Chico and Rita
Encyclopedia
Chico and Rita is an animated feature-length film directed by Fernando Trueba
and Javier Mariscal
. The story of Chico and Rita is set against backdrops of Havana
, New York City
, Las Vegas
, Hollywood and Paris
in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
– brings heartache and torment.
met designer and artist Javier Mariscal
ten years ago when he asked him to create a poster for his Latin jazz
documentary Calle 54
. So began a collaboration that saw Mariscal
design all the artwork for Trueba’s Calle 54
Records, make animated pop promos for the label, and together create a jazz
-music restaurant in Madrid
. The idea to make an animated feature film emerged out of one of those pop promos, La Negra Tomasa by Cuban musician Compay Segundo.
Mariscal’s younger brother Tono Errando, with a background in music, film and animation, leads the audio-visual side of the multi-disciplinary creative company, and was chosen to collaborate with Trueba and Mariscal.
From the beginning, all three men were excited by the idea of making a film set against the Havana music scene in the late-40s and 50s. “That age is beautiful in design and architecture
, so visually it belongs very much to Mariscal’s world,” says Errando.
“And in music it’s a moment that’s fantastic: it’s the moment where Cuban musicians go to New York
and join the Anglo Saxon jazz musicians. This fusion changed the music at that time.”
, Mariscal completed an intense research trip. Although, the economic stagnation of the Castro
regime has spared Havana
the ravages of rapid development in the past five decades, many of the buildings from that era have suffered from decay. But the film-makers came across a treasure trove when they discovered that the city government of the time had assembled an archive of photographs to help with street repairs. They found pictures of every street corner in Havana from 1949, and despite their efforts to ignore the injustices of that period, still manage to convey the look and mood of the era.
The team also found pictures taken inside the planes ferrying Americans to the party island. Mariscal explained that the planes arriving from New York
, Washington and Miami during that period were filled with Cuban musicians entertaining the passengers. They provided lots of information about the Cubans of that era, the clothes, the faces, the streets, billboards, cars, bars, the way they lived, the incredible life of Havana.
2010
The film appeared at the following film festivals:
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures distributed the film in 100 Spanish theaters on February 25, 2010.
The film had a special screening at the Barbican Centre
on 25 September It opened across UK cinemas on 19 November 2010.
2011
. At the 25th Goya Awards
, the film won the award in the category for Best Animated Film
. It is also nominated in the same category at the 24th European Film Awards
, which will be held in Berlin on December 3, 2011.
The BBC
's Mark Kermode
listed the film fifth in his top five films of 2010.
Philip French
called the film "the year's best musical and one of the year's finest animated films" and an "utterly delightful, ... affecting, funny, historically accurate and at times pleasingly erotic story."
Sounds and Colors called the film "a crowning achievement; a mixture of great animation, music and history with a narrative that reads like the simple story of heartbreak that bestows the greatest of love songs"
In March 2011, The Miami Herald
said "the film melds dazzling visuals and a wildly infectious score into a simple yet affecting love story" and while the "first 30 minutes of Chico & Rita achieve a giddy high the rest of the movie can never match", "Chico & Rita makes you fall hard for music, as hard as the protagonists fall for each other, and the movie is decent enough to give its lovebirds the tender finale they deserve."
Fotogramas, the oldest and most prestigious film magazine in Spain, gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and praised how its characters were "more human and alive than many real actors".
Variety negatively reviewed the film, calling it "a test, one that gauges whether your love of Cuban jazz can exceed your threshold for lousy animation...[in] an unflattering style, like a children's coloring book
with its rudimentary line drawings and stiff, expressionless characters"; the film was "evocative enough of late-'40s Havana, and the sweaty, sensual music of the time."
. It features music by Thelonious Monk
, Cole Porter
, Dizzy Gillespie
and Freddy Cole
.
According to Tono Errando, "it was the moment when new musicians came along like Charlie Parker
and Dizzy Gillespie
with a new kind of music, that is not for dancing, full of notes, played really fast, a music that now we call jazz
. Then the Cuban musicians arrived. Dizzy Gillespie has said many times in interviews, there was a moment for him that was very important, it was the moment he first played with Chano Pozo
. Pozo was the first percussionist that played in a jazz band."
Cuban pianist, bandleader, composer and arranger of the film Bebo Valdés
was living in obscurity in Stockholm, when Trueba reintroduced his playing to an international audience with his film Calle 54
, and went on to produce the Grammy-winning Lagrimas Negras album, teaming Valdes with flamenco singer Diego “El Cigala”.
Trueba was also able to persuade the real-life flamenco star Estrella Morente
, who has been performing since the age of seven, to participate in the film.
Musicians featured in the film include Chucho Valdes
,
Dizzy Gillespie
,
Charlie Parker
,
Chano Pozo
,
Tito Puente
,
Ben Webster
, and
Thelonious Monk
.
