Synopsis :
Fico Fellove (Andy Garcia) is the owner of El Tropico, a swank nightclub in
late 1950s Havana. Fico lives for his family and his music, but the harsh realities
of dictator Batista’s regime threaten to destroy both. Brother Ricardo
(Enrique Murciano) becomes a communist while brother Luis (Nestor Carbonell)
joins the democratic opposition. His father Federico (Tomas Milian), a well-respected
university professor, believes that Batista should be replaced by constitutional
means.
When Ricardo is arrested for anti-regime activities and threatened with execution,
Fico calls upon an old prep school friend, now a police captain (Captain Castel,
played by Steven Bauer), for help. Due to the intercession of Captain Castel,
Ricardo is released from jail. Although Fico suggests that Ricardo go to Miami
or New York for a while, Ricardo instead joins a communist rebel band headed
by Che Guevara.
In addition to political intrigue, Fico is also approached by American mobster
Meyer Lansky (Dustin Hoffman) who wishes to open up a gambling room at El Tropico.
Fico however wishes his club to remain a place of music and turns down the offer.
When a bomb later explodes at the club, killing the club’s star entertainer
(who was also Fico’s love), Fico assumes the mafia were behind it. However,
in the increasingly unsettled climate, he cannot be certain.
Luis meanwhile becomes connected with the plot to seize the presidential palace,
kill Batista, and restore democracy to Cuba. The plot fails and most of the
attackers are killed. Luis escapes but is killed later by Batista’s secret
police.
At the urging of his mother, Fico begins a relationship with Luis’s widow
Aurora (Ines Sastre). Fico and Aurora fall in love, but events intervene: the
insurgency seize the power and Batista flees the country. Fidel Castro declares
there will be no elections and Che Guevara oversees the arrests and summary
execution of all those who supported the Batista regime. Among those arrested
is Captain Castel. Fico seeks out his brother Ricardo, now a high-ranking officer
in the new regime, for help. Despite Castel's having saved his life, Ricardo
does nothing to prevent Castel’s execution.
Ricardo, who had otherwise distanced himself from his family, later visits
his uncle Donoso (Richard Bradford), a tobacco farmer and cigar maker. Donoso
feels that while Castro may be in power now, “the land endures”
and he says that the farm would one day pass to Ricardo. Ricardo, however, announces
that the reason for his visit is to appropriate the farm for the state. In a
fit of anger, Donoso has a heart attack and dies. Ricardo, overcome by grief,
attends the funeral and shortly after commits suicide.
Ines Sastre plays Aurora FelloveThe revolution also has its effects on Fico’s
club. The musician’s union, now controlled by Castro, has declared the
saxophone to be a capitalist instrument and forbids its use. The club is eventually
closed on a flimsy pretext. After a chance meeting with Castro, Aurora is declared
Widow of the Revolution of the Year and begins to work for the regime. This
causes Fico and Aurora to break apart.
Seeing the family torn apart and decimated by the revolution, Fico’s
parents beg him to leave Cuba and build a new family. Reluctantly, Fico prepares
to leave, procuring exit visas for himself and Aurora. In a last chance to convince
her to leave, Fico barges in on a reception for revolutionary leaders and Soviet
block ambassadors. Aurora refuses to go. After a last toast to a free and democratic
Cuba, Fico leaves the reception. He says his goodbyes to his parents (receiving
his father’s prized pocket watch) and leaves Cuba. At the airport, most
of his money and possessions (including his father’s watch) are taken
from him.
Fico begins a new life in New York. Working as a dishwasher and piano player
at a Cuban club, he hopes to save enough money to bring the remaining members
of his family to America. He again meets Meyer Lansky, who now promises Fico
a Cuban nightclub in Las Vegas. Fico again refuses. While cleaning up that night,
he has another meeting with Aurora, who is in New York as part of a Cuban delegation
to the United Nations. He now realizes that Aurora is Cuba: beautiful, alluring,
but ultimately not attainable. He decides now that his cause is to build a new
life until he can return to the city he lost.
The movie ends with Fico's reciting a poem by Cuban national hero José
Martí and opening a new nightclub in New York.
- Cast : Andy García, Dustin Hoffman, Bill Murray,
Ines Sastre, Tomas Milian
- Studio/Banner : Eagle
- Format : DVD
- Language : English
