Viva

For this film, I felt that director Paddy Breathnach was very much inspired by Almodóvar's style and made something quite similar to All About My Mother. It has a similar atmosphere, although it's true that Viva has a darker overall feel. Nevertheless, the setting and characters are generally good and make the film worth watching. (03.10.2017)

I didn't expect much and got a good dose of emotions. I still can't get over how wonderfully Héctor Medina played Jesus. I can't even fathom that this was his film debut. Viva is a drama set in the environment of a travesty club in Havana, where Jesus works as a hairdresser and aspires to perform just like those for whom he prepares wigs. Just when it seems like he's about to break through as the new sensation "Viva," he's brought down to earth (literally and figuratively) by a punch from his father, whom he last saw when he was three years old. parent begins to make Jesus' daily life quite unpleasant, and just when Jesus decides he'll love him nonetheless, he discovers the cruel truth - his father returned only because he has only a few weeks left to live... The final scene, when Jesus capitalizes on the pain of the passing of a loved one during his performance on the stage of the travesty club, moved me to tears. The great Cuban music suited the story perfectly. (19.04.2020)