Bitter Sugar (Azucar Amarga)
Picture: C+ Sound: C+ Extras: D Film: B+
Bitter Sugar (1996) is an incredible film
that somehow went unnoticed upon its original release. This is all the more interesting since its
director, Leon Ichaso, was coming off the high-profile U.S. release Sugar
Hill (1994, not narratively related to this film) starring Wesley
Snipes. While that was not a huge
commercial or critical success, where were the critics when Bitter Sugar arrived?
Not where they should have been, supporting a film
that had so much going for it. This is
a film that tells us volumes about modern Cuba, how the nightmare of Castro
still hangs on, about the lives of the U.S.’s too often ignored neighbors, and
the many ways people hope to make their hopes and dreams possible. This film has great depth, but something
sinister and political obviously stopped this winner from finding its
audience. The audience is still there
to win, especially on a DVD of the film this good.
The full screen, black and white image is a real
treat, offering a crisp, clean image.
Though this is modern black and white, meaning it is not as dark; the
way it is shot is stunning. The film is
able to be beautiful, and then show darkness & ugliness in no time. This is due to fine editing, in combination
with one of the best uses of monochrome in the last few decades. Day or night shots, this looks good. It
should also make one wonder if the choice of black and white is somehow a response
to the use of monochrome in the 1964 Cuban propaganda classic I Am Cuba. Either way, the contrasts are fascinating.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 sound is in stereo and plays
back nicely in Pro Logic. The Latin
music is more purely so than the pop-washed version U.S. listeners have endured
lately. The dialogue is not too much in
the center channel, as tends to be the case too often in Pro Logic
playback. This sounds very
naturalistic, which only enhances the location shooting. The combination of the two makes for one of
the best black and white movies on DVD yet, worthy of Paramount’s DVD of John
Frankenheimer’s Seconds, Columbia’s Last Picture Show,
Criterion’s Spellbound, A&E’s The Avengers TV series,
Universal’s Touch Of Evil, Kino’s Metropolis, or Warner’s Citizen
Kane. Those who miss black and
white will find Bitter Sugar a revelation that monochrome lives, and can
still have great impact in storytelling.
The theatrical trailer, along with profiles of
director Ichaso and seven of the actors, in generously informed segments that
tell us about some very talented people we are simply not seeing enough of, are
the few extras offered. The cast
consists of: Rene Lavan, Mayte Vilan, Miguel Gutierrez, Larry Villanueva,
Teresa Maria Rojas, Orestes Matacena, and Luis Celeiro.
Gustavo (Lavan) is a young, idealistic, smart
supporter of the Revolution in Cuba, who has a promising future. Unfortunately for him, his Rock musician
brother (Villanueva) is a target of the government, his father (Gutierrez) is
barely surviving his psychiatry business, and then he has fallen in love with
the stunning Yolonda (Vilan). What
transpires will challenge everything Gustavo stands for.
Screenplay by Leon
Ichaso & Orestes Matacena, based on the story by Ichaso & Pelayo
Garcia, Cinematography by Claudio Chea, Edited by Yvette Pineyro, Music by
Manuel Tejada, and Directed by Leon Ichaso.
Another things that strikes the viewer immediately
is how concerned the film is with the people in it, so any political points of
view it has are never contrived. This
film earns its convictions, heart and soul.
It has some great moments of humor, then some shocking moments of
horror. It is not a very violent film
visually, but will move the viewer who invests into the story, rewarding them
strongly. Many an American filmmaker,
especially the bad ones who keep getting hired, really needs to see this
film. It would give them a perspective
on all the bad conventional ways they are going wrong in storytelling, digital
effects notwithstanding.
Outside of the academic, cinematic or political,
this is extremely well acted and well written. Of the many reviews of rarely
seen feature films of late, Bitter Sugar has been the biggest
surprise. The DVD has a fine
presentation of an excellent film.
Everyone should pick this one up.
- Nicholas Sheffo
