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{{lead too short|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox film
{{Infobox film
|name = The Lost City
| name = The Lost City
|image = The Lost City film.jpg
| image = The Lost City film.jpg
|caption = Theatrical release poster
| caption = Theatrical release poster
|director = [[Andy García]]
| director = [[Andy García]]
|writer = [[Guillermo Cabrera Infante|G. Cabrera Infante]]
| writer = [[Guillermo Cabrera Infante|G. Cabrera Infante]]
|starring = Andy García<br>[[Dustin Hoffman]]<br>[[Bill Murray]]<br>[[Inés Sastre]]<br>[[Tomás Milián]]
| starring = Andy García<br>[[Dustin Hoffman]]<br>[[Bill Murray]]<br>[[Inés Sastre]]<br>[[Tomás Milián]]
|producer = Andy García<br />[[Frank Mancuso, Jr.]]
| producer = Andy García<br />[[Frank Mancuso, Jr.]]
|music = Andy García
| music = Andy García
|cinematography = Emmanuel Kaddsh
| cinematography = Emmanuel Kaddsh
|editing = Christopher Cibelli
| editing = Christopher Cibelli
|studio = CineSon
| studio = CineSon
|distributor = [[Magnolia Pictures]]<br />Crescent Drive Pictures
| distributor = [[Magnolia Pictures]]<br />Crescent Drive Pictures
|budget = $9.6 million<ref name="numbers">{{cite web|url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Lost-City-The|title=The Lost City (2006) - Financial Information|publisher=The Numbers|accessdate=16 February 2018}}</ref>
| budget = $9.6 million<ref name="numbers">{{cite web|url=https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Lost-City-The|title=The Lost City (2006) - Financial Information|publisher=The Numbers|accessdate=16 February 2018}}</ref>
|gross = $4.4 million<ref>[https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=lostcity.htm The Lost City (2006)] ''[[Box Office Mojo]] Retrieved 2018</ref>
| gross = $4.4 million<ref>[https://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=lostcity.htm The Lost City (2006)] ''[[Box Office Mojo]]'' Retrieved 2018</ref>
|released = {{Film date|2005|09|03|Telluride Film Festival|2006|4|28|United States}}
| released = {{Film date|2005|09|03|[[Telluride Film Festival]]|2006|4|28|United States}}
|country = United States
| country = United States
|runtime = 144 minutes
| runtime = 144 minutes
|language = English<br>Spanish
| language = English<br>Spanish
}}
}}
'''''The Lost City''''' is a 2005 American drama film directed by [[Andy García]]. It stars García, [[Dustin Hoffman]], [[Inés Sastre]], and [[Bill Murray]].
'''''The Lost City''''' is a 2005 American drama film directed by [[Andy García]]. It stars García, [[Dustin Hoffman]], [[Inés Sastre]] and [[Bill Murray]].


==Plot==
==Plot==
<!-- Per WP:FILMPLOT, plot summaries for feature films should be between 400 to 700 words. -->
{{Long plot|date=April 2021}}
Fico Fellove is the owner of El Trópico, a swank nightclub in Cuba in 1958. Fico lives for his family and his music, while facing the harsh realities of [[Fulgencio Batista|Batista's]] dictatorial regime. His brother Ricardo becomes a revolutionary for [[Fidel Castro|Castro's]] [[26 of July Movement|rebel army]], his brother Luis joins the [[Directorio Revolucionario Estudiantil|student opposition]], and his father Federico, a well-respected university professor, pushes for change by constitutional, peaceful means.
Fico Fellove is the owner of El Trópico, a swank nightclub in [[Cuba]] in 1958. He lives for his family and his music while facing the harsh realities of [[Fulgencio Batista|Fulgencio Batista's]] dictatorial regime. His brother Ricardo becomes a revolutionary for [[Fidel Castro|Castro's]] [[26 of July Movement|rebel army]], his brother Luis joins the [[Directorio Revolucionario Estudiantil|student opposition]], and his father Federico, a well-respected university professor, pushes for change by constitutional, peaceful means.


