Chico & Rita (2010)

Chico is a young piano player with big dreams. Rita is a beautiful singer with an extraordinary voice. Music and romantic desire unites them, but their journey - in the tradition of the Latin ballad, the bolero - brings heartache and torment.

Directors:

Tono Errando, Javier Mariscal,

Writers:

Ignacio Martínez de Pisón, Fernando Trueba

Stars:

Limara Meneses, Eman Xor Oña, Mario Guerra

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 5 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Limara Meneses	...	Rita (voice)
Eman Xor Oña	...	Chico (voice)
Mario Guerra	...	Ramón (voice)
Jon Adams	...	(voice)
Renny Arozarena	...	(voice)
Blanca Rosa Blanco	...	(voice)
Jackie de la Nuez	...	(voice) (as Jakie de la Nuez)
Rigoberto Ferrera	...	(voice)
Ken Forman	...	(voice)
Ray Gillon	...	(voice)
Steve Harper	...	(voice) (as Michael Harper)
Lenny Mandel	...	Ron (voice)
Jorge Ryan	...	(voice)
Claudia Valdés	...	(voice)
Ashley Albert	...	(voice)

Storyline

Cuba, 1948. Chico is a young piano player with big dreams. Rita is a beautiful singer with an extraordinary voice. Music and romantic desire unites them, but their journey - in the tradition of the Latin ballad, the bolero - brings heartache and torment. From Havana to New York, Paris, Hollywood and Las Vegas, two passionate individuals battle impossible odds to unite in music and love.

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Plot Keywords:

piano | piano player | singer | love | cuba | 

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Genres:

Animation | Music | Romance

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

GKIDS [United States] Official Facebook

Country:

Spain UK

Language:

Spanish English French

Release Date:

19 November 2010 (UK)

Also Known As:

Chico i Rita

Filming Locations:

Escuela Internacional de Cine y Televisión, San Antonio de los Baños, Cuba

Box Office

Budget:

€9,200,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$20,654 (USA) (10 February 2012)

Gross:

$247,455 (USA) (16 March 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Isle of Man Film, CinemaNX, Estudio Mariscal

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

In order to help accurately represent 1940s era Cuba, Javier Mariscal undertook an extensive research trip to Cuba and was able to view government archive photographs from 1949.

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Goofs

The kitchen in which Chico and Rita eat kidney-bean soup is in the United States. However, a European-style electrical outlet can be seen clearly on one of the walls.

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Quotes

Ramón: That's Chico. Unknown, but he's the hottest piano player in Cuba.

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Connections

References The Seven Year Itch (1955)

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Soundtracks

"La bella cubana"
Written by José White
Arranged and Performed by Bebo Valdés

User Reviews

Chico & Rita

Chico & Rita follows Chico, an old and retired Cuban pianist, as he remembers his impossible love with a jazz singer called Rita and his rise and fall as a music performer. Having taken four years to make, Chico & Rita is first and foremost visually mind-blowing. Its animation is as nothing you have seen before and the cinematography, the lights, the angles, the music, just everything related to the technical aspect of this film is absolutely perfect.

But what's best and most refreshing about this film is its old-fashioned love story. In a time where all romantic films try to be as realistic as possible, it seems unthinkable to watch a relationship like this unfold on screen. Following a bolero-like structure, the main characters fall in love as easily as they fall apart, but they never forget each other, having an outdated loyalty that is deserving of such all-time classics as Casablanca or Gone With The Wind, and ending in the brilliant and moving bittersweet final scene.

Jazz music plays a main role in the film and gets to be the third character in what we could call a love triangle between the jazz, Chico and Rita. The two title characters are extremely talented musicians that are sometimes in the position of having to choose between their lover or their musical success and fame. Real jazz performers, such as Charlie Parker or Tito Puente get enjoyable cameos in the film and, practically, all the performances in the film are very delightful and entertaining.

Although the film has some minor elements that prevents it from being a masterpiece, like the appearance near the end of Estrella Morente, they are so insignificant compared to the whole of the film that Chico & Rita is still an exceptional film appealing to an extremely large audience.

Chico & Rita is an animated old-fashioned musical romance with a highly original aesthetic, a both refreshing and outdated love story and sublime original and adapted music.

Rating: 4.5/5.