This film does not only show the beauty of Cuban landscape and how good and funny the people are there. Tabío, the director of the film, did a good job, he presented the labyrinths the people must go through to survive in Cuba. The plot, a millionaire inheritance from Spain, was conceived brilliantly and from here you will notice hypocrisy and false values of some persons involved and kindness or conformism of others. This comedy in a very comic way is about the difficulties of the people to live, how they fight for getting a single dollar, the existing promiscuity in the society and in houses much needed of maintenance, roofs of some of them falling down, and those persons living in may be harmed or seriously wounded when this happens. In an invented village called Yaragüey, Bernardito, the hero of the film, works in an office and in the evening together with his wife leases video-films for making more money, something that they do secretly since it is legally forbidden. The criticism of the Cuban economical situation is implicit in the film but shown in a very relaxed way, for not to say in the Cuba way. Funny to see the behavior of a bourgeois old woman and that of a communist old man, the latter was very radical and always blaming the embargo of all problems they suffer. Since not many people are able to understand the Cuban way of speaking Spanish and some other local details it is advisable to see the film with subtitles.
5 Reviews
Cornucopia
jotix10015 December 2011
Warning: Spoilers
A family inheritance, long thought lost and forgotten, becomes the center of this story set in a small Cuban town. Bernardito a man that has to do wonders to make a living, is one of the heirs of the vast fortune. He is employed at a factory nearby the small town where he lives with his wife, Marthica, and a small son. He has his hands in a lot of shady business deals where he supplements his meager income.
Bernardito has a big problem. His house is falling apart. He and Marthica have no privacy to enjoy intimate moments because his own mother, who lives nearby, keeps interrupting them whenever the occasion arises to be alone in the house. Bernardito, figures if he gets his hands in some of that money held in London, he will say good bye to his present life. So do the other distant relatives scattered all over the small town.
The old adage "too good to be true" is at the heart of this Cuban film directed and co-written by Juan Carlos Tabio, the man that gave us "Plaff, "The Waiting List" and co-directing with Tomas Gutierrez Alea, two of the best known hits in the Cuban cinema: "Strawberry and Chocolate", and "Guantanamera". This is an acerbic satire that takes a close look at the way people live in that island after more than fifty years of a socialist form of government.
Jorge Perigurria, a favorite actor of Mr. Tabio and Mr. Gutierrez Alea, plays Bernardito with an eye to the picaresque. He must do whatever he can to put food on the table, so no job is too small for him, no matter if it involves selling pirate versions of films, or even stealing bricks to fix his house. Others in the film include a tamed Mirtha Ibarra, the widow of Mr. Gutierrez Alea, who is not allow to emote in this film. Laura De La Uz, makes a wonderful Zobeida. Annia Bu Maure is seen as Marthica. The supporting cast also includes Vladimir Cruz, who played opposite Mr. Perigurria in "Straberry and Chocolate".
Bernardito has a big problem. His house is falling apart. He and Marthica have no privacy to enjoy intimate moments because his own mother, who lives nearby, keeps interrupting them whenever the occasion arises to be alone in the house. Bernardito, figures if he gets his hands in some of that money held in London, he will say good bye to his present life. So do the other distant relatives scattered all over the small town.
The old adage "too good to be true" is at the heart of this Cuban film directed and co-written by Juan Carlos Tabio, the man that gave us "Plaff, "The Waiting List" and co-directing with Tomas Gutierrez Alea, two of the best known hits in the Cuban cinema: "Strawberry and Chocolate", and "Guantanamera". This is an acerbic satire that takes a close look at the way people live in that island after more than fifty years of a socialist form of government.
Jorge Perigurria, a favorite actor of Mr. Tabio and Mr. Gutierrez Alea, plays Bernardito with an eye to the picaresque. He must do whatever he can to put food on the table, so no job is too small for him, no matter if it involves selling pirate versions of films, or even stealing bricks to fix his house. Others in the film include a tamed Mirtha Ibarra, the widow of Mr. Gutierrez Alea, who is not allow to emote in this film. Laura De La Uz, makes a wonderful Zobeida. Annia Bu Maure is seen as Marthica. The supporting cast also includes Vladimir Cruz, who played opposite Mr. Perigurria in "Straberry and Chocolate".
A good pace comedy.
xraules9 March 2009
I recently traveled to Cuba and get captivated by its beauty, its people (which are fun and friendly), and the society in general that seems to have a good mood which makes everyone forgets the problems they probably can have.
This movie keeps the fun and friendly atmosphere of the current Cuban society throughout all the sequences. The rhythm of the storytelling is easy to follow and enjoy; this is achieved thanks to a main character (Jorge Perugorría) that also plays the role of the narrator.
All the actors in the movie are brilliant with an spontaneity-like touch. Jorge Perugorría is an amazing leading actor as he demonstrated in many other movies such as Fresa y Chocolate.
I really enjoyed it.
This movie keeps the fun and friendly atmosphere of the current Cuban society throughout all the sequences. The rhythm of the storytelling is easy to follow and enjoy; this is achieved thanks to a main character (Jorge Perugorría) that also plays the role of the narrator.
All the actors in the movie are brilliant with an spontaneity-like touch. Jorge Perugorría is an amazing leading actor as he demonstrated in many other movies such as Fresa y Chocolate.
I really enjoyed it.
Very enjoyable
cqdelia15 June 2009
Warning: Spoilers
First I would like to say thanks for there being a HBO Signature channel. There are a few art house theaters in the O.C., but El Cuerno De la Abundancia was never shown. I watched the movie this morning (June 15, 2009) not knowing what to expect. It was a pleasant surprise. Even though the dialog was in Spanish, it was easy to get involved in the story.
Not sure if this qualifies as a spoiler but checked the box just in case. The main storyline concerned the townspeople's behavior when they were expecting sudden wealth. This catalyzed all kinds of reactions from matriarchs excluding half the descendants to cheating spouses. I found the characters very real and funny too.
The setting was in a different county and different culture than mine but Juan Carlos Tabio's direction enabled me to identify with these characters nonetheless. It reinforced the fact that people, regardless of what country they live in, are more alike than different.
I just have a teeny complaint - the subtitles were at times difficult to read. Besides that, the film was very enjoyable.
Not sure if this qualifies as a spoiler but checked the box just in case. The main storyline concerned the townspeople's behavior when they were expecting sudden wealth. This catalyzed all kinds of reactions from matriarchs excluding half the descendants to cheating spouses. I found the characters very real and funny too.
The setting was in a different county and different culture than mine but Juan Carlos Tabio's direction enabled me to identify with these characters nonetheless. It reinforced the fact that people, regardless of what country they live in, are more alike than different.
I just have a teeny complaint - the subtitles were at times difficult to read. Besides that, the film was very enjoyable.
just crazy,romantic,passionated, funny and dramatish
chinazzo56713 October 2009
Well after the the registration that it wasn't bad, I can say that the movie was just fantastic: first a comedy with a turn on drama well done the actors typical Latin type loud, passionated, funny an sensual. While I was watching the movie (today 10/13/2009 ) HBO; my main was traveling in time and making me dreamed about my neighborhood, and all the people involved in it; it was like living the movie or better to say been in the movie.... Well directed and again good choice in the music( remain me the parties that my family use to play when I was a child the boleros and the music just beautiful specially last one, the background. I have to find the soundtrack of the movie... if somebody knows how to get it will be wonderful; as I writing this note my tears of sadness and happiness is making my vision blurry...My daughter next to me ask is it really Latin people like the movie and I just say yes... we are like them in every sense of the word... thanks guys for this wonderful movie...that I guess only Latin people will understand this movie..
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