Fernando Trueba
Fernando Trueba is a Spanish book editor, screenwriter, film director and producer.Between 1974 and 1979 worked as a film critic for Spain's leading daily newspaper EL PAIS. In 1980, founded the monthly film magazine CASABLANCA, which he edited and directed during its first two years...
and Javier Mariscal
Javier Mariscal
Javier Mariscal is a Valencian Spanish artist and designer whose work has spanned a wide range of mediums, ranging from painting and sculpture to interior design and landscaping. He was born in February 1950 in the city of Valencia, Spain, into a family of eleven brothers and sisters...
. The story of Chico and Rita is set against backdrops of Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Las Vegas
Las Vegas metropolitan area
The Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
, Hollywood and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
Synopsis
A gifted songwriter and beautiful singer chase their dreams – and each other – from Havana to New York and Las Vegas. Chico is a young piano player with big dreams. Rita is a beautiful singer with an extraordinary voice. Music and romantic desire unite them, but their journey – in the tradition of the Latin ballad, the boleroBolero
Bolero is a form of slow-tempo Latin music and its associated dance and song. There are Spanish and Cuban forms which are both significant and which have separate origins.The term is also used for some art music...
– brings heartache and torment.
Collaborators
Director Fernando TruebaFernando Trueba
Fernando Trueba is a Spanish book editor, screenwriter, film director and producer.Between 1974 and 1979 worked as a film critic for Spain's leading daily newspaper EL PAIS. In 1980, founded the monthly film magazine CASABLANCA, which he edited and directed during its first two years...
met designer and artist Javier Mariscal
Javier Mariscal
Javier Mariscal is a Valencian Spanish artist and designer whose work has spanned a wide range of mediums, ranging from painting and sculpture to interior design and landscaping. He was born in February 1950 in the city of Valencia, Spain, into a family of eleven brothers and sisters...
ten years ago when he asked him to create a poster for his Latin jazz
Latin jazz
Latin jazz is the general term given to jazz with Latin American rhythms.The three main categories of Latin Jazz are Brazilian, Cuban and Puerto Rican:# Brazilian Latin Jazz includes bossa nova...
documentary Calle 54
Calle 54
Calle 54 is a 2000 documentary film about Latin jazz by Spanish director Fernando Trueba. With only minimal introductory voiceovers, the film consists of studio performances by a wide array of Latin Jazz musicians. Artists featured include Chucho Valdés, Bebo Valdés, Cachao, Eliane Elias, Gato...
. So began a collaboration that saw Mariscal
Javier Mariscal
Javier Mariscal is a Valencian Spanish artist and designer whose work has spanned a wide range of mediums, ranging from painting and sculpture to interior design and landscaping. He was born in February 1950 in the city of Valencia, Spain, into a family of eleven brothers and sisters...
design all the artwork for Trueba’s Calle 54
Calle 54
Calle 54 is a 2000 documentary film about Latin jazz by Spanish director Fernando Trueba. With only minimal introductory voiceovers, the film consists of studio performances by a wide array of Latin Jazz musicians. Artists featured include Chucho Valdés, Bebo Valdés, Cachao, Eliane Elias, Gato...
Records, make animated pop promos for the label, and together create a jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
-music restaurant in Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
. The idea to make an animated feature film emerged out of one of those pop promos, La Negra Tomasa by Cuban musician Compay Segundo.
Mariscal’s younger brother Tono Errando, with a background in music, film and animation, leads the audio-visual side of the multi-disciplinary creative company, and was chosen to collaborate with Trueba and Mariscal.
From the beginning, all three men were excited by the idea of making a film set against the Havana music scene in the late-40s and 50s. “That age is beautiful in design and architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
, so visually it belongs very much to Mariscal’s world,” says Errando.
“And in music it’s a moment that’s fantastic: it’s the moment where Cuban musicians go to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and join the Anglo Saxon jazz musicians. This fusion changed the music at that time.”
Production
Before drawing the locations in CubaCuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, Mariscal completed an intense research trip. Although, the economic stagnation of the Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
regime has spared Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
the ravages of rapid development in the past five decades, many of the buildings from that era have suffered from decay. But the film-makers came across a treasure trove when they discovered that the city government of the time had assembled an archive of photographs to help with street repairs. They found pictures of every street corner in Havana from 1949, and despite their efforts to ignore the injustices of that period, still manage to convey the look and mood of the era.
The team also found pictures taken inside the planes ferrying Americans to the party island. Mariscal explained that the planes arriving from New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Washington and Miami during that period were filled with Cuban musicians entertaining the passengers. They provided lots of information about the Cubans of that era, the clothes, the faces, the streets, billboards, cars, bars, the way they lived, the incredible life of Havana.
