cuba the taxis for Cubans never go where you want to, they have their own routes whether is convenient or not. It doesn't matter. Thats why I say that its quasi docuemtarian because it tells stories that really happens. But despite of all this, Its beautiful. And its beautiful because it reflects how Cubans manage to find beauty everywhere. How they manage to keep dancing and smiling. How they manage to write tremendous novels. To make great films, to make great music. You have to watch this film. Technically its great. La Habana is one of the most photogenic cities in the world. But run 90 minutes without a dialogue its amazing. It keeps you interested, excited, emotive. Its a great great movie. Watch it!

An almost wordless portrait of modern-day Havana with sublime music. The camera follows ten Havana citizens through one day. The chosen subjects are ordinary folks: an old peanut vendor with a bed-ridden husband at home; a hospital laundry worker who performs in a drag show by night; a sad-eyed medic who moonlights as a clown (the only spoken words in the film are the clown's manic spiel at a children's birthday party); a young man who slogs as a menial worker, then when night falls, dazzles as one of the principal dancers in a ballet performance; a widowed factory worker who lovingly tends his Down's syndrome-afflicted son; a railway employee who morphs into a jazz saxophonist by night. The failure of the Communist experiment in Cuba has marked each of these people, yet they find, to a degree, salvation in art, and in loving somebody. While the aged peanut vendor roasts the nuts that she will sell the following day, the camera moves to the walls behind her. On one crumbling wall, is a yellowed photograph of her and her husband on their wedding day, beaming with youthful energy and optimism. The factory worker and his son are the poorest of the lot; when their day is done, they climb up on the roof of their tenement building and gaze at the full moon with an appreciation that is truly humbling. The most mundane details of what comprises life are observed with the most exquisite thoroughness: a child joyfully rushing into the arms of a parent at day's end; a performer applying his make-up with an almost religious concentration; the effort, in empty night-darkened streets, of wangling a ride to a performance. I was moved to tears by this haunting empathetic examination of the human condition, by the ability to love despite having nothing left to give, and the restorative powers of Art.

Grateful to Instituto Cervantes to bring this gem of a film to the Philippines ; a must see ; the soundtrack is also great. All the characters are really touching, especially the widower and his son. The film shows people struggling with their professional and private lives (a young construction worker who is also a ballet dancer !). Not knowing Cuba, I was wondering if contemporary Cuba is really like this : even the fridges are 1950s "vintage" ! Strangely enough, the films brought sadness and joy (or hope at least) at the same time and made me want to visit Cuba. 9/10

There's no need to have Spanish skills to understand the story told in this film. Blurring the lines between documentary and fiction (these are real people, telling "their" story, but they've been directed into scenes of "their lives).

At times it gets a bit cumbersome when the "characters" are not talking. You know they would be chatting away over their dinner of rice and beans but they are presented quiet and stoic.

But the story gets told without words and with amazing images of Havana. Having visited, I was overwhelmed by the truth in this movie, and impressed that the subtle political message in this "apolitical" film was able to get out of Fidel's Cuba in the 21st century.

But by the end of the film I was overcome with emotion and sat for moments after the final message, tears overwhelming me. This type of film is manipulative to the extreme, but it's also the type of thing where you don't mind being manipulated.

I've brought everyone I can convince to see it.

There is no dialog, just the goings on from waking to late night of several random people in La Habana Vieja, the old city. It is the most beautiful, most poignant, most tender, most bitter-sweet movie I have ever seem. There was not a dry eye in the movie house (mostly old Cubans like myself). It is a masterpiece, just like The Buena Vista Social Club was, but that was happy with music, this has music but its message seems to me to be......life continues. People, the disenfranchised....they continue, they drink their 'cafe con leche', they work, they have their meals, they love their children and their families, they visit their dead in the cemetery, they have a night life, they live, they love and they die. Life continues. There is beautiful footage of the Malecon with heavy seas crashing into its ancient walls with Omara Portuondo singing 'Cuando se quiere de veras', a not so subtle reminder that one cannot stay away from from something or someone, one loves so much. This film says all that without words...what a beautiful film. A must watch for anyone interested in Cuban life and history.

