Rating: 
Summary: VERY BITTER SUGAR, INDEED
Review: A bittersweet love story about a young, idealistic student who wins a scholarship (which never materialises) to study in Czechoslovakia and a beautiful girl whose only dream is to escape to America. She does not buy into the myths of socialism set forth by Fidel Castro. Despite their love, the idealistic student never sees things her way and believes in the ideals of the long-ago revolution. However, he begins to see the stark contrasts between theory and reality. His father, a psychiatrist (well, some sort of medical doctor) makes next to nothing as a doctor so is forced to become a lounge act pianist in a tourist hotel in order to make ends meet. The idealist's brother is a radical anti-Communist protester who is always grazing himself against the law and eventually crosses the line by injecting himself (on video) with the blood of a friend dying of AIDS. He does this as an act of protest, which is seen by the government as an act of insanity. He is placed in a hospital. The realities the father and brother face start to make the idealist see things a new way. A highly dramatic film, shot in black and white, this is a telling insight into modern-day life in Cuba.
Rating: 
Summary: Amazing
Review: I learned Spanish in college and going through my years as a Spainsh student I rented every film that was in the Spanish language in every rental place in town. This is, at this point in time, my favorate movie. I love this movie, very powerful. Only things wrong with it. (I think I get too critical from watching so many times) It is a little melodramatic and the main character and his girl friend are very beautiful (the girl is a hottie!) which I think takes away from the realism. But watch it you'll love it.
Rating: 
Summary: At least the title is good
Review: Bitter Sugar is insultingly simplistic and implausible. I've been to Cuba several times and have many friends there, and I don't believe anyone is as out-to-lunch as our pathetic Marxist hero. He's surprised he's not welcome at the tourist bar? That his brother gets arrested for crashing the political march? I've found Cubans in Cuba to be smart and aware, with few illusions about what's good, bad, or mixed in their lives. Not like all our enthusiastic Miami reviewers, who love the message, not the movie. It is as complex as a Sunday school lesson, and I don't believe that good movies can be that simple.
Rating:
Summary: Shouldn't be missed
Review: Tender, heartwrenching, and very romantic, this film is amazing, and will give a better understanding of Cuba and its people.This tragic love affair, set against the politics of repression is a story one won't forget...made vivid by the magnificent black and white cinematography and a marvelous soundtrack. The acting by everyone is superb, and the two leads, Mayte Vilan and Rene Lavan, utterly gorgeous. Miguel Guitierrez is so moving in the beautifully written part of the father. This is truly a wonderful film, and makes me so appreciative of the freedom I live in.
Rating: 
Summary: Cuba reaches the big time
Review: Cuba, a tiny island surrounded by raging controversey, has at last educated some of its youth to the nihilist desperation that is often popular and over-rated in the United States. Forty years ago, when I was in Cuba, it was one of the sleepy backwaters of the Caribbean where some youth could look forward to being worked to death in the service of the Yankee dollar. Today, according to this film, some youth can look forward to being bored to death when faced with the grim realities of life. Gustavo and his brother Bobby are the sons of privilege, their father is a burnt-out middle-aged psychiatrist. Both are rebels with a furious determination; Gustavo, faced with losing a free-spirited girl who has little in common with him, gradually self-destructs. Bobby is more direct, a drug addict who chooses to inject himself with AIDs infected blood in a slow form of suicide. Yolanda, who became Gustavo's girl friend, picks up extra "presents" in return for "being nice" to foreign tourists; at the end of the film, she escapes to Miami to join her fellow gusanos. It's a common theme for American films; the sins, pitfalls and collapse of the idle rich. It comes back to the same theme -- people need more than material wealth, social status or the other artificial trappings of society. They need a faith in which to believe -- religion, some would say, while others would urged a "cause" or a "way of life." In the United States, the idle rich young protesters rage against international capitalism in Seattle; in Cuba, the spoiled rich young protesters rage against international communism. The theme is universal, but Cubans and Gusanos elevate it to a political statement to serve their own purposes. The final closing speech by Fidel Castro sounds like a typical "feel good" speech by Ronald Reagan (obviously, nothing of Reagan is shown in this film); the platitudes are the same, only the targets of their invective are different. Castro is an almost a perfect foil for Reagan; both are desperately committed to their limited world views, and both have as little meaning for those who are truly disillusioned with society. The difference is that any number of films similar to this, about the