9/21/2023 0 Comments Ze a rita review![]() ![]() Rita takes the stage name Rita Labelle (no relation to Patti) and is able to get movie deals and her songs played all over the radio. She eventually succumbs to being a star in America as starting with a huge misunderstanding with her and Chico. She is impressed with Chico’s piano playing and composition skills, but she can be quite feisty and takes no crap from anyone. Rita is the singer who has a bit of an attitude. Chico does have some flaws like how he had some troubled previous relationships and with one event that causes him to give up playing the piano as indicated when he listens to the radio and his fingers are in synch with the notes being played. He puts a ton of effort into his music and is able to improvise things on the fly just like how he successfully wings it when he sees the score of Ebony Concerto by Igor Stravinsky which would have been a brand new piece at the time he played it. ![]() ![]() There’s the piano prodigy Chico Valdez who’s completely lovestruck by Rita. The characters certainly had a lot going for them. Sure, they did alter a few things for the story, but I liked how they put effort into the scoring and historical significance of that music. They even do animated cameos of jazz musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie, Chano Pozo, Tito Puente, and Thelonious Monk to name a few. Even though I’m not an expert on that musical genre, I do know there was way more effort put into the musicality and historical accuracy compared to other animated movies I’ve seen that incorporated this music such as The Jungle Book and The Aristocats. The music was fantastic and really fits the times with mixes of bebop, big band, cool jazz, and Afro-Cuban jazz which was huge in that country back in that time period. I actually started watching this film when I was getting into jazz music (particularly avant-garde jazz). One of the first things that certainly caught my eyes, or should I say ears, was the music. Chico is determined to go New York City where she’s becoming more popular and to clear up any misunderstandings. The music itself has drawn the two jazz musicians together, but Rita ends up getting into American show business where she leaves Cuba. He goes on stage and sees a new piece he’s never played before and is able to perform it while jazzing it up which impresses everyone. The pianist of the band no-showed and Chico is pressured to replace him for that night since rumor has it that Chico himself is a talented pianist. What makes fate even stranger is that they go to the Tropicana Club where Rita just happens to perform in a band. She enraptures his heart and he wants to fall in love with her. They go to a local bar, and on that fateful night, Chico sees a jazz singer named Rita. He’s having a good time and even hangs out with some American tourists. The story flips to Havana back in the forties when he was a young man and when the entire country of Cuba was a tourist haven during the pre-Castro years of that nation. There’s an older Afro-Cuban man named Chico who listens to a radio station where he hears a jazz song that instantly reminds him of his life decades ago. After greatly enjoying Wrinkles despite aspects of the plot hitting too close to home given what’s happened to one of my late family members, I thought I would check out another Spanish film straight from GKIDS’s catalog.Ĭhico and Rita takes place in Havana for a good portion of the film. My attention came back to Spain for this particular film. This comes from me being a former anime snob, so I had to expand my horizons in the realms of animation. That’s saying nothing about him winning an Oscar for the film Belle Epoque.Įver since I’ve been posting more content on Iridium Eye, I forced myself to be exposed to more Western animated releases. Co-director Fernando Trueba is also a music producer that has won two Grammys for his studio engineering work. Chico and Rita won the Best Animated Film Award at the Goya Awards which is Spain’s biggest movie award ceremony. Cuban pianist Bebo Valdez scored this film and this was his last major project before passing away at the age of 93 three year after this film was released. Mickey Mouse offered theatrical distribution in that country for a film with R-rated content. Hilarious in Hindsight: Do you want to know who gave this independently made animated film distribution in the director’s native Spain? Disney. In the UK, there is an English dub that features Wendell Pierce, Viola Davis and Mary J. The original Spanish language track was used. Origin: Spain/USA/UK/Canada/France/Isle of Man/Hungary/Philippinesįor Fans Of: La La Land, Amadeus, Sita Sings the Blues, Cadillac Records, Calle 54 ![]()
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