Writing for Behemoth

Boleto al Paraíso (Ticket to Paradise) was a “Ticket to Inferno” It was nearly the end of Gothenburg International Film Festival of 2012. I went to Gothenburg to watch two films in Göteborg Stadsbibliotek.

I had two wonderful hours… not watching any film and just reading a fantastic book (I'll post about it later). The name of the first film was “Ticket to Paradise” or “Boleto al Paraíso”, directed by Gerardo Chijona.

As the very first sentence of film description emphasizes, the film is about the post-soviet area in Cuba (this is actually the best part of the whole story).

Eunice, a high school girl (probably a troubled one); was sexually harassed by his dad, so ran away from home and the story began.

Then, just like all the stories or films beforehand, Eunice met a group of people at her age: two boys and one tomboy girl who constantly calls the group: a family. In addition, not surprisingly, the love began between the Eunice and one of the boy (Alejandro)…

Here, we learnt that Alejandro has an abusive mother, does not want to work or be sent to the State Camps:

“In daytime, work in farms and in nighttime, study”.

The gang decided to get AIDS deliberately (it was an unknown and new subject in Cuba in 1993) and consequently would be sent to the luxurious Cuban AIDS sanatoriums (which are recognized worldwide) to live a few years in comfort. Everybody accepted this suicide plan, expect Eunice (if she accepted, the film would be half!) and she ran away.

Then forget about the group, we have another half an hour to fill. Eunice met a prostitute and lived and worked with her. Then police took her to police station (without any offensive attitude) and by bad luck, she ran away again.

Alejandro, already infected, saw the AIDS infected people in their final days. And finally realized that his plan for a beautiful, easy, relaxing and clean life in an AIDS sanatorium (Paradise) which costs only AIDS infection (Death), was just a delusion.

Naturally, Alejandro decided to suicide, but Eunice showed up, changed his mind from jumping of the roof but instead finally had sex (intentionally, even after he explained to her the horror of AIDS disease) to get AIDS (at the very same time, on the top of the roof, when everybody was waiting?!).

The last minutes of the film explained that Alejandro was death and Eunice is pregnant. Alejandro had stopped taking his pills and so died earlier. Eunice wants to name the unborn boy, Alejandro, like his father. Then she sat in the room and starts to look at the camera and cry.

OK, let's elaborate further on this:

An abused girl ran away, meets some bad (but of course, cool) people, then left them and became prostitute (yes, another prostitute film) and then came back to the boy. Yes, apparently after many months of separation, they were even more in love.

Giving up any hope (no other place to go) she had sex with him (exactly right away after changing his mind from suicide!). The boy (though apparently infected the girl to AIDS, and made her pregnant and lived with her in the sanatorium) decided to stop taking the pills, but the girl is still in love with him (why???) , the wall of her room is filled by his photos, wants to name the child after him and sat on a bed and cries.

And later, this film won an award from Málaga Spanish Film Festival…!!!

The first thing bothered me: Why did the boy stop taking his pills?? He was with the girl who loved him and deliberately got AIDS to stay with him. Why not live longer beside his loved one? And then he was also a father too. Why not hope for a cure?

I am not that type of person to believe, especially in the time of economic crisis, a teenage girl can run away from home; finishing her education, go to a college (in Cuba universities are free) and start a family etc (the usual Hollywood story…).

Even in “First World” and in a booming economy, the above paragraph is ludicrous. On the other hand, the film is deeply shallow.

All the bad lucks and misfortunes happen to a girl, and I mean it literally. Everything happens to her, she did not, does not, and will not cause. She just follows, accepts, and (in the best case) runs away. Her final (and only) crucial decision was to get a virus from a boy to live with him (though for a short time) and die with him. I want to avoid calling this film sexist because even the male characters are not much better but still…

In addition, she was just a pitiful object for the audience. All the feminine and known reasons were used to make us feel sorrier for her (abusive father, prostitution, and finally becoming an ill mother), let's say every audience sniffle and tear were being considered.

The film had some sex scenes which were very fake (though they were many).

In one scene, the gang sat around a fire to avoid cold in the open air (no place to go). But in the very next scene they are in a room with romantic fire (one big fire and many small ones just like candles around bathtubs) and are making out.

In Iran in the 1930s and 1940s, some Persian novels were written about innocent girls coming to big cites, become prostitutes (of course, not intentionally and by bad luck etc.). Sentimental books to make you cry. Later these books were adapted to films in sixties and seventies. Fortunately, we passed that horrible area.

Sadegh Hedayat called it “The Prostitute Literature”, no book without a prostitute, no book without a tissue to cry.

In the defence of “The Prostitute Literature”, at least they were genuine and, thanks to not having sex scenes, couldn't hide their weak script every twenty minutes.

This film gave me this idea for TV advertisements:

First Start like this

“In Cuba (or North Korea), in Post-Soviet area” pause to emphasize…

Then introduce your shampoo, TV, cell phone, hamburger etc.

Some indications about Cuba condition could be observed as follows:

1- The school condition, though looked a little shabby, was OK. There was a school advisor who was caring. In addition, the school was the right place to be. The film emphasized on this, by showing two happy high school girls passing in the corridors but the girl in the street.

2- The boys got the money to go to Havana by stealing medicine. Therefore, it showed the medicine shortage in that area.

3- Film showed heavy rock (Metal) music as a banned and underground music in Cuba. But it was not impossible to go to a metal concert, e.g., Eunice could find the concert close to Havana whereas she was a stranger.

4- In general, there was almost no criticizing against Cuban government. The country is poor but still better than many countries in the region. The hospitals are well-organized, the doctors are very skilled, and the medical sanatoriums are free.

In the end, I found the moral lesson of this film (if any) suitable for teenagers, and I also felt a little government propagandist attitude.

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