Four seasons in Havana

The next video is the trailer of the Netflix show inspired by Leonardo Padura,  Four seasons in Havana.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Special Period: Cause and Effect

Image
       When the Soviet Union fully collapsed in the 1991, the Cuban economy was dealt a devastating blow. Because the Soviets were the main source of their exports and imports, they no longer had a means of making profits, and food and medicine (among other things) became very scarce. It's GDP collapsed to 34% of its former self, and exports and imports were cut by 80%. Source: The Havana Project      Before the collapse of the USSR, the Russians exported large amounts of pertroleum to the Cubans in exchange for sugar. Fidel sold any surplus petroleum to other countries( which made petroleum the second largest export product before the 1990's) when the Russian Federation took power in Russia, they no longer supplied Cuba with one of its main exporting products and cut exportation of oil to Cuba by 10% of what the USSR had supplied. In retaliation, Fidel cut of all imports of oil from the Russian Federation, causing a massive need to drastically...
Read more

"Masks"

Image
  Source: Flickr Commons    The transvestite "Masks" that people wear play a very important part in the book, Red Havana . Transvestite, in this case, refers to metamorphosing into something or someone different.  From the moment Conde receives The Face and The Mask  from Alberto Marquess, he begins to understand and figure out the case more easily. Although it isn't immediately present, the book revolves around the idea of masks, camouflage, and the effects the social and economic turmoil has had on perpetrating these fake identities.      For example, when we first meet The Marquess, he puts on a mask of promiscuity, moral depravity, and eccentric homosexuality. As he begins to trust Conde, however, we see the mask start to slip off, as The Marquess relays more personal information about his life, his performances, and his downfall. We can see this on page 228, where The Marquess says "Ill make one more confession to you: I am self-suffic...
Read more

Alberto Marqués

Image
Source http://images.gr-assets.com/books/1474364526l/32140220.jpg       "The Marquess" is a combination of Cuban artists who were persecuted for their work or personal beliefs during this time. In the book, he is described as an aged homosexual man with few strands of hair, lanky body build, and an arrogant and superfluous attitude. We get a sense of his dramatic attitude on page 34, where he and the Count are first talking about the transvestite. When Conde expresses that he wants to be called Lieutenant Mario Conde instead of Mr Policeman, The Marquess responded with "Mr Policeman  Lieutenant Mario Conde." This is one example of how The Marquess intentionally trys to provoke Conde, but as the two continue their dialogue we see The Marquess beginning to trust Conde, revealing more with each visit.             The Marquess doesn't give Conde a direct answer most times, which can be frustrating for any detective. He isn't all s...
Read more