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Undescribable Perfection

Excellent but underrated film

Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

I am sure life was not easy in Cuba before the Castros, but in spite of their nice slogans and levelling activities (often compelling), living conditions have worsened, particularly after the collapse of the socialist camp since 1990ies. So many continue or have been forced to live in poverty, and those wealthier are often engaged in dubious trades.All this we can see in Spanish-Cuban La Partida, where daily life is ruled by earning and adoring money, and even sexuality is subject to this, no matter what God or nature has determined. And deviations from this, including feelings and caring, do not end / work out as in fairy-tales... Performances are brave and distinct, at least 1 point from me for that, plus the viewers obtain images how living and infrastructure in present Havana look like, and probably would feel pity and sad.In XXI century, Cuban people deserve much more than doddering revolutionaries are willing and able to offer.

Being a teenager or young is difficult in all modern societies. And being gay adds some extra speculations and fears. I am gay and I am from Argentina, and in the mid nineties (when I was 25) I was fortunate to travel alone to Cuba on vacations. There, I met a Cuban young man of the same age as me, "by chance" in the streets of La Havana, and I had a little romance with him during my staying in this beautiful and romantic country. Due to this, I could live some of the situations portrayed in the film and I can say in that sense it is rather accurate. In Cuba there is not classical "poverty". They lack of desirable capitalist goods (like electronics or branded shoes, etc) but they are not hungry or without health care, education, etc. And the means to obtain these goods is through the tourists from Europe and Latin America. Well, the weather is hot all the year long, the same as the people doing things outside their houses until very late in the night. And Cubans are very romantic people in general. Well, my "Cuban boyfriend" lived with his family there. And he was openly gay. He (as the one in the film) presented me to his parents and brothers, the second day after we met. Well, the economic situation of the country (little communist island commercially blocked by its neighbor the superpower with the supportive superpower recently disappeared) took us to an uneven relationship (I had the dollars to spend), though not so much because my origin, age, job, etc.. But thanks to him, many things we did were done using "services and fares for Cubans" (not the ones for tourists). My country and specially my city is rather open to gay people, since those years. and I perceived a similar "air" in La Havanna. OK, There was not "gay dance clubs", but we went to dance to ordinary places and we danced together only taking care of not to kiss each other in public but we did it in familiar places. Well, this is my context to evaluate the film from there I feel it was well exposed by the script and director. In this case, both characters are young men, supposedly heterosexual, living and being maintained by their respective girlfriends' family, who fell in love of each other. The end of the film could be in the way it is or being more or less tragic. For me, the value of this movie is to have transporting me back to the Cuba I have known.

There is no question this film is a brilliant achievement, yet it posed some large issues for me. First, it was filmed in Cuba and that really was a shock because of the U.S. boycott on all things Cuban which has existed for decades and which I have never really understood. Let's not forget that President Kennedy was killed specifically because of U.S Cuban policy which at the time was to assassinate Castro and destroy communism in Cuba. How we can justify the complex relationship we have with Communist China and still boycott Communist Cuba is a conundrum to say the least. The other issue for me with this film was the fact that I was under the distinct impression that tragic gay love stories were passé and something that was better left to a previous era. This tragic gay love story for all its modern aspects still smacks of something from a lost age and that did dilute the impact of the story for me. However, there is no denying that on many levels this film is brilliant and should be part of any serious film collection on this genre.

It seems like every other day or so there are news reports of the latest state to honor marriage equality, either through the legislative process or through a court rejection of discrimination. The tide has turned quickly in this country on the issue of gay civil rights, and it's obvious to all but the most closed of minds that's in no longer a question of "if" but "how soon" before the gay community is seen as just another fully acknowledged component of our magnificent multicultural society.In other countries - not so much. Putin's anti-gay crusade in Russia and his counterpart in Uganda demonstrate that simply being gay is still a dangerous proposition in many parts of our world. This global struggle, reduced to the microcosm of two young men in Cuba, is at the heart of "The Last Match" (La Partida), director Antonio Hens' latest examination of the lives of gay youth.Reinier (Reinier Diaz) and Yosvani (Milton Garcia) are two young men surviving in the barrios of Havana. Reinier, who is married and has a child, supports his family (with the explicit approval of his mother-in-law) by prostituting himself to wealthy male tourists. Yosvani, engaged to the daughter of a black marketer, is living off the largesse of his soon-to-be father-in-law (Luis Alberto Garcia). The two come together on the local soccer field and become fast friends. After a night of partying at a local disco, they find themselves sharing a quick kiss. This initial physical interaction leads into a physical relationship that quickly grows into a deep, emotional bond.But life in Cuba is not easy, and being gay in Cuba isn't going to make it any easier. Reinier is more grounded in reality, as harsh as that reality may be. One escape for him may be to go back to Europe with a wealthy tourist (His mother-in-law's preferred action. She wants him to go back to Spain and marry the guy – because it's legal there - then send for her and his family.) Another escape may be via joining a national soccer team.Yosvani wants nothing more than to be with Reinier. He sees money as the solution to their problem. With enough money, they can just leave and go anywhere they want and be together. Rainier's simple, pitiful response – "Where?""Where?" indeed. Both young men act on their desire to escape, culminating in a quietly devastating conclusion that is sure to annoy some. Director Hens may be accused of adding another entry to the long line of "gay lovers are doomed" canon, but an honest examination of the story and the circumstances portrayed should lead one to see that it really couldn't end any other way.As the leads, Diaz and Garcia give affecting performances. While the film has its sexually explicit moments (and there is obviously a level of commitment and comfort required to pull those scenes off) it's in the quieter moments that these young actors really impress. One gets a real sense of the longing and passion these two characters share for each other, and one's heart breaks (as Yosvani's does) as the passion gives way to practicality.With genuine, heartfelt performances by the two leads (and good supporting work from Luis Alberto Garcia as the menacing profiteer), "The Last Match" is a well written and sensitively directed look at love from a different cultural perspective - the love that, sadly, still 'dare not speak its name' in too many languages and in too many places in this modern world.www.worstshowontheweb.com