A rare glimpse of everyday life in Cuba, where big questions and obstacles confront the rappers at seemingly every turn.
Comment
03/08/07
East of Havana (2007)
80 %
Reviews Counted: 15 Fresh: 12 Rotten:3 Average Rating: 6.5/10
Runtime: 1 min 21 secs
Synopsis: Set in a Cuban ghetto, this documentary explores the coming-of-age of three poor young rappers struggling to make social change and save their futures through lyrics instead of violence. [More]
Genre: Musical & Performing Arts
Reviews
1 - 15 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Top Critic
East of Havana sets individual stories against the bitter, resilient landscape of Cuba's political history. For the youth in the film, music doesn’t just have a purpose, it is a purpose, and the artists find in hip-hop a 'mental freedom.'
03/08/07
If you thought that the Buena Vista Social Club was all that needed to be said about Cuban music, now there's East of Havana, which is about the Cuba rap scene.
02/15/07
East of Havana lacks the grace or intelligence to let the music speak for itself.
02/10/07
There are some memorable, evocative moments, but they are spoiled by the film's obvious and simplistic politics.
02/05/07
The film makes an ironic point about Cuba: This is a land where the grandparents are revolutionaries (or at least say they are) but the kids are yearning for capitalist globalization.
02/02/07
East of Havana celebrates Cuban rappers who tell the truth in a country that muzzles free speech.
02/02/07
Top Critic
It would have been nice to say that EAST OF HAVANA serves a terrific introduction to the world of Cuban hip-hop, but I cannot.
02/02/07
This alternately meditative and emotive documentary uses three Havana rappers as a vehicle in which to explore the struggles and frustrations of young Cubans surviving amid a crumbling revolution.
02/01/07
East of Havana, at its best, extols the Cuban hip-hop artist's sense of community and insistence on being heard through the rhetoric of Castro's revolution.
01/23/07
Visually striking (particularly the opening and end titles sequences), the film reveals the everyday lives of everyday people, both where and how they live.
11/29/06
Jauretsi Saizarbitoria's and Emilia Menocal's film serves as a metaphor about artistic freedom and wiliness.
11/04/06
Top Critic
Soandry flows with intelligence rarely seen now in the states; don't be surprised if you hear his name again.
03/23/06
1 - 15 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Related Forums
(Docu)-Jauretsi Saizarbitoria & Emilia Menocal's EAST OF HAVANA now set for 2/2/07!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 12/18/06
by: REEL_REVIEWER 12/18/06
(Docu)-Jauretsi Saizarbitoria & Emilia Menocal's EAST OF HAVANA now set for 2/2/07!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 12/18/06
by: REEL_REVIEWER 12/18/06
(Docu)-Jauretsi Saizarbitoria & Emilia Menocal's EAST OF HAVANA now set for 2/2/07!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 12/18/06
by: REEL_REVIEWER 12/18/06
(Docu)-Jauretsi Saizarbitoria & Emilia Menocal's EAST OF HAVANA now set for 2/2/07!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 12/18/06
by: REEL_REVIEWER 12/18/06
(Docu)-Jauretsi Saizarbitoria & Emilia Menocal's EAST OF HAVANA opens Jan. 26, 2007!!
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• East of Havana at Rotten Tomatoes
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