This Havana-set drama from an Irish director was shortlisted for last year’s Best Foreign Film Oscar
There are a lot of things to like about “Viva.” It’s a stirring tale of personal empowerment, a vibrant portrait of life in the slums of Havana, and a moving portrayal of forgiveness. And I’ll get to all those things. But the movie, or rather its American distributor, commits one of my pet peeves.
This is a movie about a gay Cuban hairdresser who becomes a drag performer. All of the Spanish-language dialogue spoken is subtitled in English, but none of the sung (or lip-synced) lyrics are. This is something that crops up in foreign films regularly, and in this instance it’s especially annoying, since several key dramatic moments occur on stage as a character performs to a song. The words in that song are probably quite meaningful in the context of the story. But those of us who don’t comprehend Spanish will never know. (And, yes, of course, I should just learn Spanish, but that’s beside the point…)
Ok, rant over. Even with that completely avoidable lapse, “Viva” is an entertaining, inspiring flick, capably helmed by Irish director Paddy Breathnach. (Only in today’s globalized film universe could a Spanish-speaking movie set and filmed in Cuba be the Irish submission for the Best Foreign Film Oscar, which “Viva” was last year.) Breathnach’s previous credits include the psilocybin-themed horror flick “Shrooms,” so it would’ve been hard to guess that he was capable of this level of sensitive storytelling.
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