Actor Garcia brings Cuba film to screen after 18 years

By Aussiegirl

To date there has not be ONE Hollywood movie describing the horrors of communism, while countless movies have been made about the Holocaust. This is definitely a must-see movie - -sounds wonderful - -good story -- great setting -- great music -- and a true slice of history showing the evils of the communist system and what it has done -- and continues to do. Only Hollywood fellow-travelers could think it has no appeal. I predict the movie will be a hit -- conservatives need to turn out in droves. This is the kind of movie that we should support. Good luck to Garcia - and good for him for sticking with his pet project for all these years!

Actor Garcia brings Cuba film to screen after 18 years

More than a labor of love, new movie "The Lost City" was a labor of life for Cuban-born actor Andy Garcia.

Garcia, 50, directed, produced, scored and starred in the film about pre-communist Cuba that begins playing in theaters around the United States on Friday after a limited run in Los Angeles, New York and Miami.

The actor, whose movies include "Ocean's Eleven" and "Ocean's Twelve," labored 18 years to raise money and make "Lost City," but he said the seeds of his story go back to when he was 5-1/2 and fled the country and the communist regime under leader Fidel Castro.


"From a very early age, I was stimulated by the stories and music of Cuba, and I continue that interest to this day," he told Reuters.

But the problem for Garcia is that Hollywood was not as excited about a 300-page movie script for "Lost City," written by Cuban exile and novelist Guillermo Cabrera-Infante. A typical movie screenplay is around 120 pages.

"Lost City" possessed an epic scope, a lush setting, revolution, love and a family torn apart by politics. Those elements looked good on paper, but for Hollywood the idea appeared too expensive to make for a seemingly small audience -- Cuban Americas and Latinos.

But Garcia saw it differently, and said the movie has a universal appeal. "They marginalized the potential of the film," he said. "Diversity is one of the things people go to movies for."