Guantanamera
Michael Kennedy
As the film opens we see Aunt Yoyita and Georgina riding in a car down the streets of
Guantanamo. Yoyita can’t believe how things have changed. The buildings all have a
“run-down” look to them. The town and its people do not seem to be doing very well. Times
appear rough for Guantanamo and all of Cuba for that matter during the 1990’s. Cuba’s belts
had to be tightened quite a bit after the fall of the Soviet Union. Cuba had relied heavily on
the Soviet Union for imported goods. This had sent Cuba into a major rapid depression. The
embargo on goods coming from the U.S. were restricted as well making the times even worse.
In the film we see the lack of food and the limited amount of gas that was allowed. There are
a few times we see Tony hiding away bananas to most likely eventually sell or give to family.
There is no shortage of rum, coffee or tea because at each stop all of these are being consumed
by the patrons. Cuba exports all of these items so they are in abundance as well are cigars. Food
on the other hand is rationed by the government. At one stop Aldolfo even asks “Do you have
Food?” Most places they stopped did not have anything to eat – only drinks. There was scene
where at a funeral a man complained that he did not get his “snack” as promised in the cost
of the funeral. There were others too wanting their snack as well. And before you knew it
people were grabbing what they could get a hold of to eat. This was the filmmaker’s way of
showing how bad things really were that people would fight over such a simple thing.
As we all know Aldolfo is trying to make himself known for organizing a system for transporting
corpses across the island as a means of saving petrol. At one point in the film we see people
bowing to a statue and Aldolfo imagines himself on top of the pedestal as people praise him.
It’s no doubt he seeks to be well recognized for his efforts and he gets all upset when his
convoy gets behind schedule. Aldolfo wants this system to work because in the governments
eyes he will be a hero because he is able to save petrol. As their little convoy reaches a new
destination we see many people lining the streets needing rides to different towns. This is a
sign of the times. Many people do not own a car and cannot get from place to place without
waiting on the side of the road for vehicles to pass that may offer them a ride. As it turns out
Mariano and his truck are on the same route as Aldolfo and Gina. As he stops too many people
climb into his truck to obtain a ride to whatever town may be on their route. Petrol and many
other items are not in abundance any longer and people are doing what they can to get by.
Mariano is a graduated engineer and is working as a truck driver because there are no jobs.
he apparently is doing well though making enough money to survive. Even though times were
bad people seemed to try and help one another. Being a hot climate culture this was what
they had to do to get by.
As each vehicle is en route music is usually on. The style of music is mostly mambo or salsa that
we can hear. In the film Candido had asked to turn off the music because it was not
appropriate to listen to “celebration” music at a time like this being it was a funeral procession.
As the film progresses we see glimpses of a little girl that was in a photo early on in the film.
Only Candido saw the girl at first. Who was this girl? At the end of the film we see her again at
the cemetery as Aldolfo stands upon a stone to give a speech for the deceased Candido and
Yoyita (well- it was supposed to be Yoyita anyway). We see the little girl walking up to the
crowd and then looks up and opens her umbrella. It then begins to pour down rain. Everyone
scatters and Aldolfo loses grip of the speech and starts to yell at everyone as they are leaving
that he was not done with his speech. Gina is seen meeting up with Mariano and them riding
off. I feel the little girl in the film represents Iku’. Everything is now in place. The deceased are
now at peace; Gina has left with the man who loves her; and Aldolfo is left standing alone
because he only really cared about himself in the first place.
Michael Kennedy
As the film opens we see Aunt Yoyita and Georgina riding in a car down the streets of
Guantanamo. Yoyita can’t believe how things have changed. The buildings all have a
“run-down” look to them. The town and its people do not seem to be doing very well. Times
appear rough for Guantanamo and all of Cuba for that matter during the 1990’s. Cuba’s belts
had to be tightened quite a bit after the fall of the Soviet Union. Cuba had relied heavily on
the Soviet Union for imported goods. This had sent Cuba into a major rapid depression. The
embargo on goods coming from the U.S. were restricted as well making the times even worse.
In the film we see the lack of food and the limited amount of gas that was allowed. There are
a few times we see Tony hiding away bananas to most likely eventually sell or give to family.
There is no shortage of rum, coffee or tea because at each stop all of these are being consumed
by the patrons. Cuba exports all of these items so they are in abundance as well are cigars. Food
on the other hand is rationed by the government. At one stop Aldolfo even asks “Do you have
Food?” Most places they stopped did not have anything to eat – only drinks. There was scene
where at a funeral a man complained that he did not get his “snack” as promised in the cost
of the funeral. There were others too wanting their snack as well. And before you knew it
people were grabbing what they could get a hold of to eat. This was the filmmaker’s way of
showing how bad things really were that people would fight over such a simple thing.
As we all know Aldolfo is trying to make himself known for organizing a system for transporting
corpses across the island as a means of saving petrol. At one point in the film we see people
bowing to a statue and Aldolfo imagines himself on top of the pedestal as people praise him.
It’s no doubt he seeks to be well recognized for his efforts and he gets all upset when his
convoy gets behind schedule. Aldolfo wants this system to work because in the governments
eyes he will be a hero because he is able to save petrol. As their little convoy reaches a new
destination we see many people lining the streets needing rides to different towns. This is a
sign of the times. Many people do not own a car and cannot get from place to place without
waiting on the side of the road for vehicles to pass that may offer them a ride. As it turns out
Mariano and his truck are on the same route as Aldolfo and Gina. As he stops too many people
climb into his truck to obtain a ride to whatever town may be on their route. Petrol and many
other items are not in abundance any longer and people are doing what they can to get by.
Mariano is a graduated engineer and is working as a truck driver because there are no jobs.
he apparently is doing well though making enough money to survive. Even though times were
bad people seemed to try and help one another. Being a hot climate culture this was what
they had to do to get by.
As each vehicle is en route music is usually on. The style of music is mostly mambo or salsa that
we can hear. In the film Candido had asked to turn off the music because it was not
appropriate to listen to “celebration” music at a time like this being it was a funeral procession.
As the film progresses we see glimpses of a little girl that was in a photo early on in the film.
Only Candido saw the girl at first. Who was this girl? At the end of the film we see her again at
the cemetery as Aldolfo stands upon a stone to give a speech for the deceased Candido and
Yoyita (well- it was supposed to be Yoyita anyway). We see the little girl walking up to the
crowd and then looks up and opens her umbrella. It then begins to pour down rain. Everyone
scatters and Aldolfo loses grip of the speech and starts to yell at everyone as they are leaving
that he was not done with his speech. Gina is seen meeting up with Mariano and them riding
off. I feel the little girl in the film represents Iku’. Everything is now in place. The deceased are
now at peace; Gina has left with the man who loves her; and Aldolfo is left standing alone
because he only really cared about himself in the first place.
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