When Ricardo is arrested and threatened with execution, Fico calls upon an old prep school friend Castel, now a police captain, for help. Ricardo is released from jail, and Fico offers to help him go to Miami or New York City, but Ricardo instead joins a rebel column headed by [[Che Guevara]].
When Ricardo is arrested and threatened with execution, Fico calls on an old prep-school friend, Castel, now a police captain, for help. Ricardo is released from jail, and Fico offers to help him go to Miami or New York City, but instead, he joins a rebel column headed by [[Che Guevara]].


Fico is approached by [[Meyer Lansky]], of New York's [[Genovese crime family]], who wishes to open up a gambling room at El Tropico. Fico, who intends for his club to remain a place of music, turns down the offer. When a bomb later explodes at the club, killing Fico's star entertainer (who is also his lover), Fico assumes that Lansky is behind it. However, in the increasingly unsettled climate, he cannot be certain.
Fico is approached by [[Meyer Lansky]], of New York's [[Genovese crime family]], who wishes to open up a gambling room at El Trópico. He intends for his club to remain a place of music, so he turns down the offer. When a bomb explodes at the club, killing Fico's star entertainer (who is also his lover), Fico assumes that Lansky is behind it. However, in the increasingly unsettled climate, he cannot be certain.


Luis becomes connected with a plot to seize the presidential palace, kill Batista, and restore democracy. 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 tries to cheer up Luis’ distraught widow Aurora{{spaced ndash}}Fico and Aurora fall in love.
Luis becomes connected with a plot to seize the presidential palace, kill Batista, and restore democracy. The plot fails and most of the attackers are killed. Luis escapes but is subsequently killed by Batista's [[secret police]]. At the urging of his mother, Fico tries to cheer up Luis's distraught widow, Aurora; Fico and Aurora fall in love.


[[Cuban Revolution|Castro's rebels seize power]] after 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 to be executed is Captain Castel. Fico asks Ricardo, now a high-ranking officer in the new regime, to return the favor that Castel once carried out to save Ricardo's life, but Ricardo does nothing to save Castel.
[[Cuban Revolution|Castro's rebels seize power]] after Batista flees the country. [[Fidel Castro]] declares there will be no elections, and Che Guevara oversees the arrests and [[summary execution]] of those who supported the Batista regime. Among those to be executed is Captain Castel. Fico asks Ricardo, now a high-ranking officer in the new regime, to return the favor that Castel once carried out to save Ricardo's life, but Ricardo does nothing to save him.


Ricardo visits his uncle Donoso, a tobacco farmer and cigar maker. Donoso feels that while Castro may be in power now, “the land endures” and says that the farm will next pass to Ricardo. Ricardo announces that the reason for his visit is to appropriate the farm for the state. Donoso, furious, has a heart attack and dies. Ricardo, overcome by grief, commits suicide shortly after the funeral.
Ricardo visits his uncle Donoso, a tobacco farmer and cigar maker. Donoso feels that, although Castro may be in power now, "the land endures", and says the farm will pass to him next. Ricardo announces that the reason for his visit is to appropriate the farm for the state. Donoso, furious, has a heart attack and dies. Ricardo, overcome by grief, dies by suicide shortly after the funeral.


The revolution affects Fico in other ways as it takes a communist direction. The musicians' union, controlled by Castro, has declared the [[saxophone]] to be an imperialist instrument and forbids its use. The club is eventually shut down on a flimsy pretext. After a chance meeting with Castro, Aurora is declared Revolutionary Widow of the Year and begins to work for the State, and she ends her relationship with Fico.
The revolution affects Fico in other ways as it takes a [[Communist state|communist]] direction. The musicians union, controlled by Castro, has declared the [[saxophone]] to be an imperialist instrument and forbids its use. The club is eventually shut down on a flimsy pretext. After a chance meeting with Castro, Aurora is declared "Revolutionary Widow of the Year". She begins to work for the State, and ends her relationship with Fico.


