Chico & Rita

While I enjoyed Rango, it's too bad Chico & Rita didn't win as I, quite simply, had more fun watching it.

Chico & Rita begins with an old man, whom we discover is Chico, wandering home after a day of shining shoes. He enters his apartment and turns on the radio. Initially Chico isn't thrilled with what he hears so he turns the dial until he finds a station playing a certain song from his salad days. His mind wanders back...

The scene then changes to Havana in 1948. It is a bustling city full of tourists and locals alike enjoying the night life whose soundtrack is Afro-Cuban jazz. Chico is a suave young pianist who is looking to fulfill his musical dreams. He and his buddy Ramón are out on the town with a couple of American gals. On stage is a band led by Rita, a beautiful young woman with a fantastic, silky voice. Chico is smitten immediately and, as is the wont of young men, he pursues her. Rita is game but is going to make Chico work for his meal.

They end up spending the night together but Chico's girlfriend appears and throws a spanner in the works. The two ladies both storm out. But the seeds of love have been sown and Ramón convinces Rita to perform with Chico on a talent show where they do a lovely, slow rendition of "Bésame Mucho" which gets them first place. Things are looking bright when a talent scout approaches Rita but she refuses to sign on the dotted line unless Chico is part of the deal. But the green-eyed monster has taken hold of him. Drunk, he returns to Juana and Rita reluctantly decides to go solo in New York.

Chico and Ramón save their money and make their way there to seek her out as well as to start their own careers. The love between Chico and Rita endures but she is still angry and again he will have to work hard to get her. He does so but there are other forces at play. In Havana it was Chico's rakish habits which pushed Rita away. In New York it is her career and her ruthless manager which keep the two lovers apart.

This is all pretty standard love story stuff – boy gets girl, boy loses girl - but what sets Chico & Rita apart is the filmmakers' love for jazz, both Latin and American. There is music everywhere whether it be in a club or just Chico at the piano alone. In New York we run into Charlie Parker and Chano Pozo, among others. I'm not intimately familiar with Latin jazz so I had to look him up but Pozo is apparently one of the founding fathers of the genre. Tito Puente is featured in one scene while Chico goes off to Paris as a member of Dizzy Gillespie's band in another. All of the music and dancing is simply infectious.

Chico is the lead character here but Rita is the most well-developed and this surprised me. Although likeable enough, our piano player is really pretty single-minded. He wants Rita. To be sure, Rita wants him in return but she has a lot of other qualities. She wants a career and not just to be a wife. She is tough as we see when she stands up to Juana and even gets into fisticuffs with her. But she's also vulnerable as when she cries after seeing Chico return to his apartment in a drunken stupor with Juana. Rita is also a very sensual and sexual character. She wants to be chased by Chico but she's not afraid to show off her sexuality such as when she hoists her skirt a bit and dances. There's a lot of tension between strength and vulnerability in her.

Racism is also a theme in the film although perhaps not a major one. It's more of a thing that drives the fate of our lovers as opposed to a thematic element that gets developed. Chano Pozo mentions his treatment in the American South to Chico and Ramón when they're out riding in his car. But for Rita it is a more personal thing. Although her star is rising, she feels the sting of racism in social situations and realizes that, no matter how much audiences love her singing, most white people just can't fully accept a woman of color. Rather than suffer in silence, Rita destroys her career when she gives a monologue at a concert on the racism she's experienced.

All of this is why I was disappointed in the ending of the movie. After her career is over, she resigns herself to a life of obscurity as a housekeeper in Las Vegas where she waits 47 years for Chico's return. It may sound romantic but, after the strength and determination she showed in getting her lover as well as in leaving her homeland to become a star, her capitulation just seemed like a cheap ploy on the writers' part for a reunion between her and Chico. There was all this music and dancing and passion in the movie until the end and then everyone quits the game and goes home. That just didn't sit right with me.

I really enjoyed the animation. I presume it was rotoscoped with footage of live actors painted over. Nothing is static with this technique. Even a hand on a shoulder quivers a bit from frame to frame. This just adds a certain energy that I like. Plus the direction was great. Camera angles were varied and there was a fair amount of camera movement, especially crane shots. One shot had the camera start high above the street and then move down and close in on a window where Rita's manager and Ramón are plotting against Chico. It reminded me of Citizen Kane. (Did Goodfellas have a similar shot?) Chase scenes had vehicles move towards the camera. Basically any and everything was done to give the animated setting 3D space.

Aside from the shift in character for the ending, Chico & Rita was a lot of fun. It's a wonderful blend of music, dancing, and color along with a charming love story. It was really nice to see an animated feature for adults instead of one for kids with in-jokes to amuse parents in the audience.