All language subtitles for The Poet Of Havana (2015)_en

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(crowd cheering)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(crowd cheering)

(Varela singing in Spanish)

(man speaking Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(laughs)

(speaking Spanish)

If we look at Tom Waits,
Jackson Browne,

Bruce Springsteen,
Tom Petty...

Carlos is definitely
part of a group

that is grounded
in that truth...

of passing a message,
of telling a story,

of making you think.

It's almost like they went
to the subconscious

and they just tapped into
something that I had thought,

but couldn't verbalize it,
couldn't even see it.

When Carlos wanted to come
to the United States

and we had
a few gigs for him,

and we wanted
to host him there,

and his visa was denied.

It was a hard thing
to go through,

to make all the preparations
for a tour,

and then to find out
that you actually don't
have permission to come.

And it was
right at the same time

that Manuel Galbán
and Ibrahim Ferrer

also received Grammys

for the work they had done
with Ry Cooder.

And they were
denied acc-- entrance
to the United States

even to go pick up
a Grammy.

He is a man who believes
in his country,

and even though
at some point he was...

uh, not allowed to play
on the radio,

the people still responded
to his music.

And he opted for the fact
that he's Cuban,

that's his land,
that's where he comes from,

he doesn't need
to go anywhere.

Carlos is an example
of many people that I know,

that I met there,
that are like--

they love their country

and they still...

look for change.

(light guitar playing)

(crowd cheering)

Woman:
Okay.

(speaking Spanish)

Woman:
So, the first question...

(speaking Spanish)

Man:
So, Carlos,

I think we'll probably have
a couple of interviews.

-Okay. Okay.
-(woman speaking Spanish)

Man:
When did you first
become aware of--

or meet Carlos Varela?

(woman speaking Spanish)

Salud.

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

-(guitar music playing)
-(crowd cheering)

(Varela singing
in Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(singing continues)

(speaking Spanish)

-(laughs)
-Ah.

-Oh.
-(speaks Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(Ivan Lins
speaking Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(Varela singing
in Spanish)

(Diana Fuentes
speaking Spanish)

Wow.

(Eduardo Cabra
speaking Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(Varela singing
in Spanish)

(Luis Enrique
speaking Spanish)

Browne:
I first heard of Carlos

when a friend of mine
traveled to Cuba,

a really good
musician friend of mine.

He said, "When you go to Cuba,
you'll have to meet this guy
Carlos Varela."

You can be sitting somewhere
and start singing
one of his songs

and everybody knows
the words.

I really think that
North Americans

looking at
a Carlos Varela concert

are going to see
themselves.

Say, "I love that song!"

It's partly his prowess
as a writer

and it's partly his generosity
as a human being, you know.

As a figure, you know,
he's, you know...

(speaking Spanish)

(crowd cheering)

-(woman shouts in Spanish)
-(Varela speaking Spanish)

(Varela singing
in Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(Varela singing
in Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(Varela singing
in Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(Varela singing
in Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(Varela singing
in Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(Varela singing
in Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

-(Varela singing in Spanish)
-(crowd cheering)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(Varela singing
in Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(crowd cheering)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

♪ ♪

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

-(singing in Spanish)
-(crowd singing along)

Del Toro:
The first time I heard
his music was in--

it was a CD,
it was a compilation CD

I think that David Byrne
put together.

I forgot the title,
and it had different songs

from different artists
from Cuba.

And I remember the CD closed
with this song called
"Guillermo Tell."

And that's the first time
I heard his name,

and it was a great song,
it was like--

It was, it was the star song
of the CD,

and there were a lot
of great songs in that CD.

(singing in Spanish)

(crowd cheering)

You could use that song
for many other things.

It's David
talking to Goliath.

It could be authority.
It could be a teacher.

(singing in Spanish)

At the time that
I listened to that song,

I was going through that
with my dad.

You know, "Hey, you know,
you made your choice"--

in my case
my dad became a lawyer

and he did it his way.

Well, he wanted me
to follow in his steps.

(singing in Spanish)

And I went that way.

I couldn't hit the books,

but I knew I could get
to point B.

