Jesus is a young boy, living by himself in Havana, Cuba working as a hairdresser to make ends meet. His regular clients include Mama, The proprietor of a seedy drag club. for an audience of randy tourists and local drunks. Jesus tends to the many wigs used by the club’s performers, while wondering what it would be like to join them. Also because he doesn't want to get into prostitution to survive. After an employee leaves, Jesus takes on drag name Viva and is given an opportunity to perform in the club. However, his estranger father, who was in prison since he was eight shows up and the club and beats up. He moves in with Jesus and demands that he quits the club. This is where we see the film move into a broken relationship of a father and son and they both in their own ways, trying toned the relationship with the father expecting his son to be a macho man since he was a boxer himself. Father having alcohol problems soon starts getting sick, forcing Jesus to take up prostitution to make money, since his father is still very much against the idea of him taking up drag. Eventually the father dies, and Jesus takes up a new life of a popular drag and lives with his close pal who was left pregnant by another boy.
I don't know much about Cuba, but it was a very interesting perspective of what life in the poor parts of the city and country could be like. There is not much of a backstory for anyone. People are all trying to survive and do their best while folks like Jesus trying to discover themselves as well. Every character is so distinctly different from the others, and this colorful group gives 'Viva' the necessary stakes to be fully invested in, and truly sell, the movie. More than half of the film is dedicated to the broken relationship of father and son, which personally I would have preferred to focus more on Jesus' dreams. But maybe the idea was to also show that Jesus never had a family, so when his father shows up out of nowhere, even they they may not connect, anyone would be ready to do things for their family and that's what Jesus does. We all need love. I was surprised that there was no indication of any love coning in Jesus' life. It was his friends, father and the drag club performers and his dreams. The patrons he meets when he takes up prostitution all want the same thing except one man who shows him some tenderness. Acting by everyone is very good. Jesus is excellent. His transformation into Viva, the drag queen singer on stage is striking: from a gentle, taciturn androgynous boy to a larger than life dramatic diva, singing and crying her heart out. The negative is the film is too much talk and less action, which sometimes takes away from the attention.
I'd recommend the film primarily for the actor playing Jesus. He does a commendable job. I'd recommend this film but with some reservations. This may not be everyone's cup of tea. (6/10)
Comments