Name: Te quiero y te llevo al cine
Genre: Drama
Duration: 1 h 5 min
Cast: Rolando Tarajano, Ricardo Vega, Leonardo Eiriz

I have finally been able to sit down and watch the Cuban film «Te quiero y te llevo al cine» by my friend Riccardo Vega, an adventure that began in 1987 with the short film «Insomnio» (based on a story by Virgilio Piñera), which is the first segment of this hour-long film that concludes with the short that gives the compilation its title, but I have no idea when the second short, «La coraza», based on the micro-stories of Leonardo Eiriz, was made. The first two shorts are marked by a pair of suicides: the first with a single protagonist during a night in his room, and the second with a young man who, while picking up sun glasses thrown by another, has a disturbing experience in the city, followed by a woman with binoculars. The final segment is a blend of reality and fiction, revolving around the paranoid reality of a couple followed by informants with handheld cameras, and the filmmaking process itself, which, like the short, draws its inspiration from the surrounding reality.

The result is an example of "imperfect cinema" (a radical film theory and movement that embraces low-budget, rough, and accessible filmmaking over technically polished movies, according to a manifesto by Cuban filmmaker Julio García Espinosa). Cinema "at all costs", guerrilla-style cinema that avoids the restored La Habana, the gentrified area of embassies, residences for diplomats, luxury restaurants, beach hotels, and businesses, and focuses instead on the popular, everyday La Habana of houses without maintenance, rubble, and the Malecón and the Caribbean Sea-a symbol not only of health, fun, democracy, and light, but also of escape and evasion. It is a film that, while a Cuban might find explicit and easy to grasp its subtexts, could seem complicated to a casual viewer from elsewhere, quite familiar but not too clear, in this search for human freedom (which does exist, despite defeatist rhetoric) and some meaning to a life so confined to an unwelcoming landscape, lacking obvious deprivation, though often pleasant, cheerful, and culturally firm. Whether the film illustrates the boasting or conviction of the average Cuban is beside the point, and that is not what my writing is about, penned more than 30 years after I met Riccardo (then simply Ricardo).

It was a meeting of attractions, the classic intellectual chemistry of the air signs Gemini (him) and Aquarius (me). We both worked at the International Film and Television School (EICTV) in San Antonio de Los Baños, Cuba. There was a strong connection, but each of us was looking for different things. What I was pursuing back then is not relevant here, but rather the rebelliousness, dissatisfaction, and neurosis that sometimes surfaced in Ricardo (the current Riccardo seems more level-headed to me). He was in an intense relationship with a woman who, in my memory, was somewhat crazy, and he felt anger (no doubt) over the censorship and persecution he and his debut film faced, which he was trying to finish, post-produce, or release. I did not even have time to find out. Ricardo disappeared shortly after we met. Dolores Calviño, the assistant director of the EICTV film school, could not renew his contract because the security official of the school ("Yamel," a Black man who loved to badmouth the regime around the apartments for professors, with "discreet rebels" like the dear, now deceased, Eliseo Alberto Diego) claimed that Ricardo was a CIA agent-an accusation one heard with increasing frequency there, here, and everywhere.

I barely knew his father, film editor Justo Vega (who cut segments 2 and 3 of the film), but I was very close to his uncle, Pastor Vega, a filmmaker who also directed the Havana Film Festival, and to his aunt by marriage, the renowned actress Daisy Granados. So, Ricardo entered my life as a meritorious son of the Vega clan, not as a CIA agent. And he never disappointed me. Later I learned of his many achievements in France, but I had never been able to see any of his work (like «Cuba la bella,» the highly acclaimed documentary) until recently when he asked me if I wanted to see «Te quiero y te llevo al cine». I said yes and that I wanted to screen it in Panama. I know I will. In spite of a few missteps, perhaps due to haste, low budgets, or the pressure of filming (and I am not referring to the ugly wardrobe of the leading lady in the third segment, which was as real as it was commonplace in Cuba, nor to the intentional inclusion of the film reel numbers at the beginning), it is an admirable film that illustrates times of social, ideological, and economic deprivation, which unfortunately persist throughout the world. Congratulations, Riccardo.

Spanish-language cinema across Spain and Latin America is united by its engagement with history, cultural identity, and social transformation. In Spain, films often balance artistic experimentation with popular genres while reflecting on memory, politics, and family. In Latin America, cinema has been deeply tied to questions of colonial legacy, resistance, and community resilience, ranging from intimate dramas to bold political allegories.

Ana Torrent in The Spirit of the Beehive (1973)

The drama genre is a broad category that features stories portraying human experiences, emotions, conflicts, and relationships in a realistic and emotionally impactful way. Dramas delve into the complexities of human life, often exploring themes of love, loss, morality, societal issues, personal growth, with the aim to evoke an emotional response from the audience by presenting relatable and thought-provoking stories.

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Rolando Tarajano and Niurka Noya Domínguez in I Love You and I'll Take You to the Movies (1993)

Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industrias Cinematográficos (ICAIC)

I Love You and I'll Take You to the Movies

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