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From Amazon.co.uk
Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal's Chico & Rita--a rhapsody of love and heartache spanning Havana and New York in the 1940s and ‘50s--is also a musical tour beneath the lights and loudspeakers of two culturally tied but politically divided cities. Chico, an aging bootblack and former pianist in modern Havana, revisits the memory of his on-off inamorata, the impossibly sexy singer Rita. Their music, which once filled pre-revolutionary dancehalls, blossoms into love--but when a slick impresario lays New York at Rita's feet, their romance turns into a lovelorn odyssey across the continent. Oscar-nominated for Best Animated Feature in 2012, Rico & Chita pours a lifetime of connoisseurship into its incidental detail: animator Javier Mariscal has rebuilt 1950s New York, from the steaming drains up, as an outsider’s impression of the city--satin skyscrapers towering above the light-studded glamour and tropical bustle of Midtown Manhattan. The entirely diegetic score--classics from Thelonious Monk and Dizzie Gillespie, as well as new work from legendary composer Bebo Valdés--conjures up a belle époque of Americana: a time when American music, movies and cars were--or must have seemed to arriving Cubans--in their moment. Eventually, Chico makes it to New York, bought in by the tide of Latin influences lapping at the East coast, and pursues his career and his girl through the city’s seedy nightclubs and glitzy dance halls. But where American and Cuban styles seem to mix with an airy affinity, their politics sag heavily behind--and Chico and Rita’s careers founder on racial boundaries abroad and revolutionary upheaval back home. A happy ending looks cruelly unlikely, but don’t give up--a remarkable late-career comeback might just be on the cards. --Leo Batchelor
Product Description
United Kingdom released, PAL/Region 2 DVD: LANGUAGES: English ( Dolby Digital 5.1 ), Spanish ( Dolby Digital 2.0 ), English ( Subtitles ), WIDESCREEN (1.85:1), SPECIAL FEATURES: Commentary, Interactive Menu, Making Of, Scene Access, Trailer(s), SYNOPSIS: Cuba, 1948. Chico is a young piano player with big dreams. Rita is a beautiful singer with an extraordinary voice. Music and romantic desire unites them, but their journey - in the tradition; of the Latin ballad, the bolero - brings heartache and torment. From Havana to New York, Paris, Hollywood and Las Vegas, two passionate individuals battle impossible odds to unite in music and love. SCREENED/AWARDED AT: Toronto International Film Festival, ...Chico & Rita ( Chico and Rita )
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By S. J. Turner
Format:Blu-ray|Amazon Verified Purchase
I have been a big fan of Mariscals comic art since I first came across it years back and have been looking forward to seeing this for a long time especially as I have recently become a major Jazz convert.
The package contains a very good quite moving featurette about the making of the film which is not only helpful in understanding the film but also helped me clarify for me the only area where I can criticise the film. The animation was stongly based on real live action filming of scenes beforehand and does suffer from the same drawbacks of digital animation in that the characters tend to glide and lack life unlike most 2d drawn animation where exaggeration and input of the animators personality actually gives characters more life than most digimation. In someways the less realistic simplified Mariscal animals in his usual comicart are far more Jazz in spirit than these human characters photoshop type qualities.
On now to the strengths of the film. Mariscals backgrounds are stunning.40's Cuba and New York come to life in beautiful intricate detail. And the music. Here they have been spot on in not choosing to feature real life recordings of the Jazz musicians featured, instead they commisioned Jazz musicians to interpret the styles of those musicians which brings the score to life in a way archive material would have never achieved. I absolutely loved the Ben Webster scene and it was not surprising to hear the Sax player they used was an old friend of Ben Webster. The interplay between visuals and music is easily up to the standards of the best of Scorcese and Powell and Pressburger.... Read more ›
The package contains a very good quite moving featurette about the making of the film which is not only helpful in understanding the film but also helped me clarify for me the only area where I can criticise the film. The animation was stongly based on real live action filming of scenes beforehand and does suffer from the same drawbacks of digital animation in that the characters tend to glide and lack life unlike most 2d drawn animation where exaggeration and input of the animators personality actually gives characters more life than most digimation. In someways the less realistic simplified Mariscal animals in his usual comicart are far more Jazz in spirit than these human characters photoshop type qualities.
On now to the strengths of the film. Mariscals backgrounds are stunning.40's Cuba and New York come to life in beautiful intricate detail. And the music. Here they have been spot on in not choosing to feature real life recordings of the Jazz musicians featured, instead they commisioned Jazz musicians to interpret the styles of those musicians which brings the score to life in a way archive material would have never achieved. I absolutely loved the Ben Webster scene and it was not surprising to hear the Sax player they used was an old friend of Ben Webster. The interplay between visuals and music is easily up to the standards of the best of Scorcese and Powell and Pressburger.... Read more ›
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
I saw this film at the cinema and was amazed how a cartoon could capture me so completely! The animation and drawing (sorry, not very technical about these things!) really draw you in and you begin to feel it is real. In places I had tears in my eyes! If you've been to Havana it's lovely to try to spot places you know in the animation. It's a really sensitively made film and I loved it so I've put my pre-order in! Great music of course... The previous reviewer has said about the story line so I won't. As it's set around the time of the revolution it does show how awful it must have been if you were in the wrong place at the wrong time and separated from loved ones (hope that doesn't give too much away!). See it!!!!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By G. Herda
Format:DVD
Everything about this film is bliss. Once you see the car chase in 1950s Havanna, you are transported to this place and this time. The attention to detail is stunning but most of all this film breathes music. If you are remotely interested in the history of Jazz you will love the little hints and accurate details about the jazz giants of that era.