empty lives of bored young people who look for fun in sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll, are made in the United States. This film could not be made in Cuba; Castro is terrified to admit that some people are less than enthralled by his regime. It's a pedestrian films by American standards; the surest definition of Castro's Cuba is that this is a startling and dramatic film by Cuban standards. When I was there in January 1959, two words were on the lips of every Cuban I met, "Cuba libre, Cuba libre." Today, Cuban officials are afraid of films such as this -- both Cubans and Gusanos are too terrified of their own uncertainties to admit that modern youth can be as disillusioned, disappointed, lost and bored as Gustavo, Bobby and Yolanda and their ever-suffering but patient parents. No society is free of disillusioned youth; no society is unafraid of them or not bewildered by their loss of faith; Cuba, under Castro, seems genuinely afraid of its youth. But then, wasn't Castro one of them some 50 years ago? He knows what the disaffected can do when they address the problems of society instead of their own insecurities. That is reason enough for any true believer -- Castro or gusano -- to be afraid. Cuba has reached the big time. It has produced a comfortable and well educated society for the masses -- who now want freedom. England couldn't understand that in 1776, and Castro can't understand it today. Nothing will stop that effort; this film celebrates the freedom to be bored, disillusioned and all the rest. No wonder Castro is afraid.
Rating:
Summary: One-sided political view of Cuba
Review: This film is an obvious attempt by the Cuban/ Miami exile community to manipulate the viewer's feelings vis-à-vis Castro. There should be a warning at the beginning of the film to this effect! I wonder who funded the film? By focusing on the "evils" of socialism, the film neglected the positive effects of this political philosphy. As a non-Cuban, I am personally impartial as to these political philosophies, but as a film-viewer, I was utterly insulted at such arm-twisting! The film is only worth watching if you want an insight into the political thinking of the constituents of the Republic of Miami.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Film
Review: This is truly an excellent film. It will make you laugh and cry. If you were born in the island, like I was, then it will hit home. This is the truth about Cuba. I am 28 years old and I lived it. All of those reviewers that are telling you otherwise are full of it. For the one reviewer that praised the Cuban government for allowing this film to be filmed in Cuba, get a little bit more informed. You seem to be as misinformed about this as the reality of the Cuban life and government. The film was filmed in the Dominican Republic. Castro's totalitarian regime would never have allowed this type of film to be filmed in Cuba. Some real footage were purchased and are from within the island.
Rating:
Summary: lot of noise, little substance
Review: the movie was not copletely all-around bad, but i would not want to see it again. it is film that does not really show the realities of Cuba (though bitter they may be), but rather indulges he fantasies of the Miami Cubans. i myself have lived in Cuba, and i have seen the bad and the good. obvously, this was an atempt to show the bad side of socialist Cuba, and i don't see anything wrong with that; as long as it is done realistically. this film, however, repeatedly insults my intelligence; it is obvious that the filmmakers have not lived in cuba recently, and have not experienced the reality of the light yet dark, multifaceted nature of Cuban life. rather, they have merely entertained the mistaken ideology of the Cuban community in Miami.
Rating:
Summary: Love in the time of Castro (Cholera)
Review: One night in 1998 I was sitting alone on a weeknight and happened to switch to a movie on Cinemax. The first thing I noticed about the movie was the lilting Spanish and the second was the beautiful cinematography. To my surprise, I soon realized that this was a movie about Cubans. I am half Cuban and the little that I know about Cuba comes from my father and the limited contact I have had with my father's family. The title reflects the storyline and the acting to a T --- I have rarely seen such a bittersweet movie. I still do not know if I am biased towards this movie due only to my politics and my Cuban heritage but then again who doesn't bring some bias into watching a movie? I highly recommend this movie to anyone with an interest in Cuba, keeping in mind that it is written and directed from a decidedly pro-American and therefore anti-Communist perspective.
Rating:
Summary: Bitter Sugar Depicts Our Bitter Truth
Review: As a Cuban American who came to this country at the age of 12, I was delighted to find a movie which so accurately depicts what my country is going through. Bitter Sugar is a love story, but it is more than that. It is the cinematic cliff notes of the 4-decade long suffering of a people. Anyone who has come from a Communist country will truly appreciate this film. Those of you who have not should make Bitter Sugar required viewing. I strongly encourage you to do so.
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