Viva (2015)

Jesús is a young gay man living in Havana, lacking both money and opportunities. He barely manages to live off what little money he makes when the people from his neighbourhood come into his flat for a haircut. He also cares for the whigs of the artists in the local drag-queen variety show. And he could even see himself on that stage one day.
But everything changes when his father Ángel, whom he last saw as a toddler, returns from prison. Ángel can barely accept that his son is gay, but he most certainly will not allow him to draw attention to himself by hanging around that drag club, or by even making a spectacle of himself on stage.

The difficult non-relationship between Jesús and Ángel slowly evolves over the course of the film’s 100-minute running time.

This arthouse film is an Irish-Cuban co-production. Filmed in Havana with a Cuban cast, Viva had a chiefly Irish crew and it was written by Mark O’Halloran and directed by Paddy Breathnach. Being a co-production also allowed for Viva to be submitted as the Irish entry for the Best Foreign Language Oscar that season (– it proceded to the so-called shortlist but was not among the final five nominees).

Telling the story of a young gay man trying to get his macho father to accept him is not really a novel idea. And so the film does live less off its premise or story, but more off its characters (and the performances) as well as its atmosphere. Héctor Medina (The Watchman) and Jorge Perugorría are giving strong performances as son and father, as do the rest of the cast, including Laura Alemán and Luis Alberto García.

The atmosphere is a special Havana mix of lively sprits and decay, which the film employs fittingly. People here simply try to get by, living from one day to the next. Added to this mix is an ample use of memorable music, thanks to the drag-club performances.

This is a good and interesting film, without any noticeable flaws. But as I said: the story is not new. As it stands, I’d rate Viva at 7.0 to 7.5 out of 10.