Fico's parents beg him to leave Cuba and start a new family. Reluctantly, he procures exit visas for himself and Aurora. In a last effort to convince her to join him, Fico barges in on a reception for revolutionary leaders and [[Soviet Bloc]] ambassadors, but Aurora refuses to go. He raises a toast to a democratic Cuba, then leaves the reception. He says his goodbyes to his parents and goes to the airport, where most of his money and possessions{{spaced ndash}}including a prized family pocket watch from his father{{spaced ndash}}are confiscated.
Fico's parents beg him to leave Cuba and start a new family. Reluctantly, he procures exit visas for himself and Aurora. In a last effort to convince her to join him, Fico barges in on a reception for revolutionary leaders and [[Soviet Bloc]] ambassadors, but Aurora refuses to go. He raises a toast to a democratic Cuba, then leaves the reception. Fico says goodbye to his parents and goes to the airport, where most of his money and possessions including a prized family pocket watch from his father are confiscated.


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 his family to America. Meyer Lansky approaches him with an offer of a Cuban nightclub in Las Vegas, but Fico turns him down. He runs into Aurora, who is in New York as part of a Cuban delegation to the [[United Nations]]. He now realizes that Aurora is like Cuba: beautiful, alluring, but also damaged and unattainable. He decides now that his cause is to build a new life until he can return to the city he lost. Fico recites a poem by Cuban nationalist Father [[José Martí]] and commits himself to someday returning to his "lost city". He later opens a new nightclub in New York.
Fico begins a new life in [[New York City|New York]]. Working as a dishwasher and piano player at a Cuban club, he hopes to save enough money to bring his family to America. Meyer Lansky approaches him with an offer of a Cuban nightclub in [[Las Vegas]], but Fico turns him down. He runs into Aurora, who is in New York as part of a Cuban delegation to the [[United Nations]]. He realizes that she is like Cuba: beautiful, alluring, but also damaged and unattainable. He decides that his cause is to build a new life until he can return to the city he lost. Fico recites a poem by Cuban nationalist Father [[José Martí]], and commits himself to returning to his "lost city" someday. He opens a new nightclub in New York.


==Cast==
==Cast==
Line 53: Line 54:
*[[Jsu Garcia]] as [[Che Guevara]]
*[[Jsu Garcia]] as [[Che Guevara]]
*[[Juan Fernández de Alarcón]] as President [[Fulgencio Batista]]
*[[Juan Fernández de Alarcón]] as President [[Fulgencio Batista]]
*[[Elizabeth Peña]] as Miliciana Muñoz


==Depictions==
==Depictions==
===Che Guevara===
===Che Guevara===
In one scene of the film actor [[Jsu Garcia]] as [[Che Guevara]] is shown after an ambush casually shooting a wounded [[Fulgencio Batista]] soldier where he lies.<ref>Stylus Magazine. The Lost City, Movie Review [http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/movie_review/the-lost-city.htm Online]. Accessed October 26, 2006.</ref><ref name = "TYJsu"/> Later in the film the Guevara character asks Andy García's character why he "bothers with such scum", in reference to a former Batista officer who was executed that morning.<ref name = "TYJsu">{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/embed/-Af7LC1D59Y|title=Che - YouTube|website=www.youtube.com|accessdate=Mar 30, 2019}}</ref>
In one scene, Che Guevara (Jsu Garcia) is shown after an ambush casually shooting a wounded Batista soldier where he lies.<ref>Stylus Magazine. The Lost City, Movie Review [http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/movie_review/the-lost-city.htm Online]. Accessed October 26, 2006.</ref><ref name = "TYJsu"/> Later in the film, Guevara asks Fico Fellove why he "bothers with such scum", in reference to a former Batista officer who was executed that morning.<ref name = "TYJsu">{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/embed/-Af7LC1D59Y|title=Che - YouTube|website=www.youtube.com|accessdate=Mar 30, 2019}}</ref>

===Fulgencio Batista===
The film however also depicts Cuban dictator at the time, [[Fulgencio Batista]]'s "Bureau for the Repression of Communist Activities" (BRAC) unit, executing a prisoner at La Cabaña and shooting a wounded insurgent who had attempted to storm the Presidential palace during the growing popular rebellion.


