Luis Alberto Garcia Movies

A group of Havana bohemians look for love in the drama La Vida Es Silbar. Bebe (Bebe Perez) is an 18-year-old living in Cuba who was raised in an orphanage along with her two best friends, petty thief Elpidio (Luis Alberto Garcia) and aspiring dancer Mariana (Claudia Rojas). Another of Bebe's pals is Julia (Coralia Veloz), who is so shy she faints when she hears the word "sex;" fortunately, she works in a retirement home and doesn't hear it very often. Bebe serves as our guide as we follow the romantic misadventures of her three friends. When Elpidio lifts the wallet of Chrissy (Isabel Santos), a tourist who has traveled to Havana via balloon; he finds himself intrigued and calls her, hoping to put a romance into motion. Mariana meets another dancer, attractive Ismael (Joan Manuel Reyes), and soon finds herself struggling to maintain her composure. And when Julia is sent to an analyst (Rolando Brito) to do something about her shyness, she finds herself becoming increasingly attracted to the doctor. Noted for its stylish visual sense, La Vida Es Silbar played several of the world's top film festivals in 1999, including the Sundance, Berlin, Munich and Karlovy Vary Film Festivals. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Unemployed electrician Juan (Ramon Barea) leaves his family behind when he travels to Madrid in search of work. Beginning illegal construction work, Juan meets Caribbean mulatto Andy (Luis Alberto Garcia), an illegal immigrant. Juan's landlady Margarita (Marga Escudero) suggests sex for his rent, but he declines. When the construction job is complete, Juan is reduced to sleeping in doorways. He remains in contact with Andy, who introduces him to Sonia (Magalis Gainza). The three find common ground and become friends. Juan also meets junkie Beatriz (Patricia Garcia Mendez), a wealthy businessman's daughter. As Juan's descent into the numbing world of unemployment continues, he struggles to maintain his dignity. Shown at the 1997 San Sebastian Film Festival, this film is also known as Hitting Bottom. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

In this satiric road movie from Cuba, Yoyita (Conchita Brando), a well-known singer living in Havana, travels with her niece Georgina (Mirta Ibarra), a college professor, to the village of her birth, where Yoyita is reunited with Candido (Raul Eguren), whom she loved as a young woman. When Yoyita and Candido meet for the first time in 50 years, they're thrilled to discover that the flame of passion still burns within them; unfortunately, Yoyita is so thrilled that it gives her a heart attack, and she dies on the spot. Yoyita's body must be transported back to Havana for burial, but while logic would dictate that Georgina should simply hire a hearse to make the journey, her husband, Adolfo (Carlos Cruz), a bureaucrat with more enthusiasm than common sense, has another idea -- by transferring the body from one vehicle to another at the border of each province, the cost of fuel will be distributed more evenly along the route. No one much cares for this idea except Adolfo, but he has the law on his side, so Georgina, Candido, and Adolfo begin a long, slow journey back to Havana accompanied by truck drivers Ramon (Pedro Fernandez) and Mariano (Jorge Perugorria), who was Georgina's student years ago. At every stop, the group meets a few of the people in each town (especially Mariano, who seems to have a girlfriend in every village in Cuba) and they share their thoughts on faith, politics, and love. Guantanamera was the final work from veteran Cuban director Tomás Gutiérrez Alea; he died before the film could be completed, so co-screenwriter Juan Carlos Tabió finished the film in his stead. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Jorge Luis is an aspiring screenwriter and has a wife and daughter. Sissy is beautiful, blonde, and may possibly be an aspiring actress. She, too, is married. When the two of them meet at a gala screening, unaccompanied by their spouses, each pretends to be more important than they are. Jorge Luis claims he is a film director, while Sissy pretends to be an established actress. In a humorous scene where it appears that Sissy is confessing to Jorge that she is married, it turns out that she is only practicing for a screen test. Likewise, since Jorge's wife knows he is trying to get a certain director interested in his scripts, she is afraid that he is having a homosexual affair with the director in order to sell his script. Her fears are heightened when she chances on her husband playing at being feminine for the amusement of his daughter. In this comedy, telling the truth seems to be the last thing on anybody's mind. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

Cuba has never been regarded as a cinematic capital, thus it's a bit offputting to find so accomplished a film as Plaff! emerging from Castro-land. Deliberately kaleidescopic, with scenes edited out of sequence, the film involves a superstitious woman at odds with her science-oriented daughter-in-law. When the younger woman threatens the older one's complacent belief in portents and talismans, the older one plots the younger's demise. The film maps the older lady's increasing withdrawal from all vestiges of reality--hence the film's full title, Plaff! Or Too Afraid of Life (Desmasiado Miedo A La Vida, O Plaff) Director Juan Carlos Tobio also cowrote the stream-of-consciousness screenplay for this ramschackle but irresistible film. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Those who are familiar with the details of the Cuban Revolution which put Fidel Castro into power may find this film particularly interesting. In this reverently told story, a small band of guerillas are fighting on their own, independently from the Castro-led groups. At first, they are content simply to disrupt public gatherings in a small way, but eventually they graduate to major acts of terrorism. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

A sick and aging businessman is confined to his room and hooked up to the world through the usual tubes -- television and intravenous feeders. The problem is that the latter tubes have to carry the plasma extracted from the blood of young, white boys -- a task that was foisted on three of the businessman's employees (with blackmail threats). So young children are kidnapped, sexually assaulted, murdered by extravasation, and the plasma is then piped into the businessman. For some viewers, the subject matter might be offensive, and the premise anemic at best. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide