For Love or Country

Yesterday my wife and I watched For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story. I had never seen the film before and wow, was I impressed. I am a big fan of The Lost City and this movie gives a different view of the Cuban Revolution in the 70s and 80s.

It's the true story of the great Cuban trumpet player Arturo Sandoval and how the Cuban system with its censorship and total control became unbearable for a such creative person. The story is told through the use of flashbacks as Sandoval is making his plea for political asylum to a skeptical American diplomat (David Paymer) at the U.S. embassy in Greece.

Andy Garcia gives a stellar performance as Sandoval, for which he received a Golden Globe nomination. Through the character of Marianela, Sandoval's wife, the story also shows how people of good will went along with the Revolution because they believed in the ideas that were being propagandized but how gradually they realized that they had been duped. Charles S. Dutton plays a very likeable Dizzy Gillespie.

The DVD comes with a nice feature about the making of the film. Shot in Puerto Rico and Miami, the cinematography is beautiful and of course the music is excellent. You can buy the DVD by clicking here.