It is necessary to have a very good imagination and knowledge of the scenarios in order to make such a shocking and interesting film without any dialogue. It only shows the lives and daily tasks of several people in Havana. I do not say "poor" people because I do not know who is rich or wealthy in Havana. The director showed the reality of the lives of these people, and I do not agree with those who say that this film was to denounce the critical poor situation in Cuba. No, showing the reality and the truth cannot be a denunciation. The fact is that here one can observe how Havana is coming down day by day, it is a city showing the same level of destruction of any other city that suffered war. However, Havana never suffered any war. The houses of the town are in a very tragic situation, colorless and the walls demanding immediate restoration. It is sad to see the walking sides of Malecón avenue with its stony walls in very bad state. And the people are poorer than ever. It will take decades to restore Havana city and the country. It is amazingly incredible that Academy Awards of 2003 did not include this film among the candidates for the best foreign film. Let´s hope it can be included for the next 2004. The film is very original and an excellent material for all those who want to know the present Cuba.

...and more importantly, with a decent structure. The conceit - cut between a dozen people living in Havana to show what a day in the life of the city is like - is immensely appealing to the humanist in me. But it's more like a dream of what Havana's like - everybody's noble; there's no signs of crime or any danger. It's like one of those films where the director tries to recreate his idyllic childhood, except it's set in the present. The radical in me would like to point out the "characters" invariably feel like stereotypes (except maybe the clown-doctor) - of course a lot of people do feel like stereotypes, and there's a lot of life in them; but in my experience a lot of people are also staunchly individual, and unless the Cold War propaganda was right this must be true in Cuba as well. So my reactions to the characters are just my stereotypical ones. Fathers caring for their sons are always sweet; infallible yet world-weary elders are always less so.

Much of the time this feels like a Kodak ad. That's still better than "Winged Migration". If you've got enough humanist in you, you'll find this warm enough and pretty enough to be worthwhile.

Extraordinary documentary filmed with fiction cinema techniques captures the essence of hard life in contemporary Havana, showing a day in a life of several real people from a ten-year old Down Syndrome child to a 79 year-old retired lady who sells peanuts in the street in order to make a better way of living. No dialogue. Superb use of sound and image, although filmed in video and later expanded in 35 mm. A true work of art.

I have read here that this film depicts the poverty in which most urban Cubans live. The comment has been made that the walls are in bad repair. This may be true - but it is not universal in Havana. It is also true that part of the problem in Cuba is the blockade of building materials that come from the US, and the continual American pressure against Cuba that results in shortage of consumer goods. But the crumbling walls are only part of the story. The other part, the real part, is the deep culture of the art, music, and literature that is so much a part of the rich life of the Habañeros. Their lives are filled with music and dance. The opening scenes show a statue of John Lennon in a public park, in the rain, with a continual 24 hour vigil before him. They revere Lennon as a seminal figure of 1960s culture. Lennon was a voice for peace and sanity in the midst of political assassination and US aggression in Asia and South America. The film returns to this scene, many times: in the rain, at night, at 5 AM. It is very moving.

But the film is not a polemic against the United States. The film simply and movingly presents the everyday life of different kinds of people: a man raising a special needs kids, a couple living on the dole who sell peanuts in the park to make ends meet, a hospital worker by day who is a female impersonator by night. He and his wife dance the night away, along with other Cubans. This film makes me want to spend some time in Havana.

It also makes me grateful to Cuba for resisting the pressure to become another impoverished client state of the US. Cuba now is the elder statesman in Central and South America, as more and more regimes drift towards socialism and resist the devastation brought about by the unregulated free market. People in Cuba are like people everywhere. They are not monsters or evil. Nor is the Castro regime evil. It is only evil in the voice of American propaganda. This film makes us realize our common humanity and that there is no such thing as a *perfect* government.

But if there is such a thing as a perfect documentary, this may be it. You fall in love with the people in this film and realize our common humanity. There is no "message.' Just a glimpse of people we want to learn more about. This film makes us see just how wrong the US ban on travel to Cuba really is and how much we would gain from being able to visit a socialist society that works.

I personally believe that "Suite Habana" was a brilliant movie and I have to respectfully disagree with The Choll. Although this film had no dialogue and no interviews I still consider it a documentary. No words or dialogue was needed to "interview" these real life characters because watching the day-to-day life of the characters spoke volumes on what life was like in Cuba. To say that there is nothing to gain from this movie is simply untrue. We learned culturally that family, for the most part, was important and that whether a family member was disabled, sick, or elderly there was some family member around to take care of them. We learned how disabled children were treated in schools and by society, which is remarkably different from disabled children in the US. We learned that after working all day Cubans don't just go home to flip on the TV and unwind but eat dinner and maybe go out and dance, or play an instrument, or preform. As an American college student completely ignorant of Cuban life, I found this movie very informative.

