The King of Havana

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The King of Havana
Directed by Agustí Villaronga
Produced by Luisa Matienzo
Screenplay by Agustí Villaronga
Based on El rey de La Habana
by Pedro Juan Gutiérrez
Starring
Music by Joan Valent
Cinematography Josep Mª Civit
Edited by Raúl Román
Production
company
  • Pandora Cinema
  • Tusitala
  • El Rey de La Habana AIE
  • Esencia Films
Distributed by Filmax (es)
Release dates
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  • 23 September 2015 (2015-09-23) (San Sebastián)
  • 16 October 2015 (2015-10-16) (Spain)
Country
  • Spain
  • Dominican Republic
Language Spanish

The King of Havana (Spanish: El rey de La Habana) is a 2015 Spanish-Dominican drama film directed by Agustí Villaronga which adapts Pedro Juan Gutiérrez's dirty realist novel El rey de La Habana.[1] It stars Maykol David Tortolo, Yordanka Ariosa and Héctor Medina. It is set in the Cuban capital during the Special Period.

Plot

Set in the Cuban capital during the Special Period,[2] Reynaldo ('Rey'), returns to his old home in the wake of his escape from a juvenile prison, and wanders around Old Havana, meeting with prostitutes Magda and Yunisleidi.[3]

Cast

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Production

A joint Spain-Dominican Republic co-production, the film was produced by Pandora Cinema, Tusitala, AIE El Rey de La Habana and Esencia Films.[6] Filming began on 16 April 2015 in the Dominican Republic and it had already wrapped by 4 May 2015.[7]

Release

The film screened at the 63rd San Sebastián International Film Festival on 23 September 2015.[2] Distributed by Filmax,[6] it opened in Spanish theatres on 16 October 2015.

Reception

Guy Lodge of Variety deemed the film to be "an unabashedly torrid urban melodrama that will enrapture or repel viewers — or, quite possibly, both — with its upfront, up-in-your-face excess".[3]

Neil Young of The Hollywood Reporter assessed the film to be "a two-hour immersion in poverty, squalor, sex, violence, prostitution and death", summing up as bottom line: "an extravagantly raunchy wallow in sordid poverty".[4]

Lee Marshall of ScreenDaily considered that the film, guilty of using "shock tactics for effect", "can't help but leave a bad taste in the mouth at the end of its entertainingly sensationalist two-hour ride".[8]

Jordi Costa of El País, wrote about the film's brutal story, in which "the small outbreaks of human warmth" "make the blunt and desperate outcome to have an outright annihilating effect.[1]

Accolades

Year Recipient/Nominated work Award Result
2015 63rd San Sebastián International Film Festival Silver Shell for Best Actress Yordanka Ariosa Won [9]
2016 8th Gaudí Awards Best Non-Catalan language Film Nominated [10][11]
Best Director Agustí Villaronga Nominated
Best Screenplay Agustí Villaronga Nominated
Best Production Supervision Josep Amorós, Carla Jovine Nominated
Best Art Direction Alain Ortiz Nominated
Best Editing Raúl Román Won
Best Original Score Joan Valent Won
Best Cinematography Josep Maria Civit Won
Best Costume Design María Gil, Sonia Segura Won
Best Sound Fernando Novillo, Franklin Hernández, Ricard Galceran Nominated
Best Visual Effects Bernat Aragonés, Lluís Rivera Nominated
Best Makeup and Hairstyles Ainhoa Eskisabel Nominated
30th Goya Awards Best Adapted Screenplay Agustí Villaronga Nominated [12]
Best New Actress Yordanka Ariosa Nominated
Best Cinematography Josep Mª Civit Nominated

See also

References

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  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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External links



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