Chico & Rita (2010)

Genres

Animation | Drama | Music | Romance

Directors

Fernando Trueba | Javier Mariscal | Tono Errando

Countries

Spain | UK

Voice Cast

Limara Meneses, Eman Xor Oña, Mario Guerra, Bebo Valdés, Idania Valdés, Estrella Morente, Freddie Cole, Jimmy Heath, Pedrito Martinez, Michael Philip Mossman, Amadito Valdés, German Velazco, Yaroldi Abreu

Storyline

Now old and retired, Cuban pianist Chico (Eman Xor Oña) remembers his turbulent love story with jazz singer Rita (Limara Meneses) and his rise and fall as a musician.

Opinion

I didn't care much for "Chico & Rita" when it came out; nor did I when it was nominated for Best Animated Picture at the Oscars. Month ago, though, I saw a few frames and I was immediately seduced by the different animation and I added to my watchlist. I have to say that it took me a while to check it out but it was totally worth it. The film was indeed an excellent, artistic and charming animated film. Don't let your kids watch it, it's meant for adults.

That being said, let's talk about the story, a simple yet believable, fascinating and involving story dealing with racism, prostitution, murder, regret, hope, music and love. The latter two are the main focus of the film and the film's greatest strengths.

There isn't only one kind of love involved. There's love of music, love of country, love of fame, and then the love of someone else. There's a good balance among them, but the turbulent love story between Chico and Rita is definitely the one standing out. It is both outdated and refreshing; it isn't anything new and quite clichéd but it's beautifully told.

There isn't much character development - the characters are actually barely a sketch -, still you're going to care for them because you can feel they are meant for each other.

As I mentioned before, the music plays a very important role in the film. It is beautifully blended into the story and it adds passion to it. So the beautiful soundtrack isn't only a tribute to Cuban music but really adds to the movie.

One of the most astonishing aspects of "Chico & Rita" is the animation, the reason I watched the film. Forget about 3D animation and CGI, there's none of that here. Instead, the animation - I should probably say draws - is hand-drawn and quite simple, yet beautiful. The characters are old school, made of areas of uniform colours with darker sections for the shades. The backgrounds are incredibly detailed. The colours are so vivid. And all together they portray Cuba in a stunning, stylish way.