===Bill Murray as "The Writer"===
===Bill Murray as "The Writer"===
[[Bill Murray]] appeared in the movie as the character of "the Writer". He shows up early in the movie asking Fico for a job, and hovers around Fico, commenting on the absurdities of life, though never playing a clear part in those absurdities. According to the “making of” video, the role is similar to that of a [[Greek chorus]] and is really the personality of the movie's author [[G. Cabrera Infante]]. Again, according to the making-of video, Murray was given some latitude in improvising dialogue the scene toward the end where Murray and Hoffman (as [[Meyer Lansky]]) discuss [[egg cream]]s was almost entirely improvised.
Bill Murray appears in the movie as "The Writer". He appears early in the movie asking Fico for a job, and hovers around Fico, commenting on the absurdities of life, although never playing a clear part in those absurdities. According to the "making-of" documentary, the role is similar to that of a [[Greek chorus]], and is really the personality of the movie's author, [[G. Cabrera Infante]]. The "making-of" video claims that Murray was given some latitude in improvising dialogue; the scene toward the end in which The Writer and Meyer Lansky discuss [[egg cream]]s was almost entirely improvised.{{cn|date=January 2024}}


==Location==
The movie was filmed in various locations in the [[Dominican Republic]] due to similarity of landscape, vegetation and architecture. The palace scenes were filmed at the Dominican National Palace, and the tobacco estate is that of [[Arturo Fuente]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Holden |first=Stephen |date=2006-04-28 |title=An Elegy for Old Havana, 'The Lost City' of Glamour and Music |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/28/movies/an-elegy-for-old-havana-the-lost-city-of-glamour-and-music.html |access-date=2023-06-15 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
==Critical response==
==Critical response==
The film generally received unfavorable reviews. [[Rotten Tomatoes]]' collection of critics gave the film a 25% approval rating, with the stated consensus that "what starts as a promising exercise devolves into an overlong, unevenly directed disappointment."<ref>[http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10002516-lost_city/ ''The Lost City''] by [[Rotten Tomatoes]]</ref>
The film received generally unfavorable reviews. [[Rotten Tomatoes]] gives the film a 26% approval rating, based on 82 reviews. The stated consensus is: "What starts as a promising exercise devolves into an overlong, unevenly directed disappointment."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2005-09-03 |title=The Lost City {{!}} Rotten Tomatoes |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10002516-lost_city |access-date=2024-01-20 |website=www.rottentomatoes.com |language=en}}</ref>

[[Michael Atkinson (writer)|Michael Atkinson]] of ''[[The Village Voice]]'' critiqued the historical validity of the film, stating, "García's tale bemoans the loss of easy wealth for a precious few. Poor people are absolutely absent; García and Infante seem to have thought that peasant revolutions happen for no particular reason—or at least no reason the moneyed 1 percent should have to worry about."<ref>[http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-04-18/film/the-lost-city/ "The Lost City"] by [[Michael Atkinson (writer)|Michael Atkinson]], ''[[The Village Voice]]'', April 18, 2006</ref>