Release
The film has been shown at the following festivals and released in the UK and Spain.2010
The film appeared at the following film festivals:
- Telluride Film FestivalTelluride Film FestivalThe Telluride Film Festival was started in 1974 by Bill and Stella Pence, Tom Luddy and Jim Card in the town of Telluride, Colorado, United States. It is operated by the National Film Preserve....
on September 4, 2010 - Toronto International Film FestivalToronto International Film FestivalThe Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...
in September 2010 - London Spanish Film festival on 6 October 2010
- London Latin American Film Festival in November 2010
- Holland Animation Film Festival in November 2010
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures distributed the film in 100 Spanish theaters on February 25, 2010.
The film had a special screening at the Barbican Centre
Barbican Centre
The Barbican Centre is the largest performing arts centre in Europe. Located in the City of London, England, the Centre hosts classical and contemporary music concerts, theatre performances, film screenings and art exhibitions. It also houses a library, three restaurants, and a conservatory...
on 25 September It opened across UK cinemas on 19 November 2010.
2011
- Cape Town Design/FilmFest at Design Indaba February 2011
- Miami International Film FestivalMiami International Film FestivalThe Miami International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Miami, Florida in the late winter. The film festival is sponsored by the Miami Film Society, which has been around since 1983....
March 2011 - TYPO Berlin 2011 Design Conference on May 19
- Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival (opening gala show) September 2011
Reception
Chico & Rita was broadly praised by critics upon release, gaining a score of 94% on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
. At the 25th Goya Awards
25th Goya Awards
The 25th Goya Awards were given on February 13 of 2011 to honour the best in Spanish films of 2010. Black Bread by Agustí Villaronga won nine awards, including Best Film and Best Director.-Major awards:-Other award nominees:...
, the film won the award in the category for Best Animated Film
Goya Award for Best Animated Film
The Goya Award for Best Picture is one of the Goya Awards, Spain's principal national film awards.In the list below the winner of the award for each year is shown first, followed by the other nominees....
. It is also nominated in the same category at the 24th European Film Awards
24th European Film Awards
The 24th European Film Awards are scheduled to be presented on 3 December 2011 in Berlin, Germany. The winners will be selected by the over 2,500 members of the European Film Academy.-Best Film:-Best Director:-Best Actress:-Best Actor:...
, which will be held in Berlin on December 3, 2011.
The BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's Mark Kermode
Mark Kermode
Mark Kermode is an English film critic, musician and a member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. He contributes to Sight and Sound magazine, The Observer newspaper and BBC Radio 5 Live, where he presents Kermode and Mayo's Film Reviews with Simon Mayo on Friday afternoons...
listed the film fifth in his top five films of 2010.
Philip French
Philip French
Philip French is a British film critic and former radio producer.French, the son of an insurance salesman, was educated at the direct grant Bristol Grammar School, read Law at Oxford University. and post graduate study in Journalism at Indiana University, Bloomington on a scholarship.He has been...
called the film "the year's best musical and one of the year's finest animated films" and an "utterly delightful, ... affecting, funny, historically accurate and at times pleasingly erotic story."
Sounds and Colors called the film "a crowning achievement; a mixture of great animation, music and history with a narrative that reads like the simple story of heartbreak that bestows the greatest of love songs"
In March 2011, The Miami Herald
The Miami Herald
The Miami Herald is a daily newspaper owned by The McClatchy Company headquartered on Biscayne Bay in the Omni district of Downtown Miami, Florida, United States...
said "the film melds dazzling visuals and a wildly infectious score into a simple yet affecting love story" and while the "first 30 minutes of Chico & Rita achieve a giddy high the rest of the movie can never match", "Chico & Rita makes you fall hard for music, as hard as the protagonists fall for each other, and the movie is decent enough to give its lovebirds the tender finale they deserve."
Fotogramas, the oldest and most prestigious film magazine in Spain, gave the film 4 out of 5 stars and praised how its characters were "more human and alive than many real actors".
Variety negatively reviewed the film, calling it "a test, one that gauges whether your love of Cuban jazz can exceed your threshold for lousy animation...[in] an unflattering style, like a children's coloring book
Coloring book
A coloring book is a type of book containing line art for a reader to add color using crayons, colored pencils, marker pens, paint or other artistic media...
with its rudimentary line drawings and stiff, expressionless characters"; the film was "evocative enough of late-'40s Havana, and the sweaty, sensual music of the time."
Music
The film has an original soundtrack by Cuban pianist, bandleader and composer Bebo ValdésBebo Valdés
Bebo Valdés is a Cuban pianist, bandleader, composer and arranger. He was a central figure in the golden age of Cuban music, led two famous big bands, and was one of the 'house' arrangers for the Tropicana Club.Valdés started his career as a pianist in the night clubs of Havana during the 1940s...
