Hello Hemingway
Encyclopedia
Hello Hemingway is a 1990 Cuban
drama film directed by Fernando Pérez
and starring Laura de la Uz. The plot, set in Havana
in the last period of Fulgencio Batista
's dictatorship, follows a young girl whose aspirations to obtain a scholarship in America, against the odds, are paralleled with her reading of Ernest Hemingway
's The old man and the sea
.
and Tony Curtis
, while at school she excels in her English class. Larita is delighted when her teacher suggests that she enters the scholarship exam for a university in America. Larita also happily dates a fellow class mate, Victor, the president of the student association.
On a visit to a bookshop, she is given a copy of Hemingway's The Old man and the sea, which she stars to read avidly, drawing parallels between the novel and her own life which she confines to her diary. At home, her family tease her about her academic aspirations, but it is also becomes clear that they resent the fact that while they work hard she studies and contributes nothing to their meager existence. The issue of finances is made more accurate when Larita is sent home because she is not wearing the correct school uniform. However, she passes the first round of scholarship exams and is invited to a reception for the finalist, trying to make herself as presentable as possible with the help of her relatives' sewing skills. She tells Victor that she is in the scholarship short list, which makes him angry since politically America represents everything he despises. That night Larita returns home to find that her uncle has been fired.
At the scholarship interview, it is implied that her chances of a place are severely hampered by the fact that she is illegitimate and does not have the right social connections. In desperation, Larita decides to visit Hemingway to see if he will write a reference for her, but it turns out that he is away. Larita bitterly blames her mother for the fact that she is in disadvantage by poverty and illegitimacy. Meanwhile, at school, the student protest are becoming more frequent, culminating one afternoon in Victor's arrests.
Later that year, Larita takes a job at a coffee bar where one evening the scholarship administrator walks by and recognizes her, unaware of her profound disappointment about the award. Undaunted by the knowledge that she may never have the education and career of her dreams, Larita, like the old fisherman in Hemingway's tale, is able to salvage some hope out of her despair.
in the USA in April 2002. The film is in Spanish with English subtitles.
Cubans
Cubans or Cuban people are the inhabitants or citizens of Cuba. Cuba is a multi-ethnic nation, home to people of different ethnic and national backgrounds...
drama film directed by Fernando Pérez
Fernando Pérez
Fernando Pérez Valdés is a prominent Cuban film director.Pérez graduated from the University of Havana with a degree in Language and Spanish Literature, and began working in the Cuban film industry in 1971 as an assistant director, before directing his first documentary in 1975.His feature debut...
and starring Laura de la Uz. The plot, set in 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...
in the last period of Fulgencio Batista
Fulgencio Batista
Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar was the United States-aligned Cuban President, dictator and military leader who served as the leader of Cuba from 1933 to 1944 and from 1952 to 1959, before being overthrown as a result of the Cuban Revolution....
's dictatorship, follows a young girl whose aspirations to obtain a scholarship in America, against the odds, are paralleled with her reading of Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
's The old man and the sea
The Old Man and the Sea
The Old Man and the Sea is a novel written by American author Ernest Hemingway in 1951 in Cuba, and published in 1952. It was the last major work of fiction to be produced by Hemingway and published in his lifetime. One of his most famous works, it centers upon Santiago, an aging fisherman who...
.
Plot
In 1956 Batista's Cuba, sixteen years old Larita lives with her mother and her aunt's family in a ramshackle house outside Havana. From their garden they can see Ernest Hemingway's white mansion. At home, she adorns her walls with pictures of Elvis PresleyElvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
and Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis was an American film actor whose career spanned six decades, but had his greatest popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in over 100 films in roles covering a wide range of genres, from light comedy to serious drama...
, while at school she excels in her English class. Larita is delighted when her teacher suggests that she enters the scholarship exam for a university in America. Larita also happily dates a fellow class mate, Victor, the president of the student association.
On a visit to a bookshop, she is given a copy of Hemingway's The Old man and the sea, which she stars to read avidly, drawing parallels between the novel and her own life which she confines to her diary. At home, her family tease her about her academic aspirations, but it is also becomes clear that they resent the fact that while they work hard she studies and contributes nothing to their meager existence. The issue of finances is made more accurate when Larita is sent home because she is not wearing the correct school uniform. However, she passes the first round of scholarship exams and is invited to a reception for the finalist, trying to make herself as presentable as possible with the help of her relatives' sewing skills. She tells Victor that she is in the scholarship short list, which makes him angry since politically America represents everything he despises. That night Larita returns home to find that her uncle has been fired.
At the scholarship interview, it is implied that her chances of a place are severely hampered by the fact that she is illegitimate and does not have the right social connections. In desperation, Larita decides to visit Hemingway to see if he will write a reference for her, but it turns out that he is away. Larita bitterly blames her mother for the fact that she is in disadvantage by poverty and illegitimacy. Meanwhile, at school, the student protest are becoming more frequent, culminating one afternoon in Victor's arrests.
Later that year, Larita takes a job at a coffee bar where one evening the scholarship administrator walks by and recognizes her, unaware of her profound disappointment about the award. Undaunted by the knowledge that she may never have the education and career of her dreams, Larita, like the old fisherman in Hemingway's tale, is able to salvage some hope out of her despair.
Cast
- Laura de la Uz - Larita
- Raúl Paz - Victor
- José Antonio Rodríguez - Tomás
- Herminia Sánchez - Josefa
- Micheline Calvert - Miss Amalia
DVD release
The film was released on DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
in the USA in April 2002. The film is in Spanish with English subtitles.