But even if you don't, right here is a deeply moving love story that you will never forget.
But even if you don't, right here is a deeply moving love story that you will never forget.
11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
By schesis
Format:DVD
I've been meaning to get hold of this since I first saw it advertised at cinemas a couple of years ago - having a Latin American girlfriend called Rita may have had something to do with that, but all the positive reviews here and elsewhere certainly helped.
Finally seeing it, though, is an enormous disappointment.
First, the quality of the DVD presentation. As mentioned by another reviewer here, the subtitles are hardcoded, so there's no way to see it without them (quite distracting if you speak Spanish) ... and of course that also means there aren't, for example, Spanish subtitles for viewers of this bilingual film who don't speak English.
Furthermore, seemingly arbitrary choices have been made as to which bits of the Spanish to bother subtitling - it's particularly noticeable with the musical numbers, as apparently the producers feel that nobody wants to know more than the first couple of lines of any of the songs.
The animation itself is also poor. It's a jarring mix of CGI and hand-drawn animation with wildly different frame rates, and while some of the hand-drawn stuff is fairly good (the animators clearly enjoy drawing beautiful women), at times it's surprisingly amateurish. I never want to see Chico's fingers again, that's for sure.
But the worst thing - the really, really disappointing thing - is the writing.
The story is not merely predictable but painfully clichéd, and the characterizations are stereotypical at best (and nonexistent at the all-too-often worst).
To the extent that there are characters at all, Chico is a machista manchild who we're apparently supposed to like for some reason, and Rita is just annoying.... Read more ›
Finally seeing it, though, is an enormous disappointment.
First, the quality of the DVD presentation. As mentioned by another reviewer here, the subtitles are hardcoded, so there's no way to see it without them (quite distracting if you speak Spanish) ... and of course that also means there aren't, for example, Spanish subtitles for viewers of this bilingual film who don't speak English.
Furthermore, seemingly arbitrary choices have been made as to which bits of the Spanish to bother subtitling - it's particularly noticeable with the musical numbers, as apparently the producers feel that nobody wants to know more than the first couple of lines of any of the songs.
The animation itself is also poor. It's a jarring mix of CGI and hand-drawn animation with wildly different frame rates, and while some of the hand-drawn stuff is fairly good (the animators clearly enjoy drawing beautiful women), at times it's surprisingly amateurish. I never want to see Chico's fingers again, that's for sure.
But the worst thing - the really, really disappointing thing - is the writing.
The story is not merely predictable but painfully clichéd, and the characterizations are stereotypical at best (and nonexistent at the all-too-often worst).
To the extent that there are characters at all, Chico is a machista manchild who we're apparently supposed to like for some reason, and Rita is just annoying.... Read more ›
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Jan
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I saw this film in the cinema and simply loved it, so I bought the DVD for several friends as soon as it was released. Happily the people I bought it for loved it as much as I did. Chico is a piano player, Rita is a singer and music brings them together - and also conspires to keep them apart. It's a tragic love story with wonderful jazz. If you can only think of Walt Disney's Snow White when you think of animation, this is the film to show you that this is an art form that can be very grown up as well. The use of colour is almost as stunning as the music. I just loved it!
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4.7 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantástico
This is just a fantastic film. I strongly recommend it. Nice music, good animation and great story. So go and buy this Dvd:-)
Published 9 months ago by Arturo Leguén Lores
1.0 out of 5 stars
This is stupid
This is more or less an animated concert of loud, jarring horns and trumpets filling up 90% of what I could stomach from the movie. It's total rubbish. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Dooscah
5.0 out of 5 stars
PURE MAGIC ! ENTHRALLING ANIMATION !
Just seen the DVD, was totally taken by it - Description of the era/places/emotions extraordinary, beautiful love story, incredible drawings details AND fabulous sound track ! Read more
Published 12 months ago by Kat
1.0 out of 5 stars
chico and rita dvd
Total rip off as this dvd showed up as only being able to be viewed by a Euro or UK type of player. So it didn't work and I was upset that I was not warned of this anywhere in the... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Tom Luciani
3.0 out of 5 stars
Chico and Rita
The music was great and the story was romantic but I thought the animation was poor. The animation lacked artistic creativity and too frequently relied upon stereotypes to depict... Read more
Published 15 months ago by narrowgirl
5.0 out of 5 stars
Chico and Rita (DVD)
A great deal of the charm of this animated film is due to beautiful singer Idania Valdes, who recreates sweet and soft romantic versions of Latin standards such as Beseme Mucho. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Derek Vernon-morris
4.0 out of 5 stars
A joy
A love story to Cuba and afrojazz, funny and sad. A sumptious visual and aural treat. The film captures Cuba on the brink of communism and dicatorship.
Published 17 months ago by KM
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great
Came on time package was great as well , film is really good and everyone should see it will get more bluerays
Published 20 months ago by showbiz
4.0 out of 5 stars
Chico and Rita
`Chico and Rita' is a wonderful animation mainly set in Havana, Cuba, but also taking in New York, Paris and Las Vegas. Read more
Published 22 months ago by Spider Monkey
5.0 out of 5 stars
Music from Havana
I bought this DVD for my sister in law's mother aged 83. She was born & brought up in Cuba and only left when Castro came to power in 1959. Read more
Published 22 months ago by RFC
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