Michael Atkinson of ''[[The Village Voice]]'' critiqued the historical validity of the film, stating "García's tale bemoans the loss of easy wealth for a precious few. Poor people are absolutely absent; García and Infante seem to have thought that peasant revolutions happen for no particular reason—or at least no reason the moneyed 1 percent should have to worry about."<ref>[http://www.villagevoice.com/2006-04-18/film/the-lost-city/ "The Lost City"] by [[Michael Atkinson (writer)|Michael Atkinson]], ''[[The Village Voice]]'', April 18, 2006</ref> Stephen Holden of ''[[The New York Times]]'' described the political dialogue in the film as "strictly of the junior high school variety" while opining that the "characters pontificate in generalities and aphorisms" making them "little more than stick figures with cartoon balloons pasted over their heads."<ref>[http://movies.nytimes.com/2006/04/28/movies/28lost.html The Lost City: An Elegy for Old Havana] by [[Stephen Holden]], ''[[The New York Times]]'', April 28, 2006</ref>
[[Stephen Holden]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' described the political dialogue in the film as "strictly of the junior high school variety", while opining that the "characters pontificate in generalities and aphorisms", making them "little more than stick figures with cartoon balloons pasted over their heads".<ref>[http://movies.nytimes.com/2006/04/28/movies/28lost.html The Lost City: An Elegy for Old Havana] by [[Stephen Holden]], ''[[The New York Times]]'', April 28, 2006</ref>


==See also==
==See also==
Line 96: Line 99:
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Che Guevara]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Che Guevara]]
[[Category:2005 drama films]]
[[Category:2005 drama films]]
[[Category:2000s American films]]

Latest revision as of 23:56, 13 August 2024

The Lost City
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAndy García
Written byG. Cabrera Infante
Produced byAndy García
Frank Mancuso, Jr.
StarringAndy García
Dustin Hoffman
Bill Murray
Inés Sastre
Tomás Milián
CinematographyEmmanuel Kaddsh
Edited byChristopher Cibelli
Music byAndy García
Production
company
CineSon
Distributed byMagnolia Pictures
Crescent Drive Pictures
Release dates
Running time
144 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguagesEnglish
Spanish
Budget$9.6 million[1]
Box office$4.4 million[2]

The Lost City is a 2005 American drama film directed by Andy García. It stars García, Dustin Hoffman, Inés Sastre and Bill Murray.

Plot

[edit]

Fico Fellove is the owner of El Trópico, a swank nightclub in Cuba in 1958. He lives for his family and his music while facing the harsh realities of Fulgencio Batista's dictatorial regime. His brother Ricardo becomes a revolutionary for Castro's rebel army, his brother Luis joins the student opposition, and his father Federico, a well-respected university professor, pushes for change by constitutional, peaceful means.

When Ricardo is arrested and threatened with execution, Fico calls on an old prep-school friend, Castel, now a police captain, for help. Ricardo is released from jail, and Fico offers to help him go to Miami or New York City, but instead, he joins a rebel column headed by Che Guevara.

Fico is approached by Meyer Lansky, of New York's Genovese crime family, who wishes to open up a gambling room at El Trópico. He intends for his club to remain a place of music, so he turns down the offer. When a bomb explodes at the club, killing Fico's star entertainer (who is also his lover), Fico assumes that Lansky is behind it. However, in the increasingly unsettled climate, he cannot be certain.

Luis becomes connected with a plot to seize the presidential palace, kill Batista, and restore democracy. The plot fails and most of the attackers are killed. Luis escapes but is subsequently killed by Batista's secret police. At the urging of his mother, Fico tries to cheer up Luis's distraught widow, Aurora; Fico and Aurora fall in love.

Castro's rebels seize power after Batista flees the country. Fidel Castro declares there will be no elections, and Che Guevara oversees the arrests and summary execution of those who supported the Batista regime. Among those to be executed is Captain Castel. Fico asks Ricardo, now a high-ranking officer in the new regime, to return the favor that Castel once carried out to save Ricardo's life, but Ricardo does nothing to save him.

Ricardo visits his uncle Donoso, a tobacco farmer and cigar maker. Donoso feels that, although Castro may be in power now, "the land endures", and says the farm will pass to him next. Ricardo announces that the reason for his visit is to appropriate the farm for the state. Donoso, furious, has a heart attack and dies. Ricardo, overcome by grief, dies by suicide shortly after the funeral.

