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“Irremediablemente juntos.” A new contribution to Cuban musical cinema

Autor: Jorge Calderón González | Fuente: CUBARTE | 14 de Agosto 2012

Broadway established a model in musical comedies; Hollywood later made it—through bright Technicolor images, with composers, specialized directors, actors who were also singers and dancers, filming in sets and locations—one of its most attractive cinema genres, specially, during the fifties of the past century.

Brazil made a fantastic work in 1986, “La opera del malandro” by Ruy Guerra. But, despite being a musical country par excellence, from 1959 to date we barely have full length films dedicated to this genre; they are some isolated titles such as “Un dia en el solar” (1965) by Eduardo Manet, and  “Patakín” (1982) by Manuel Octavio Gómez. 

However, not going that far in comparison and taking into account context, cultural and idiosyncrasy differences, I think that the biggest reference in “Irremediablemente juntos” (Cuba-Spain, 2012) by Jorge Luis Sanchez—in an explicit way—has been "Los Paraguas de Cherburgo"(The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, 1964) by Jacques Demy.

“Irremediablemente juntos” is a musical drama based on the play “Pogolotti-Miramar” by Alexis Vazquez. Racial prejudices are the main theme of the film. And “(...) Liz and Alexander drama is told through music and dances;” they are two young people from different social status; she´s white and he´s black and their respective families, marked and prisoners of old prejudices, opposed to their relationship. However, as we know and as it´s stated by Nadine Fernandez (1) “the interracial couples have inhabited in Cuba for centuries. They have been the engines of mixed races, which are Cuban  distinctive hallmarks since colonial times.”

The plot of the film also includes other supporting characters with their own conflicts, while, on the other hand, some syncretic cults, typical of our island, are registered as well.

Orián Suárez and Ariadna Núñez incarnate Alexander and Liz. Without any experience in cinema, he had to learn how to dance and took dance lessons from Isidro Rolando; and as required by her character, she had to sing besides acting.

Taking as a starting point the original play by Alexis Vazquez, now as a script—of which he´s also the author—Jorge Luis Sanchez created many  other plots. Thus the presence of characters performed by Blanca Rosa Blanco (Rosy), Luis Angel Batista (Richard), Wilfredo Candebat (Pedro), Fela Jar (Cándida), Abelardo López (Candelario), Monse Duany (Cristina), Alfredo Reyes (Mokongo) and Mireya Chapman (Sara). Anette Delgado and Dany Hernández, first dancers of the Cuban National Ballet were also present in the movie.

After six years without filming, Jorge Luis Sanchez has admitted that some of the roads taken in “El Benny” (2006), his first work, helped him to assume this new film. He has also made a great documentary that he dedicated to Elena Burke entitled “La Señora Sentimiento”.

The moviemaker had the collaboration of several composers in “Irremediablemente juntos”:  Eduardo Ramos, Tony Ávila, Fernando Bécquer, Fidel Díaz and Pedro Beritán, all involved in trova music. “There are texts that are also talking in the film. We tried the music to be an expressive element, not just too hermetic metaphors.”

In my opinion, “Irremediablemente juntos,” according to all the factors (actors direction, staff guide whether it´s artistic or technical, production and advertising costs), means a qualitative jump in the career of Jorge Luis Sanchez. This has also been possible—no questions about it—thanks to the level of the professionals accompanying him in this effort: José Manuel Riera, as photography director; Manuel Iglesias, in edition; and Isidro Rolando, choreographer. Art direction and customs design were in charge of Maykel  González and Vladimir Cuenca, respectively.

However, it could be said that the film is too long—almost two hours—and the fact that the songs haven´t been previously known might be the cause why we do not get interaction with them in the first place. But these are just details. Generally, the great effort of the complete team is visible—eleven weeks of filming—as well as the final result of the film, which I am most positive will have a great acceptance in the audience since it deals with present themes with enough interest and having music as a principal ingredient.

Note:

(1) Fernandez, Nadine. “Raza y Revolucion: parejas interraciales y cambio generacional.” (Race and Revolution: interracial couples and generational change). Temas magazine, April-June 2012. (p.61)

Translation: Adriana Pérez (Cubarte)