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The poverty and hardships encountered in Cuba's daily life don't stop some people
from still finding fun in their lives. Love and sexuality are abundant on their streets
(as well as in their beds) as they move to the beat and shake to the rhythm. Their
television sets may be in constant need of repair, but they still manage to get the
telenovela diet they crave. We catch glimpses of a closely-followed TV soap opera
as we get to know a number of real-life Cubans who watch it in the form of Gladys (a
tobacco worker), Silai (a beauty salon operator), Felix and Juana (a married man and
his extra-marital girlfriend), Marino (a Casanova), and Vilma (the girl Marino left his
wife for) as well as José, who repairs all the old Russian TV-sets found in the
households of this Havana community. José has magic hands that manage to fit up
the old sets with new tubes and pieces so that they function a little longer. They
enjoy watching the escapades of the actors, but, unfortunately, nothing much
changes in their own lives.
This documentary, like many of late, attests once again to the swaying and seductive
music emanating from this corner of the world. You can't help but laugh and enjoy
yourself along with the people you meet here, no matter how much you wish they
found themselves in a better situation. They "learn their lessons" from soap operas
(or, at least, see themselves reflected in them) and don't have energy for much else
than watching television at the end of a hard day's work. Director Uli Gaulke
manages to present us with a film that is a "real-life soap opera."
Have a look at the other IDFA 2000 reviews:
Wahlkämpfer (The Election Campaigners)
The Video Diary of Ricardo Lopez
The Eyes of Tammy Faye
AJAX - Daar Hoorden Zij Engelen Zingen (AJAX - Where They Heard The Angels Singing)
Os Carvoeiros (The Charcoal People)
11 and 12
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