#72 - Honey for Oshun

You haven't heard of this movie? Could that be because you don't speak Spanish? Or, could that be because you are not of Cuban origin? I told you I would watch everything and if atomic bombs and BET movies weren't evidence enough, this should be. The difference is, this movie has something to offer the world. It's a simple story of a man returning to Cuba thirty years after being seperated from his mother and brought to America. He is on a search to find out who he real is, and reunite with his long lost mother. Not neccessarily brand new stuff, but there are some things about movie that make it unique.

I think the most important thing about this movie is that it was shot on location in Cuba. For someone like me, that means I was seeing images of Cuba that I have never seen before. The search that this man has takes him on a Plains, Trains, and Automobiles type of journey across Cuba...only serious. The camera follows him through the markets of Havana, into the countryside of Cuba, and into remote coastal towns. He does this in broken vehicles, old bicycles, and in the backs of trucks. There is a sense of the environment of Cuba that I haven't ever seen. Usually Cuba is all about Castro and his rule, but this movie doesnt mention it all and sticks with a more personal look at what it means to be in Cuba. Of course, not mentioning Castro is probably how they got this movie made.

I did have problems with this movie. First of all, can we put all subtitles in yellow? Yellow is the best color to use because it is usually in contrast with everything else on the screen. If the subtitles are white, at some point they will be in front of the color white, and then NOBODY can read them. I had the same problem with some of the Italian movies reviewed earlier, but didnt mention it until now.

The second problem that I had with this movie is that it was WAAAAAY too dramatic. The internal struggle of the main character was a little too thick. Make that a LOT too thick. It made it hard to sympathize with the main character because he is ultimately a selfish bastard. He pisses his fellow travelers off which leads to shouting matches where everybody screams out how hard their life has been and why. Too much. There's already a structure there that works and the heavy drama distracts from it too much.

On the whole, for me this movie was just alright. Seeing images of Cuba I have never seen before was really what was the most interesting to me. How the main character got across Cuba was somewhat entertaining, but ultimaately was overshadowed by the heavy drama. About halfway through the movie I realized that this movie would probably have more impact on the people of Cuba or Cuban immigrants who have severed familial relationships. If you look up this movie on imdb.com, you will read a user's comment that slams this movie. Pay attention to the fact that this guy is from Mexico. Sometimes you have to put yourself in the mindset of the target audience to see the true value of a movie. This movie does have its faults, but there is a connection that is being made between the main character and people in a similar situation, and that is what really matters, not production value.