Strawberry & Chocolate
by Juan Carlos Tab?o, Tom?s Guti?rrez Alea
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Actor: Francisco Gattorno, Joel Angelino, Jorge Perugorr?a, Mirta Ibarra, Vladimir CruzDirector: Juan Carlos Tab?o, Tom?s Guti?rrez Alea
Producer: Camilo Vives
Producer: Frank Cabrera
Producer: Georgina Balzaretti
Producer: Juan Mu?oz
Producer: Nacho Cobo
Writer: Senel Paz
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: Spanish (Original Language); English (Subtitled)
Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 108 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-01-13
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Walt Disney Video
DVD Reviews of Strawberry & Chocolate
DVD Review: Exploring love, ideas, and friendship in Havana
Summary: 4 Stars
I won't bother with plot points and such since lots of other reviewers have already done so, but I will say that this film is definitely worthy of the accolades and positive reviews it has received. I was particularly struck by the performance of Jorge Perugorr?a as the gay artist Diego. Perugorria's performance draws you in whether he is being sly and bitchy or indignant and passionate. His unrequited love for David (Vladimir Cruz) is both sweetly na?ve as well as crushingly sad. I won't give away the final scene, but I will say that without Perugorria's stellar performance throughout the film it would have been a less powerful moment.
But the film is more than just a gay man's infatuation with a young Marxist; it is also about the struggle of contradictory ideas and opinions in a world where the view is rigidly controlled. David is put off by Diego's flamboyance and flirtation, but he is quite fascinated by Diego's ideas and courage.
The action takes place mostly in Diego's apartment, but the scenes of Havana are stark and somewhat depressing, showing buildings and sidewalks crumbling from neglect. At one point Diego takes David to the roof of his building and laments the collapse of the once beautiful Havana.
The film was nominated for an Oscar and won numerous awards, including ones from the Berlin and Sundance film festivals, but its multiple awards at the Havana Film Festival may surprise some, considering the implicit criticism of the Cuban system contained in the film. Happily, Perugorria's extraordinary performance was recognized at the festival when he won for best actor.
DVD Review: From Cuba with Love
Summary: 5 Stars
"Strawberry and Chocolate"
From Cuba with Love
Amos Lassen and Cinema Pride
"Strawberry and Chocolate" is a celebration of life and non-conformity. It is about two men, one gay and one straight and how two very different people are really very much alike. They both love their homeland, Cuba and they learn what it is to love a human. Realism is the key to the movie and we also get a look at Cuba in ways we have not been privy to.
Diego is a cultivated but skeptical gay man who falls in love with a heterosexual Communist who is filled with prejudices and revolutionary ideas. The two men learn to love each other and overcome intolerance.
Set in contemporary Havana, the city seems to have lost some of its sheen and luster since Castro came to power. David (Vladimir Cruz) is a student and a strong Castro supporter. He is rebounding from the loss of his girlfriend. When his girlfriend decides to marry someone else, David goes to the wedding and there he meets Diego (Jorge Perugorria).
Diego is a flamboyant gay male and cannot disguise the sexual interest he has for David. When he sits himself down at a table in a sidewalk caf? and orders chocolate ice cream, he explains that some people like chocolate and some like strawberry. Thusly the film receives its name and hints at the relationship between the two men.
Diego wants to give David the education that he never received and he lures David to his apartment. David informs the government that Diego wants to see a forbidden art exhibit and is directed to become his friend in order to obtain more information about him. The two themes of the film are anti-gay resistance in Castro's Cuba and the betray-your-neighbor theme imposed by the police state.
Things go awry because no one conforms to what is expected of them. Everyone plays the government's game in public but they do exactly what they want in private.
Jorge Perugorria as Diego gives an amazing performance. His character develops from a limp-wristed clich?d gay man at the beginning and he later becomes a fascinating study of a man in conflict with the government because he is different on every level from what the system wants. He is a man with an independent spirit, a man who genuinely loves the arts and he is disappointed by the ideals f communism.
Vladimir Cruz as David also turns in a fine performance as a na?ve young man who discovers beauty through his friendship with Diego. He also finds himself seriously committed to a person for he first time.
The way the two men develop a friendship is amazing. The story is somewhat of a coming-of-age story because David learns how to think, gains a new maturity of sprit and can now develop a loving and mature relationship with a woman as a result his friendship with Diego.
It is good to have a "sweet" film about accepting difference and learning to accepting other points of view. It's not a gay movie--it is a movie about friendship and about the love that Cubans hove for their country. Havana is photographed beautifully but we see the heartbreak of the city. Showing how Cubans must feel when they have to leave their country and the difficulty with that is also an emphasis of the film.
Nominated for the Oscar as the best foreign film in 1995, it is hard to see how this movie did not take home the prize.
DVD Review: Fascinating Cultural Experience
Summary: 5 Stars
This movie was fascinating from beginning to end. I am not familiar with the Latin culture depicted in this movie and that made it all the more interesting to me.DVD Review: Dull
Summary: 1 Stars
This is a foreign film from Cuba. It's a story of a developing friendship between a gay man Diego who enjoys the finer things in life and a young Communist student. A first the student David is repelled by Diego and had to be manipulated to go to Diego's apartment. Slowly, David becomes Diego's buddy and he explores new ways at looking at life. Diego neighbor Nancy gets romantically involved with David.
Truthfully, this movie bored me. I don't care if it got nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture.
DVD Review: A Different Kind of Buddy Movie
Summary: 5 Stars
In this unique type of buddy movie we see how easily friendship and tolerance flourish amid the paranoia of the day.
David is a college student with a sheltered education. Diego is a comically charming gay intellectual who tries to pick him up over a dish of ice cream.
Underscored with political criticism and laced with clever dialog this movie presents modern day Cuba as a place where its easy to be ostriacized. Smart, funny and superblly acted, this film makes you think and makes you laugh.
Description of Strawberry & Chocolate
Robert Redford and Miramax Films proudly present STRAWBERRY & CHOCOLATE, the irresistible comedy treat that's received outstanding critical acclaim! Meet David -- a naive young college kid who's out on his own for the very first time. With the help of two extraordinary new friends, David soon learns everything there is to know about the things that aren't taught in school! Diego is the writer who teaches him about the passion of life ... and Nancy is the woman who teaches him about the passion of love! Nominated for the Academy Award(R) as Best Foreign Language Film in 1994, STRAWBERRY & CHOCOLATE is a deliciously fun-filled celebration of life at its entertaining best!This charming Cuban film details the unusual relationship between the flamboyant, educated Diego (Jorge Perugorr?a) and the young, homophobic, pro-Revolution David (Vladimir Cruz). Miserable at being dumped by his girlfriend, David at first spurns the attentions of Diego; however, at the prompting of his Communist roommate, Miguel (Francisco Gattorno), he cultivates an acquaintanceship with Diego in order to investigate his liberal leanings. Of course, Diego's cultured ways prove fascinating to the younger man and a true friendship grows. Add the slightly crazy neighbor Nancy (Mirta Ibarra), who frequently attempts suicide, as romantic fodder for David, and this playful drama becomes a heartwarming film. Disputed in its own country, this film was the first Cuban picture to be nominated for best foreign picture at the Academy Awards. --Jenny Brown
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