Bitter Sugar (Azúcar Amarga) poster & wallpaper
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René Lavan, Mayte Vilán, Miguel Gutiérrez, Larry Villanueva, Luis Celeiro ... see more see more... , Teresa M. Rojas , Felix German , Orestes Matacena

Gustavo (Rene Lavan) is an engineering student born and raised in Cuba who strongly believes in his nation's socialist ideals at a time when those ideals are crumbling around him. His girlfriend, Yola... read more read more...nda (Mayte Vilan), dreams of emigrating to Miami and making a life for herself as a professional dancer. His father, Tomas (Miguel Gutierrez), is a respected psychiatrist who he can barely support himself working at a state-run institution; he moonlights as a jazz pianist, where he makes four times his medical salary playing for tips to tourists at a nightclub. And his brother Bobby (Larry Villanueva) is a rock musician whose long hair and defiant posture have made him an enemy of the state and an outspoken opponent of Castro's regime; when yet another of his performances is shut down and his equipment is confiscated by police, Bobby, in an extreme act of protest, publicly injects himself with HIV-tainted blood, making clear that when presented with the slogan of "socialism or death," he would prefer the latter. Azucar Amarga was a highly personal project for director Leon Ichaso, a emigre from Havana who has offered one of the few portraits of Cuban unrest in the 1990s from a Cuban point-of-view. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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66% liked it

802 ratings

Unrated, 1 hr. 42 min.

Directed by: Leon Ichaso

Release Date: November 22, 1996

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DVD Release Date: November 7, 2000

Stats: 35 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (35)

  • nanoqna
    January 22, 2007
    nanoqna
    its a good movie it makes u think. a lot of ppl tihnk its interesting. it snot completely true but its interesting about having no money. it was fimed in doinica republiac!

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Critic Reviews

Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
August 26, 2002
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice

Presents a fascinating glimpse of Cuba as a country of shattered dreams and unfulfilled promises. Full Review

Alex Patterson
March 26, 2009
Alex Patterson, Variety

Click to read the article Full Review

Stephen Holden
May 20, 2003
Stephen Holden, New York Times

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Kevin Thomas
February 14, 2001
Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times

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Edward Guthmann
January 1, 2000
Edward Guthmann, San Francisco Chronicle

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Emanuel Levy
June 30, 2005
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

Marjorie Baumgarten
January 1, 2000
Marjorie Baumgarten, Austin Chronicle

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June 5, 2002
Boxoffice Magazine

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January 1, 2000
E! Online

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