Sieben Tage, sieben Nächte

Director Antonio Cano is a brave artist, the class of filmmaker who is willing to take risks for the sake of his art. SIETE DIAS, SIETE NOCHES takes a frank and brutal look at one week in Cuba, primarily in Havana, where Cano follows the lives of several women under the kind of stress those of us in this country can only suppose. He does not preach, he does not fall into one side or the other of propaganda: he simply has written and filmed a story that lets us see how people living in Cuba cope.

The film opens with a woman TV news anchor Norma Fernandez reciting the news with a tear in her eye and, unable to continue reporting the lies of the government, she weeps, pulls off her wig, and runs form the studio, pledging a life of silence. At the same time in another section of the country a peasant woman Maria loses her young son in a bizarre situation that could be construed as infanticide. Devastated, she leaves her home to move to the street life in Havana for isolation and survival. In yet another area one elegantly thin and beautiful woman Nieves reluctantly carries out her means of livelihood by killing pigs in a slaughter, all the while dreaming of being a cabaret dancer. Her attitude results in her losing her job and in her mother throwing her out of her meager flat that has been home.

Cano uses these three women as primary focus and works these desperate lives into a fabric that intertwines like a vast mural of decay, lost hope, dog fights, cock fights, sexual encounters, multiple lullabies, and descents into madness, and humor and dancing and, above all, the eternal hope that tomorrow will bring a better life. This is brutal realism, beautifully captured on film by a group of gifted actors, among them Ingrid Gonzalez, Ludmila Alonso-Yodu, Mercedes Morales, Erudye Munuz, Orsiel Gaspar, Alcedes Alvarez to name only a few.

The impact of this film is powerful: it will take multiple viewings to realize all of the intricacies of the plot and the interactions of the characters, young and old, with the government and the culture of Cuba. This is one of those films that deserves a wide audience for those who are concerned about the lives of people who live under suppressive regimes. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp

Despite relatively professional production values, this is a terrible movie. The conflict of the three main characters is totally incomprehensible, absurd and irrelevant. The acting is of the poorest quality, despite the strong scenic presence of Orisel Gaspar and Eduaye Muniz. They all engage in interminable yelling, exaggerated posturing and puerile dialogues which end up as empty noises and empty gestures. Gaspar and Muniz could do better with a better script and a better director, but this is just cartoonish and stereotypical acting.It is difficult to find any redeeming value in this movie, any sequence worth remembering. And if there is a political message, I missed it. The only excuse is that this is Joel Cano's first film.

I found this movie hard to watch and at times incomprehensible. I believe the problem is not with the movie as it was originally written and acted but was with poor subtitling. I know enough Spanish to know that the subtitles did not accurately portray the script. Some lines were not conveyed in the subtitles at all. Other times I heard something clearly in the Spanish and saw something else completely in the subtitles of the same scene. It was distracting and confusing especially since I am not fluent enough to turn the subtitles off, but understood enough to catch bits and pieces of what was really being said by the characters.

The subtitles were so poor that I would recommend not to watch the film unless you are prepared to skip them and watch in the original Spanish.

As a previous poster alluded to, I don't believe the subtitles accurately conveyed what was being said on screen. The plot is initially hard to follow and know where the film is going. But, after some of the characters get fleshed out, you can understand what the film is trying to convey.

Some of the minor characters seem to be over the top in their character's portrayal. However, I have had the opportunity to live in and be around the Hispanic community enough to know people who are like those in the film.

This film is a gritty look at the conditions in Cuba, especially for those in the lower economic strata. Two of the main characters are people of the streets who must make personal sacrifices to survive. My opinion is the director shot the film like he did, to give viewers a sense of what the conditions are really like in Cuba. The film is not some slick Hollywood production, which might put a lot of viewers off. If you, like me, want to watch films that are not mainstream and make you think, then give this film a chance.

Eruadye Muniz steals the film and I would like to see her in some films with higher production values.