THE PUPPETEER OF HAVANA    MAIN CHARACTERS AND LOCATIONS




ROBERTO, THE PUPPETEER     played by Ramiro Ruiz Hernandez

Roberto, a Puppeteer from Havanna, dreams of travelling to Norway one day to perform at a theatre festival there. A Norwegian theatre manager had given him the idea when Roberto had become acquainted with him two years earlier at a theatre meeting in Cuba. Roberto, once a succsessful artist, now only performs in open air gardens located in remote quarters of Havana, where he only earns few money. Nothing in comparison to the a regular commitment he formerly had in a theatre in the centre of Havanna, but since the day he stole from the cash during a spell of alcohol intoxication, he had fallen out with Tony, the theatre manager. In real fact Roberto had intended to put the money back later, but this plan failed on account of his prohibitive money problems. Roberto retires increasingly unnoticed to his secret rehearsal stage. Here in hiding he develops the most intriguing puppet scenes, fruit of imaginativeness and talent which nobody gets to see.

MARIA, THE FORMER DANCER     played by Olga Lidia Alfonso

Maria, a former dancer and now living with Roberto, had been a popular in the Cuba. Now she is trying her luck as choreographer but the success is long in coming. So she has to struggle to survive as an assistant wardrobe manageress in a Cabaret. Sometimes someone speaks to her about her glory days, but Roberto is totally engrossed with himself and his puppets and neglects her all to frequent. Maria seeks attention further afield with other men, while Roberto notices nothing of this. In spite of all this Maria does not want to leave Roberto, and when the going gets tough, she stands by him. She views with deep concern his increasing hostility to others and his alcoholism. Involved as she was in her struggle to survive, for her these obstacles were heaping more straw on the camel's back which was already very close to breaking.

THE BLACK REHEARSAL STAGE

In earlier times Roberto had used these rooms to work with its late wife Olga. Now run down and painted all black, these rooms in the town area called Centro Habana, served Roberto as practice rooms. He had created an unreal world, in which he transforms his grotesque visions into inventive puppet scenes. Neither Oscar nor Maria are aware of the existence of this room at the beginning of the film. Roberto's increasingly escapist behaviour turns this place slowly but surely into a mirror of his inner self. Here in the presence of his puppets he preserves his self-esteem and artistic independence. The room also is the source of the thankful puppets' spiritual energy. Roberto is convinced that since the death of his wife Olga, this room is the only thing that kept them alive.

THE CHURCH SQUARE

The church square, which was one of our filming locations, is well-known in Havanna as place for religious celebrations. Decayed animal carcasses and dolls hang from the branches of the trees; rusty chains and railway track nails have buried themselves in the ground. Followers of the Santería religion seek to attain health and fortune by their intercession. In the film the church square is located near the house in which Roberto and his late wife Olga had held a number of their magical rituals, in order to charge the puppets with mystical energy.

SVENNSON, THE NORWEGIAN       played by Luis Crespo

A theatre manager from Norway who search the world for artists who can perform at festivals. He is an art-lover but even more than this, he loves the travelling life it allows him to lead. How finicky and demanding the criteria of his clients are, determines the extent of Svensson's travels. He takes full advantage of his knowledge of the game and justifies the length of his errands with the pretence of perfectionism in his choice of the performing groups. In reality he spends most of his time taking dancing courses and meeting the ladies. When he overdoes it, he incurs on himself the wrath of his boss on the telephone, but Svennson invariably manages to conjure up some new interesting groups in the end. This makes him indispensable. His penchant for "baroque genius" gets away with it, although in the opinion of his boss this kind of art belongs to an archaic, anachronistic age.

THE PUPPETS

There are five puppets: The Devil, The Sorcerer, Roberto, the red-haired Lady (Maria) and the blonde girl. Roberto and his late wife Olga had created the puppets not only with their own four hands and imagination but also twined them with their hair and soaked the puppets' bodies with Olga's blood in order to charge them with mystical forces. Thus an indestroyable connection were established which still grew stronger after Olga's death. The Roberto puppet is challenged by the roguish Devil to leap over insurmountable hurdles in some of the magical puppet scenes invented by Roberto. At times the Devil makes Roberto's name disappear into sand; at others he puts wrong words into his mouth. It always ends up badly for Roberto, who finishes up either losing his soul or joining the army. When the Devil puts a dagger into the red-haired lady's hands, with which she is supposed to knife down Roberto, he reflects that where there's a knife there is always a murderer……