Strawberry and chocolate
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Strawberry and chocolate |
| Original title | Fresa y chocolate |
| Country of production | Mexico , Cuba , Spain |
| original language | Spanish |
| Publishing year | 1994 |
| length | 108 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Tomás Gutiérrez Alea |
| script | Senel Paz |
| production |
Georgina Balzaretti Frank Cabrera Camilo Vives |
| music | José María Vitier |
| camera | Mario García Joya |
| cut |
Osvaldo Donatién Rolando Martínez Miriam Talavera |
| occupation | |
| |
Strawberry and Chocolate (Original title: Fresa y chocolate ) is a feature film by the Cuban director Tomás Gutiérrez Alea from 1993 about two men in Havana . The main roles were played by Jorge Perugorría and Vladimir Cruz . Juan Carlos Tabío co-directed the film and Senel Paz wrote the script .
action
The student David is in love with a young woman who wants to wait to have sex until marriage. He promises her to wait until the wedding night. Some time later she marries a wealthy older man who can offer her more materially and leaves David with a broken heart. Diego, a gay artist with great doubts about the communist system of Cuba, ensnares David, who is enthusiastic about the system and seeks his way. Your first encounter takes place in the famous ice cream parlor Coppelia. Diego, who imports books by Mario Vargas Llosa and other authors from abroad and tries to organize exhibitions of Christian sculptures, is crazy about strawberry ice cream and men, while lovesick David loves chocolate ice cream and women.
Diego tries to seduce David. David is outraged and wants to report Diego to the party leadership. However, he gets the order from a fellow student and party friend to form a friendship with Diego in order to spy on him. David agrees, but, contrary to expectations, a real friendly relationship develops between the two men. David doesn't feel like blackening Diego anymore and risks being the victim of reprisals himself. David gains insight into Diego's artistic world and his liberal views. Diego's lonely, neurotic neighbor Nancy also meets David and falls in love with him, creating jealous tensions between Diego and Nancy. Ultimately, however, Diego ensures that Nancy and David sleep together by indirectly coupling the two together. David's lovesickness is eventually healed. Diego, who faces increasing repression, has to leave Cuba. He looks at the skyline of his beloved Havana one last time and David loses a good friend. David has become self-confident and campaigns publicly for his persecuted friend.
background
José Lezama Lima , whom Diego calls a favorite writer, served as a real model for the figure of the homosexual writer and esthete Diego, who is in conflict with the ruling order due to his lifestyle .
The apartment that Diego lives in in the film is in reality the location of the private restaurant “La Guarida” in the Centro Habana district , one of the most famous and exclusive restaurants in the city.
The Cuban salsa band Los Van Van alluded to the film by using the symbols chocolate and strawberry in their hit El Travesti , which is about a transvestite .
criticism
The lexicon of international films judged the film to be “a humanly moving and extremely entertaining plea for respect and tolerance. Emotional cinema in the best sense, staged with a sure hand between the extremes of melodrama and ironic farce. ” Prisma noted that strawberry and chocolate are “ an impressive picture of Cuban society that shows a friendship that also includes socio-political taboos (including homosexuality in Cuba still) can overcome. "
Awards
At the 13th International Festival of New Latin American Film in Havana (Festival Internacional del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano) in 1993, the film won numerous awards; the “Big Coral”, the ARCI-NOVA Prize, the OCIC Prize, the Audience Prize, the FIPRESCI Prize and in the categories of Best Director, Best Actor (Jorge Perugorría) and Best Supporting Actress (Mirta Ibarra). At the 1995 Sundance Film Festival , the film received the special jury award for an "Honorable Mention". At the 1994 Berlinale , the film took part in the competition for the Golden Bear , but had to admit defeat to Jim Sheridan's In the Name of the Father . For this, strawberry and chocolate won the Teddy Award and the jury's Silver Bear in Berlin . At the Brazilian Gramado Film Festival , the film was awarded the Kikito Critics' Prize, the Golden Kikito for Best Latin American Film, for Best Supporting Actress (Mirta Ibarra), twice for Best Actor (Jorge Perugorría and Vladimir Cruz) and the Audience Award.
At the Academy Awards in 1995 (or 1994 according to the official count) the film was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film , but could not prevail against the Russian film The Sun That Deceives Us . At the 1995 Goya award , the film won the Best Foreign Film in Spanish Language category.
Web links
- Strawberry and Chocolate in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Strawberry and Chocolate at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Fernando Guerrero: José Lezama Lima: El maestro en broma. Verbum, Madrid 2013, p. 150 (Spanish).
- ↑ Helene Zuber: Skirmishes in the park . In: Der Spiegel , November 15, 1999, accessed on March 3, 2015.
- ↑ Gavin McOwan: Dinner and a movie? . In: The Guardian , October 8, 2005, accessed March 3, 2015.
- ↑ Strawberry and Chocolate. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed March 2, 2017 .
- ↑ See prisma.de