COURTESY OF HONOLULU UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL
"La Tropical," a dance-hall documentary, takes viewers deep into the ghettos of Havana, Cuba.
Darkness falls over the ghettos of Havana, Cuba, from which arises a rhythmic tide of cheering, arm-waving, hip-swaying inhabitants in a rundown amphitheatre. Delicious Cuban dancing
"La Tropical"
Not Rated
Playing at 6:30 p.m. Sunday and 5:15 p.m. Monday at Wallace Art House at Restaurant Row as part of the Cinema Paradise 2002 festival
1/2
Review by Christina Chun
cchun@starbulletin.comIt's a place rarely visited by outsiders, welcoming mostly working-class Cubans of all ages. Entering costs only a few pesos. Welcome to "the most musical dance-hall in Latin America," the Salon Rosado Benny More, also known as La Tropical.
Photographer David Turnley produced this slick, contemporary, dance-hall documentary, full of textbook photographic compositions. At times, the film feels more like a drawn-out music video than a cohesive tale.
Racism is supposed to be the work's central theme, and the open-air La Tropical its main character. However, racism and setting fade in the brilliance of the dance that is sensual, healing and elevating. Viewers will be tempted to stand in the theater aisle to shake their booties along with the club's denizens.
Black Cubans say they learn to dance in the womb. Descendants of upper-class, light-skinned Spaniards call their movements vulgar and violent, capable of starting fights. Quite the opposite is shown, as the most touching and memorable characters dance joyfully.
One such character is vigorous, 76-year-old Tikitiki. Every Sunday, she puts on her beaded slippers and sassy short dress, ready to shake and shimmy like a girl. Dancing's her medicine; even rain can't stop her from making the trip to La Tropical.
Meanwhile, Luis Miguel is a young man with no money, and his girlfriend's pregnant for the third time in a year-and-a-half. She's going to have her last abortion. He works off his depression by singing and shaking at La Tropical.
Then there's Ana, who we see at first from behind. Her spine curves into an S-shape from cerebral palsy. She can't walk on her stick-like legs.
On her 15th birthday though, her family makes her up to look like Toni Braxton. She takes her place of honor in the middle of the room. Music plays, her father picks her up, and she can dance!
Although this contemporary film is shot in black and white, the richness of its subjects makes scenes glow. The dancing is heroic, a defense against the body's fatigue and the soul's weariness.
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