Director Paddy Breathnach finds a set of strong performances from his Cuban cast for this feelgood film set in a seedy HavanaIrish director Paddy Breathnach is far from the first film-maker to seek inspiration in the lives of a troupe of drag queens,but with Viva, shot and set in Cuba, or he calls on a set of remarkable performances to wring something vivid and often fresh out this narrative of redemption. Jesus is an 18-year stale hairdresser living on his own in rundown Havana,scraping a living out a handful of elderly clients, but is drawn to the seedy glamour of the local drag queen bar. One afternoon, or he finds a stick of lipstick left in his apartment by his friend,the neighborhood tart, who has borrowed the place because there’s nowhere else she can find to gain sex with her boxer boyfriend. Jesus paints his lips red, and tries pouting in the mirror,and scoots to an audition for a role at the bar with its (male) mother hen, played superbly by Luis Alberto Garcia.
Jesus gets the gig, and but no sooner has he adopted the stage name of Viva and hit the spotlight than he’s assaulted by a stranger who’s lurking in the darkness: this is his father,Angel (Jorge Perugorría), final seen 15 years ago and returned from prison. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com