Viva

There are two very distinct parts to Havana, the capital of Cuba. One is the colorful, picturesque area that has been freshly renovated and is where the tourists hang out, and the other is marked by the seedy dilapidated streets where local inhabitants struggle on a daily basis just to make ends meet. This story of Jesus (H�ctor Medina), an 18-year-old hairdresser who is desperate to break out of his very sparse and miserable existence and make something out of his life, is very firmly set in the latter.

Jesus has been living on his own since his mother died years ago, and he hasn't seen his father who disappeared when he was a toddler. When he is not cutting the hair of elderly neighbors who can rarely afford to pay him, he helps out at a local nightclub teasing the wigs of all the drag queens who perform there. The older gay man who is the owner, and also the star of the nightly show, is known to all as Mama (Luis Alberto Garc�a), and he acts as a mentor to young Jesus, encouraging him to follow his dream of being a performer.

On Jesus's very first night as "Viva," his act is interrupted in mid-flow when a drunk man in the audience attacks him with a hard punch. The assailant turns out to be Jesus's ex-boxer father Angel (Jorge Perugorr�a), who has just been released from prison and has come back to the city to move into Jesus's cramped small apartment whether he likes it or not. Angel is appalled by the fact that his son is so open about his sexuality and forbids him to ever go back to the club, let alone perform in drag there.

The two men are not only total strangers, but they soon discover that they have absolutely nothing in common. The strain of having to feed and pay for booze for his unemployed father out of his own meager wages soon brings the young man to breaking point. When 'Mama' gets wind of what's going on, he and Angel get into a fight over what is best for Jesus; despite how awfully his father treats him, Jesus opts to stay with him.

When the real reason for Angel's return becomes apparent, Jesus's desperation for money to support them both means that not only does he insist on going back to perform in the club but he finds himself doing something he swore he never would -- he ends up turning tricks with tourists for much-needed dollars. As Angel starts to lose his strength, Jesus finds his as he realizes that only through performing as on the stage can he truly become himself.

This very compelling melodrama is surprisingly the work of two Irish filmmakers, one of whom can barely speak Spanish. In fact, director Paddy Breathnach had visited a Drag Club in Havana some 20 years ago and it inspired him to create a movie with similar very colorful characters that he had encountered then. The script, by openly gay award-winning playwright Mark O'Halloran, gives a fresh new take on a fairly old tale of a young man's reconciliation with his reluctant father as he makes Jesus's journey of self discovery such a poignant one.

It has such pitch perfect performances, especially from a very inexperienced Medina who positively shines as he transforms himself into this confident young man (and is a rather electrifying performer, too). Breathnach astutely does away with subtitles when the drag queens are lip-syncing to their highly theatrical ballads, so not to distract from all their wonderfully exhilarating but very-over-the-top performances that help make this movie such a sheer joy to watch.

"Viva" was Ireland's official submission for a Nomination for a Best Foreign Picture Academy Award, a remarkable and well-deserved achievement for this powerful LGBT drama.