Movie Reviews -
Gay Themed

Gay Rights is an issue heard around the world, including Cuba. Free Havana paints a vivid picture of what it has been like to be gay in Cuba through the candid stories of six gay and lesbian individuals. Free Havana exposes the evolution of gay life from a time when homosexuality was considered a punishable crime to current efforts to promote a greater acceptance of freedom of sexual orientation. Honest in approach and poignant in content, the stories of the six Cubans will inform and inspire as they touch your heart. The six interviewees are interviewed one by one and tell their personal stories. First we have a guy who at the age of 17 was enlisted for 'military' but in reality was a group where all suspect LGBT folks were rounded up and taken to a village and were made to work non stop hours in a field, hoping to get cured. Then we hear from a guy who knew he was different and when his love letter o another boy was found, his father threw him out. But thanks to his mother...

This Cuban series is your regular detective investigation series with a few recurring characters. The basics are straightforward. Homicides happen and homicides need to be solved. I am going to review Episode Three which is entitled Máscaras. In the scalding summer of Havana, the body of a gay young man and son of a diplomat is found, leading Conde to a world of sexual possibilities. The episode starts with a man's body found dead in a park strangled dressed in a red woman's dress. Turns out that he is Alexis, the son of a diplomat, so the investigation has to be hush-hush. Investigations reveal that he was gay but not really trans, so why dress in red, then? Detective Conde meets his family and his caretakers who tell them that he left home almost six months back when he had an argument with his father. The cops then go to an older gay guy from whom Alexis was renting a room. The cops are frustrated because they do not wanna be involved in solving the case of a 'homo'....

There is very little that you get to hear about LGBT issues in a country like Cuba. The subject of this film is the understanding (or lack thereof) by Cuban society of sexual diversity, in particular of the problems and needs of transsexuals. I was glad to read that this film had the support of the Cuban government, in particular of daughter of Cuban leader Castro, who is a huge activist for LGBT rights in Cuba. Set in 1994 in Havana, Rosa, a nurse, is married to Ernesto, a construction engineer. they have a happy life with Rosa's ailing father, whom she takes care of. She is pretty much as good a person as nurses are supposed to be: Ernesto and his colleagues are pretty much as sexist as construction workers are supposed to be. One warm Havana afternoon, Rosa Elena checks up on a transgender friend, Sissy, who is suffering from the complications of a black-market breast augmentation. Rosa’s husband, Ernesto, expresses his disapproval of Sissy, and she pleads with him to understand...

This film can easily be termed as gritty, shocking, very real and sexy at the same time. Set in Cuba, I am not sure how real is really is to the actual life but it the acting and story and content felt quite real. Its a shame that the things people have to resort to just to make ends met and enjoy simple pleasures of life. Life is hard, very hard and its even harder when you have to balance your duties with something that you heart years for. Yosvani and Reinier are two young men who play in an amateur slum soccer team. Yosvani lives with his elder girlfriend Gema and his black-marketeer father. Reid lives with his wife, a small baby and her mother who is always looking for money and support from Rei, since he is the only male earning member of the family. She openly encourages him to be a gay prostitute since that will at least get them money. Reid meets a handsome man Juan visiting from Spain and hooks up with him occasionally. He makes him feel good and also awakens a curiosi...

This movie is set in Havana. This movie is about accepting difference and learning to appreciate other points of view and other ways of life. It's not really a movie about gay men. Its about friendship that takes you beyond sexuality. Diego, a gay activist has huge crush on David, a young Communist party member who is very straight. He lures him into going to his apartment for some pictures but nothing materializes. David realizes that Diego is gay and leaves soon. On his room mates insistence that he might find something with Diego which could hep them in communism, David reluctantly go back there. He makes it very clear that he does not want sex and rather just wants to have friendship with him. Diego accepts it. Diego is smart, knows a lot about art and culture, and teaches these things to his friend. The friendship between David and Nancy, one of Diego's friends, grows as well and they make love at the end of the movie. But, Diego is in trouble after sending a letter that r...