In the same vain that Inception borrows from Paprika, this feels influential upon La La Land to the point of plagiarism. Maybe a  coincidence, but this love story between a jazz musician and an aspiring singer/actress which sees their partnership derided by their careers does seem a little too similar. La La Land is dear to my heart but I mourn the world in which I fell in love with Chico and Rita first.

Chico y Rita did two things principally: it transported us 6 decades into the past and revived the jazzy streets and passions of La Habana with a fantastic animation style. You do miss certain aspects if you are not a Spanish speaker, but it shows that this great animated Latin microcosm has something special prepared for audiences worldwide, with a spectacular soundtrack, an amazing original dubbing work, a very realistic attention to audiovisual detail, romance, craziness, all of this briefly contrasted with the contemporary, post-revolutionary society of Cuba and its effect on music trends. Fear not, because this is a Spanish feature, and you know how much Spain is fan of eroticism. So, the fact that they were dealing with animation did not stop them ;)

79/100

Things this movie doesn't have that it would have had if it was made in Hollywood:
- A lack of nudity.
- Sex that is implied only, at the end of a big musical number showing the characters falling in love.
- A large orchestral score.
- A quirky animal sidekick that can talk and be marketed as a toy.
- An antagonist with evil features that is a big focus of the movie, scowling and planning evil with his nefarious henchman.
- A loveable, cheeky protagonist with a heart of gold that always does the right thing.
- Samuel L. Jackson voicing a character because the character is black.
- A generic 3D animated style that looks like a next-gen videogame for preschoolers.

Why is it impossible to make Latin American stories that aren’t at least 75% suffering? Please, I’m begging you 😁

It's a hand-drawn animation film about Chico, a piano player & Rita, singer who fall in love. The film is very bright, passionate, seductive and filled with great music. Its minor setback is that the second half is filled with clichés; it's off-putting because the first half is such a great set-up. Having said that, it's a beautiful film to be experienced. Its old school romance, with big landscapes of Havana and New York, makes it worth a while.

If anyone knows some happy movies about the latinx community please send em over. I'm begging you 🥺

With beautiful music driving this stylish animated feature this is a love story worth checking out.

L’avenir ne m’a jamais rien apporté, j’ai misé toutes mes chances sur le passé.

Cuba, 1948. Tenero e straziante rincorrersi di due amanti uniti dalla passione per il bolero. La vita non è un film, e nemmeno una ballad latina.

Bittersweet & sensual Spanish animation with a vibrant soundtrack & fun, romantic narrative.

youtu.be/hyC0eaB0nwk

Llena de malos entendidos simplones que no convencen a nadie. Rita se ve reducida y limitada a Chico y la fama. ¿Chico? Un patán insensato y orgulloso.

If anyone knows some happy movies about the latinx community please send em over. I'm begging you 🥺

Why is it impossible to make Latin American stories that aren’t at least 75% suffering? Please, I’m begging you 😁

"Chico and Rita" tells a melancholic love story of two Cuban musicians, separated by jealousy and circumstance. It's a sweet story: they do a good job making you feel invested in their relationship from the get-go: it's sad when they separate, and it's beautiful when they reunite. But I think the film loses a lot of steam in the 2nd half, when a lot of runtime is spent showing all the stuff they do when they're both in NYC, but not together.

The animation style is interesting, and I think it works well to convey the romance of Havanna and NYC's bustling music scene. But the characters lack expression and realistic movement. It's obviously a deliberate stylistic choice, but I found that it kept me at arms length from the movie, whereas I might've felt much more immersed in it otherwise.

Had to come back to this.
This movie does a very good job of allowing the plot and narrative of the story to exist outside of the historical events/time period that it's situated in. It doesn't spend any long periods of time talking about the revolution or the war or the specifics of the era because it doesn't need to. I really like that.

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I watched this like 2 years ago in a morning class I almost always skipped or slept through, but it still sticks in my mind and I think that says enough about the quality of this film. It’s not often that filmmakers take advantage of the creative benefits animated films have to offer, but I always love when they do.