A great docu drama I ever watched. I too loved the part of the widower and the son it exactly has more resemblance of me with my late father and indeed the film fulfills the need of an ART it provokes the subconscious impressions in between us human beings despite the nations where we live. I see the same people strewed all over my country, those sound sleeping kid and old lady and sleepless peoples. we see every people of every age has hope in their age and also the Everyone has hope and likeliness to take life as it is. I read about che and castro after watching this film I wanted to visit this cuba not for its cigar but for its people. Real people.

If you have ever been to Cuba or La Havana you will be touched. The film maker has managed to put his finger on the pulse of a part of Cuba and also let the audience feel that pulse, along with the pain, dis-appointment and broken dreams of many of the Cuban people. You will see that their pain is not exclusive to Cuba, it is something that exists to greater or lesser degrees in all countries. You will also see that the true joy in life is in the simple things like playing shadow puppets on the wall with your child who suffers from down syndrome, dreaming to fix up the falling walls of your mom's flat, or just make a few extra pennies to maintain yourself. This is a story about the strength of human resolution and seeing that the dream is not what it's all about. Really it is about that bitter-sweet journey between the birth of our dreams and when we reach them, or perhaps as is more often the case we fail.

You will be touched by the simplicity and artistry of a cinematographer with few tools at his disposal and the quality of work that he can produce. A wonderful film for those of you who are into B flicks that are decidedly not Hollywood. Both of my thumbs way up on this one.

"People know my country as it is reflected in the world media. I tried to show how Cuban people actually live. I tried to show that we have dreams and hopes."

These were the words of the director; before I saw this excellent documentary in a special presentation for the foreign media, last November, in La Habana.

Technically, the movie has a fluent editing of parallel lives of Cuban people. The theme keeps the viewer a bit 'far' from the story; it is clear that the movie was made more for foreigners than the citizens. It has no dialogues; not even one word. Instead, it has very strong international visual symbols. So gains, the word 'Suite', its own international meaning.

Suite Habana, tries to show that excluded Cuban Society, is no different actually from all other societies; in a very calm and sensitive way.

I can hardly keep myself revealing the 'very clever' magnificent surprise of the documentary! It is better I stop writing now... Hoping to see it, at least once more.

I like this film very much. It shows - without words and dialogues - the life of 10 Cuban people. The meaning of their lifes, their dreams, their daily struggles and joys. The film goes first to ones heart and lateron to ones head. Brilliant camera, brilliant sounds, excellent dramaturgy.

A visual feast. Shows the lives of modern Cubans living in Havana during their daily routines. The music is wonderful and the editing is superb. There is no dialogue, the director relies on visual images along with some explanatory titles to tell the tale. A minimalist approach that works incredibly well!

There are no key scenes or plot points, no real acting, just a camera that follows the movie's subjects through their daily activities. During the bulk of the film all we are told (through a graphic) what the age of that particular subject is and possibly, their relationship with other people in the film. This is a slow moving and deliberate film but one which pays more attention to the minutiae of day-to-day life than any I have ever seen. There is a variety of music in the film, all of which added to its visual beauty. Practically no dialogue but I still left the theatre with a smile on my face. 7/10

This film shows the strict reality and the brights from the people in Havana. It shows the true situation of the Cuba that the tourists are hard to find in the resort area.

Each people in the film has own problem based on Cubian national problem like water supply and immigration to U.S.A. and so on but their face are so bright and so beautiful because they tries and tries for their dreams and their family even they're badly to make livings. Some people has dreams easily to make in developed country.

During the film, there's not so many conversation or explanation, it just shows the images of the truth of Cubian living and dreams and the Cubian sounds. I could feel their feeling sadness to passion for dreams and family. Quetly those Cubian appeal that if everybody just care for each other and love for each other, everybody can get happiness easily.