The revolution affects Fico in other ways as it takes a communist direction. The musicians union, controlled by Castro, has declared the saxophone to be an imperialist instrument and forbids its use. The club is eventually shut down on a flimsy pretext. After a chance meeting with Castro, Aurora is declared "Revolutionary Widow of the Year". She begins to work for the State, and ends her relationship with Fico.

Fico's parents beg him to leave Cuba and start a new family. Reluctantly, he procures exit visas for himself and Aurora. In a last effort to convince her to join him, Fico barges in on a reception for revolutionary leaders and Soviet Bloc ambassadors, but Aurora refuses to go. He raises a toast to a democratic Cuba, then leaves the reception. Fico says goodbye to his parents and goes to the airport, where most of his money and possessions — including a prized family pocket watch from his father — are confiscated.

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 his family to America. Meyer Lansky approaches him with an offer of a Cuban nightclub in Las Vegas, but Fico turns him down. He runs into Aurora, who is in New York as part of a Cuban delegation to the United Nations. He realizes that she is like Cuba: beautiful, alluring, but also damaged and unattainable. He decides that his cause is to build a new life until he can return to the city he lost. Fico recites a poem by Cuban nationalist Father José Martí, and commits himself to returning to his "lost city" someday. He opens a new nightclub in New York.

Cast

[edit]

Depictions

[edit]

Che Guevara

[edit]

In one scene, Che Guevara (Jsu Garcia) is shown after an ambush casually shooting a wounded Batista soldier where he lies.[3][4] Later in the film, Guevara asks Fico Fellove why he "bothers with such scum", in reference to a former Batista officer who was executed that morning.[4]

Bill Murray as "The Writer"

[edit]

Bill Murray appears in the movie as "The Writer". He appears early in the movie asking Fico for a job, and hovers around Fico, commenting on the absurdities of life, although never playing a clear part in those absurdities. According to the "making-of" documentary, the role is similar to that of a Greek chorus, and is really the personality of the movie's author, G. Cabrera Infante. The "making-of" video claims that Murray was given some latitude in improvising dialogue; the scene toward the end in which The Writer and Meyer Lansky discuss egg creams was almost entirely improvised.[citation needed]

Location

[edit]

The movie was filmed in various locations in the Dominican Republic due to similarity of landscape, vegetation and architecture. The palace scenes were filmed at the Dominican National Palace, and the tobacco estate is that of Arturo Fuente.[5]

Critical response

[edit]

The film received generally unfavorable reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a 26% approval rating, based on 82 reviews. The stated consensus is: "What starts as a promising exercise devolves into an overlong, unevenly directed disappointment."[6]

Michael Atkinson of The Village Voice critiqued the historical validity of the film, stating, "García's tale bemoans the loss of easy wealth for a precious few. Poor people are absolutely absent; García and Infante seem to have thought that peasant revolutions happen for no particular reason—or at least no reason the moneyed 1 percent should have to worry about."[7]

Stephen Holden of The New York Times described the political dialogue in the film as "strictly of the junior high school variety", while opining that the "characters pontificate in generalities and aphorisms", making them "little more than stick figures with cartoon balloons pasted over their heads".[8]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "The Lost City (2006) - Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  2. ^ The Lost City (2006) Box Office Mojo Retrieved 2018
  3. ^ Stylus Magazine. The Lost City, Movie Review Online. Accessed October 26, 2006.
  4. ^ a b "Che - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved Mar 30, 2019.
  5. ^ Holden, Stephen (2006-04-28). "An Elegy for Old Havana, 'The Lost City' of Glamour and Music". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-06-15.
  6. ^ "The Lost City | Rotten Tomatoes". www.rottentomatoes.com. 2005-09-03. Retrieved 2024-01-20.
  7. ^ "The Lost City" by Michael Atkinson, The Village Voice, April 18, 2006
  8. ^ The Lost City: An Elegy for Old Havana by Stephen Holden, The New York Times, April 28, 2006
[edit]