The King of Havana
Theatrical release poster
SpanishEl rey de La Habana
Directed byAgustí Villaronga
Screenplay byAgustí Villaronga
Based onEl rey de La Habana
by Pedro Juan Gutiérrez
Produced byLuisa Matienzo
Starring
CinematographyJosep Mª Civit
Edited byRaúl Román
Music byJoan Valent
Production
companies
  • Pandora Cinema
  • Tusitala
  • El Rey de La Habana AIE
  • Esencia Films
Distributed byFilmax (es)
Release dates
  • 23 September 2015 (2015-09-23) (San Sebastián)
  • 16 October 2015 (2015-10-16) (Spain)
Countries
  • Spain
  • Dominican Republic
LanguageSpanish

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

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 Award CategoryNominee(s) ResultRef.
201563rd San Sebastián International Film FestivalSilver Shell for Best ActressYordanka AriosaWon[9]
20168th Gaudí AwardsBest Non-Catalan language FilmNominated[10][11]
Best DirectorAgustí VillarongaNominated
Best ScreenplayAgustí VillarongaNominated
Best Production SupervisionJosep Amorós, Carla JovineNominated
Best Art DirectionAlain OrtizNominated
Best EditingRaúl RománWon
Best Original ScoreJoan ValentWon
Best CinematographyJosep Maria CivitWon
Best Costume DesignMaría Gil, Sonia SeguraWon
Best SoundFernando Novillo, Franklin Hernández, Ricard GalceranNominated
Best Visual EffectsBernat Aragonés, Lluís RiveraNominated
Best Makeup and HairstylesAinhoa EskisabelNominated
30th Goya AwardsBest Adapted ScreenplayAgustí VillarongaNominated[12]
Best New ActressYordanka AriosaNominated
Best CinematographyJosep Mª CivitNominated

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Costa, Jordi (16 October 2015). "La vida Lumpen". El País.
  2. 1 2 Arribas, Alicia G. (24 September 2015). "El cine-realidad toma San Sebastián con 'El rey de la Habana' y 'Moira'". La Vanguardia.
  3. 1 2 Lodge, Guy (1 October 2015). "Film Review: 'The King of Havana'". Variety.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Young, Neil (28 September 2015). "'The King of Havana' ('El rey de La Habana'): San Sebastian Review". The Hollywood Reporter.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Aquest divendres s'estrena "El rey de La Habana"". Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals. 16 October 2015.
  6. 1 2 "'El rey de La Habana' – estreno en cines 16 de octubre". Audiovisual451. 14 October 2015.
  7. ↑ "Finaliza el rodaje de El rey de La Habana, la nueva película de Agustí Villaronga". Filmax. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
  8. ↑ Marshall, Lee (23 September 2015). "'The King of Havana': Review". ScreenDaily.
  9. ↑ "Yordanka Ariosa, Concha de Plata a la Mejor Actriz por su papel en 'El rey de La Habana'". Europa Press. 26 September 2015.
  10. ↑ "Nominaciones a los Premios Gaudí 2016". Fotogramas. 30 December 2015.
  11. ↑ "Todos los ganadores de los Gaudí 2016". El Periódico de Catalunya. 1 February 2016.
  12. ↑ "El rey de La Habana". premiosgoya.com. Academia de las Artes y las Ciencias Cinematográficas de España. Retrieved 15 May 2022.
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