. It features music by Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
, Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
, Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
and Freddy Cole
Freddy Cole
Lionel Frederick Cole is an American jazz singer and pianist, whose recording career has spanned over fifty years. He is leader of the Freddy Cole Quartet, which regularly tours the US, Europe, the Far East and South America....
.
According to Tono Errando, "it was the moment when new musicians came along like Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
and Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
with a new kind of music, that is not for dancing, full of notes, played really fast, a music that now we call jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
. Then the Cuban musicians arrived. Dizzy Gillespie has said many times in interviews, there was a moment for him that was very important, it was the moment he first played with Chano Pozo
Chano Pozo
Chano Pozo was a percussionist, singer, dancer and composer who played a major role in the founding of Latin jazz...
. Pozo was the first percussionist that played in a jazz band."
Cuban pianist, bandleader, composer and arranger of the film Bebo Valdés
Bebo Valdés
Bebo Valdés is a Cuban pianist, bandleader, composer and arranger. He was a central figure in the golden age of Cuban music, led two famous big bands, and was one of the 'house' arrangers for the Tropicana Club.Valdés started his career as a pianist in the night clubs of Havana during the 1940s...
was living in obscurity in Stockholm, when Trueba reintroduced his playing to an international audience with his film Calle 54
Calle 54
Calle 54 is a 2000 documentary film about Latin jazz by Spanish director Fernando Trueba. With only minimal introductory voiceovers, the film consists of studio performances by a wide array of Latin Jazz musicians. Artists featured include Chucho Valdés, Bebo Valdés, Cachao, Eliane Elias, Gato...
, and went on to produce the Grammy-winning Lagrimas Negras album, teaming Valdes with flamenco singer Diego “El Cigala”.
Trueba was also able to persuade the real-life flamenco star Estrella Morente
Estrella Morente
Estrella Morente is a Spanish flamenco singer. She was born on August 14, 1980 in Las Gabias, Granada Province in southern Spain...
, who has been performing since the age of seven, to participate in the film.
Musicians featured in the film include Chucho Valdes
Chucho Valdés
Chucho Valdés is a Cuban pianist, bandleader, composer and arranger. In 1972 he founded the group Irakere, one of Cuba's best-known Latin jazz bands. Together with pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Valdés is revered as one of Cuba's greatest jazz pianists...
,
Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...
,
Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker
Charles Parker, Jr. , famously called Bird or Yardbird, was an American jazz saxophonist and composer....
,
Chano Pozo
Chano Pozo
Chano Pozo was a percussionist, singer, dancer and composer who played a major role in the founding of Latin jazz...
,
Tito Puente
Tito Puente
Tito Puente, , born Ernesto Antonio Puente, was a Latin jazz and Salsa musician. The son of native Puerto Ricans Ernest and Ercilia Puente, of Spanish Harlem in New York City, Puente is often credited as "El Rey de los Timbales" and "The King of Latin Music"...
,
Ben Webster
Ben Webster
Benjamin Francis Webster , a.k.a. "The Brute" or "Frog," was an influential American jazz tenor saxophonist. Webster, born in Kansas City, Missouri, was considered one of the three most important "swing tenors" along with Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young...
, and
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Monk
Thelonious Sphere Monk was an American jazz pianist and composer considered "one of the giants of American music". Monk had a unique improvisational style and made numerous contributions to the standard jazz repertoire, including "Epistrophy", "'Round Midnight", "Blue Monk", "Straight, No Chaser"...
.
External links
(UK) (USA)- Interview at YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
between Mark KermodeMark KermodeMark Kermode is an English film critic, musician and a member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. He contributes to Sight and Sound magazine, The Observer newspaper and BBC Radio 5 Live, where he presents Kermode and Mayo's Film Reviews with Simon Mayo on Friday afternoons...
and director Fernando TruebaFernando TruebaFernando Trueba is a Spanish book editor, screenwriter, film director and producer.Between 1974 and 1979 worked as a film critic for Spain's leading daily newspaper EL PAIS. In 1980, founded the monthly film magazine CASABLANCA, which he edited and directed during its first two years...
at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival2010 Cannes Film FestivalThe 63rd annual Cannes Film Festival was held from May 12 to May 23, 2010, in Cannes, France. The Cannes Film Festival, hailed as being one of the most recognized and prestigious film festivals worldwide, was founded in 1946. It consists of having films screened in and out of competition during the... - Video review of the film by Mark KermodeMark KermodeMark Kermode is an English film critic, musician and a member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. He contributes to Sight and Sound magazine, The Observer newspaper and BBC Radio 5 Live, where he presents Kermode and Mayo's Film Reviews with Simon Mayo on Friday afternoons...
, from the BBC