This is a sad and not very imaginative movie about a city on its deathbed, after decades of slow strangulation. The buildings are crumbling, there is hardly any paint left on the walls, everything is old, broken down, and worn out. So are the people, needless to say. Although Cuba's demographics don't lean toward the elderly section of the population, there are a lot of old people in the film, with special emphasis on their wrinkled skin that looks just like Havana's decrepit walls.

Everyone in the film is working hard, not a single person slouches in front of a TV or gets drunk in a bar, there are no prostitutes or drug dealers or thieves, there isn't a petty cell in anyone's body. It's a picture of working class virtue, which is why I find it boring. These aren't real people. Sure, I know Cubans are hard-working, well educated, and so on, but give me a break.

There are a few sexy bits here and there, a close-up of a hot girl's grinding haunches, some night-time partying, etc., but it tastes like sugar-coating. The film seems to tell you yeah, they are trying to have fun but they hardly have any heart left for it.

What is real about these people is their grimness. The drag queen and the Down's syndrome kid are the only ones with any emotion in the film. Everyone else is grim, grim, grim. You can see their dreams flaking away like the paint on their walls. 60 years of economic embargo will do that to you. It's a picture of the last days of a city under siege.

I had to watch this for university and it was the worst piece of media I have ever seen in my life! They call this a documentary. It cannot be called a documentary because there are no interviews or commentary -- it's just someone following people around with a camera in Cuba. Perhaps people think it's good and arty because it's "different" and not like the average documentary but seriously, there is no movement, direction or purpose to this and it's 85 minutes of my life I will never get back!! One will not learn much from this piece of media as it is not particularly informative. I found it hard to keep watching this, alone write an essay on it afterwards. Thanks a lot university, NOT!!!

Suite Habana is a perfect harmony of a story told entirely through the use of images and sounds, no dialogue but an Universal language instead. It follows the lives of several people in Havana during one day, impoverished and lacking but full of dignity. This is an exercise in world-class fimmaking, without selling out to commercialism.

As a Cuban American the effect of this film is heartbreaking, both in its complexity and depiction of a dilapidated society and a city in ruins. But I think it will also speak to several countries. Definitely the best film to come out of Cuba in the last 30 years. Not to be missed.

No words, just images, just the sounds of the city and a beautiful soundtrack ... A deep look into the day by day of several inhabitants of Cuba's most universal city: La Habana. A builder, a retarded boy, a dancer, a railway employee, an old woman who sells peanuts in the street, a woman who works in a factory of perfumes... A city in ruins, a country in ruins, working-hard-talented and natural born happy people that are losing the faith, and the hope, and their dreams because of the unmerciful and cruel policies of the Government of the United States Of America (and the people who supports them -those who vote, and those who don't vote against-), and that pig-headed called Castro (he sure has running water and nice food there in his Palace).

Fernando Pérez has made an outstanding job, showing us La Habana as it is, just placing his camera in different places, at different hours, in front of different people. He does not express any opinion, 'cause he does not need to: an image is more valuable than a thousand words, he may think. A view of the Malecón, those 50's cars, the extreme beauty of Cuban women, the ingenuity against the adversity... I don't think many north-Americans will watch this Documentary; but they sure would have to: they need to understand that this embargo condemns millions of people to misery, meanwhile Castro feels safe in his Crystal Palace. This embargo does not affects Castro, affects to the ordinary people of La Habana, Santiago De Cuba, Sierra Maestra, and so... What the USA is doing to Cuba it can be defined by some lyrics from Paul McCartney: LIVE AND LET DIE.

My rate: 8/10

I did not like this film at all. Very romantic Cuban style movie, without any edge at all. The fact that the maker of this film was allowed to make it and leave Cuba with the tapes, tells it all. This movie smells Cuban propaganda.

All the people have their problems, but all in all its really not much to talk about. You see a quite well functioning Havanna, where people actually work and looks forward. Do they? i cannot remember seeing that many people work at the same time, when i visitede the country in 98..

I don't say that all films like this have to be critical to the system, but when you make a film about this many Cubans i find it very strange not to include at least one person who dreams about: another government,democracy, freedom of speech, to be able to travel, to read what he/she wants...the list goes on...a person with dreams like these is not hard to find in Havanna. OK there was this guy who went to Miami, but i bet even Fidel was not insulted after seeing that scene.

I gave it 2 points because of the great photo shots.

Its a sin to use porn like music in a film about a country with a music tradition as strong as the Cuban.