While it may only be ‘presented’ by the esteemed director himself, Una Noche takes, and furthers, the themes of oppression and self-empowerment of an individual in a minority that has made Spike Lee a champion of exploring socially conscious issues throughout his residency in film history.
Written and directed by Lucy Mulloy, Noche marks her first feature film directorial effort, and the experience of watching is a reward.
Running at a solid ninety minutes, the film, as you might expect, centers around ‘una noche,’ or, ‘one night,’ in the life of three teenage Cuban natives, living another frustrating day in their poverty-stricken life in Havana. Employing a similar ‘Spike Lee’ cinematic device, the film uses the narrative voice-over of a primary character which links multiple characters, with shared points of view. Partly narrating the story is the young and pretty, yet shy and bullied Lila (Anailín de la Rúa de la Torre), whose only social comfort is with her nearly-twin brother, Elio (Javier Núñez Florián), who tends to her insecurities with care and affection. It is when Elio’s attention turns to focus on Raul (Darriel Arrechaga), an attractive yet frustrated and troubled friend, that Lila notices her relationship with her brother is interrupted. With Raul nearing his breaking point, feeling trapped in his sub-squalor life, he plans to sail to Miami with Elio, hopeful of a better life that could be offered only in America. Yet Lila’s unshakeable bond with Elio only serves to further jeopardize the boys’ plan, against an unforgiving world that may devastate them at any moment.
While small, digital cameras could be easier to maneuver and work with, the task is still insurmountably hard, and this is where Mulloy hangs most of the emotional payoffs.
Mulloy proves herself here, as the film stands on solid legs throughout its runtime. Perhaps employing more documentary-like techniques (the film looks as if it were shot handheld on a digital video camera, and wonderfully so) allowed for capturing authentically-calling footage of the world of Cuba, revealing an underbelly of a world that so traps these characters. Equally impressive is the film’s sprawling story structure, which extends to show us more characters afflicted by hardship; seeing Raul’s sickly mother working as a prostitute, and a compassionate medic underpricing HIV medicine for Elio reveals an even richer world of characters, further strengthening the film’s themes of the individual’s triumph through oppressing forces.
Yet the film’s most impressive accomplishments occur in its final reel, of the trio’s rafting journey to Miami. Never has it been an easy thing to shoot a movie at sea, and that is exactly what happens here. While small, digital cameras could be easier to maneuver and work with, the task is still insurmountably hard, and this is where Mulloy hangs most of the emotional payoffs. These moments are set alongside environmental conflicts, in the sky, and below the sea.
If Noche swings and misses at anything, it may be in its relatively un-stirring emotional range. While the argument could be made that these characters are so desensitized and unaffected by the brutal and unfair justices of their loves, where, in these cases, we see Raul react by lazily getting drunk and Lila and Elio only quietly internalizing their emotions, the audience is never given any show-stopping or vulnerable moment to connect with the characters, which the film could have masterfully used.
This strongly scripted and directed effort brings all that is good in this movie to the surface; even its ‘first-time’ actors add a spark of authenticity in roles that couldn’t have called for anything else. All of the visual riches and scenes show a side of the typically tourist-ridden Havana that a non-native wouldn’t know, in artfully crafted fashion, while themes of finding identity through frustration, desperation, and liberation are channeled in a unique, impressive form. Perhaps the only thing more impressive than all of this is seen in one of the film’s final frames, a black title card reading: “Inspired By a True Story.”
