A rare glimpse of everyday life in Cuba, where big questions and obstacles confront the rappers at seemingly every turn.
Comment
03/08/07
East of Havana (2007)
80
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:15
Fresh:12
Rotten:3
Average Rating:6.5/10
Theatrical Release:Feb 2, 2007 Limited
Synopsis: Set in a Cuban ghetto, this documentary explores the coming-of-age of three poor young rappers struggling to make social change and save their futures through lyrics instead of violence.
Director: Emilia Menocal, Jauretsi Saizabitoria
Reviews for East of Havana
1 - 15 (sorted by date)
Top CriticEast of Havana sets individual stories against the bitter, resilient landscape of Cuba's political history. For the youth in the film, music doesn’t just have a purpose, it is a purpose, and the artists find in hip-hop a 'mental freedom.'
03/08/07
Top CriticIf you thought that the Buena Vista Social Club was all that needed to be said about Cuban music, now there's East of Havana, which is about the Cuba rap scene.
02/15/07
East of Havana lacks the grace or intelligence to let the music speak for itself.
02/10/07
There's a beat, but we never quite see who's dancing to it.
02/07/07
Top CriticThere are some memorable, evocative moments, but they are spoiled by the film's obvious and simplistic politics.
02/05/07
The film makes an ironic point about Cuba: This is a land where the grandparents are revolutionaries (or at least say they are) but the kids are yearning for capitalist globalization.
02/02/07
Top CriticEast of Havana celebrates Cuban rappers who tell the truth in a country that muzzles free speech.
02/02/07
Top CriticIt would have been nice to say that EAST OF HAVANA serves a terrific introduction to the world of Cuban hip-hop, but I cannot.
02/02/07
This alternately meditative and emotive documentary uses three Havana rappers as a vehicle in which to explore the struggles and frustrations of young Cubans surviving amid a crumbling revolution.
02/01/07
Top CriticA vital look at Cuba's tenaciously grassroots hip-hop scene.
01/30/07
Top CriticEast of Havana, at its best, extols the Cuban hip-hop artist's sense of community and insistence on being heard through the rhetoric of Castro's revolution.
01/23/07
Visually striking (particularly the opening and end titles sequences), the film reveals the everyday lives of everyday people, both where and how they live.
11/29/06
Jauretsi Saizarbitoria's and Emilia Menocal's film serves as a metaphor about artistic freedom and wiliness.
11/04/06
Top CriticSoandry flows with intelligence rarely seen now in the states; don't be surprised if you hear his name again.
03/23/06
1 - 15 (sorted by date)
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