I did tick the 'spoilers' box, but it doesn't seem to be showing, so: Spoilers apply!
I don't know what the legal status of homosexuality is in Cuba, but 'La Partida' is set in Havana and tells the tale of Reinier, a young father who pays for his taste in new clothes by turning tricks on the seafront at night. By day he plays football on some waste ground with a bunch of mates. One of those mates is Yosvani, who makes his living by working in the import business run by his fiancée's thuggish father. A drunken kiss from Reinier one night confuses Yosvani - he's repelled by the excesses of the seafront rent boys, but is unable to resist starting an affair with Reinier.
The friend who watched this film with me pointed out that gay dramas often end with one of the protagonists dying - and so it is here, with one of our boys not alive as the end credits roll. For many film-makers, it seems, the only way for a gay romance to end is fatally! But apart from that this is an engrossing film: not so much for the romance, which follows predictable film lines, but because of the fact it is set in Cuba: how accurate is its portrayal of poverty there I am not qualified to judge, but given the self-imposed Castro regime isn't brave enough to allow free and fair elections I suspect it's fairly accurate. As for the acting, the two young leads do not disgrace themselves: Milton García as Yosvani is especially good in portraying the journey from macho tough guy to bewildered dumped lover. So this is definitely worth watching, at least once.
I don't know what the legal status of homosexuality is in Cuba, but 'La Partida' is set in Havana and tells the tale of Reinier, a young father who pays for his taste in new clothes by turning tricks on the seafront at night. By day he plays football on some waste ground with a bunch of mates. One of those mates is Yosvani, who makes his living by working in the import business run by his fiancée's thuggish father. A drunken kiss from Reinier one night confuses Yosvani - he's repelled by the excesses of the seafront rent boys, but is unable to resist starting an affair with Reinier.
The friend who watched this film with me pointed out that gay dramas often end with one of the protagonists dying - and so it is here, with one of our boys not alive as the end credits roll. For many film-makers, it seems, the only way for a gay romance to end is fatally! But apart from that this is an engrossing film: not so much for the romance, which follows predictable film lines, but because of the fact it is set in Cuba: how accurate is its portrayal of poverty there I am not qualified to judge, but given the self-imposed Castro regime isn't brave enough to allow free and fair elections I suspect it's fairly accurate. As for the acting, the two young leads do not disgrace themselves: Milton García as Yosvani is especially good in portraying the journey from macho tough guy to bewildered dumped lover. So this is definitely worth watching, at least once.