But it had to be my way.

(singing in Spanish)

(cheering)

It's a punk song.

You know, it's punk.

It's a--
it's a statement.

(cheering continues)

It's like "Blowing in the Wind"
by Dylan, or--

it's just, it's just
that kind of song.

(speaking Spanish)

♪ ♪

(speaking Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

Del Toro:
He is a product
of the revolution

and he's revolutionary
himself in his own way.

There is a tradition
of his type of music in Cuba,

so he follows that.

He's a great example
of, in my opinion,

the best of the revolution.

(singing in Spanish)

(Cabra speaking Spanish)

His work
is a great illustration

of the humanity
of the Cuban people.

His value as a writer
and as a speaker,

as a narrator is undeniable,
and it's instant.

I mean,
you only have to know

the beginnings
of what he's talking about

to have your heart
kind of crack open.

(singing in Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

Carlos had hit a nerve
in the Cuban people.

(speaking Spanish)

(Jorge Perugorría
speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

Letting out what people
are experiencing,

what people--
the suffering of the people,

the questions
of the people.

And it's a channel,
that one person has that light.

I don't know
how that happens, you know.

Bob Dylan was a product--
Pete Seeger, you know.

It's just something
that like, boom,

it just breaks out
and just...

And I think that
that's the power in his music.

(Varela singing
in Spanish)

(crowd cheering)

(speaking Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

It's very difficult in Cuba.
At some point it got
really difficult.

I think
I went there just around
el Periodo Especial,

what they call
el Periodo Especial.

The Special Period
is when the Soviet Union

abandons its help
towards Cuba

and then leaves Cuba
completely alone.

And I do remember
the lack of food,

the lack of gasoline.

And, you know,
most people were moving--

really moving about
in bicycles for the most part.

You know, I think
that most of the bicycles
were coming from China.

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(guitar music playing)

(men speaking Spanish)

(Cabra speaking Spanish)

(plays Theremin)

(chatter in Spanish)

(speaking Spanish, laughs)

(music playing)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(music continues)

(singing in Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

(Relaba speaking Spanish)

(Varela singing
in Spanish)

(Wendy Guerra
speaking Spanish)

(Varela singing
in Spanish)

(Guerra speaking Spanish)

(Guerra speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(Camacho speaking Spanish)

(piano music playing)

(speaking Spanish)

-(music continues)
-(Varela vocalizing)

(speaking Spanish)

(music, vocalizing continue)

(speaking Spanish)

-(singing in Spanish)
-(crowd cheering)

(speaking Spanish)

♪ ♪

(Fuentes speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

(Fuentes speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

(chatter in Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(chatter in Spanish)

(rhythmic clapping)

(playing bass notes)

-(band playing)
-(crowd clapping)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(Varela singing
in Spanish)

(Farrell speaking Spanish)

(all speaking Spanish)

(Lins speaking Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(chatter in Spanish)

(Lins speaking Spanish)

(Varela singing
in Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

(singing in Portuguese)

(speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

(crowd cheering)

Del Toro:
I come to meet Carlos
face-to-face

on my second trip
to Cuba.

You know, I saw this guy
dressed in black

with, like, a black hat...

kind of like
reminiscent of, like,

Robert Mitchum
in "The Night of the Hunter."

Very like...
(vocalizes)

Browne:
I first heard of Carlos
when a friend of mine

came back and said,
"When you go to Cuba,

you'll have to meet this guy,
Carlos Varela."

And then when I was taking
my first trip to Cuba,

we arranged
to get together.

You know, I think
that I remember sitting,

being in the Nacional,
and, you know,

we immediately
stroke a friendship.

Carlos and I immediately
had a connection.

Even though we weren't
speaking the same language,

we wound up
sitting in a hotel room

sharing a bottle of rum
and playing each other's songs.

And the hotel was filled
with various film directors

and actors
and artists and writers

and musicians, and--
and word got out

that Carlos was upstairs
singing in some room,

and, really, very steadily
the room filled up with people.

Del Toro:
The two, Jackson and Carlos,
had this common language

which is-- their music
is very similar emotionally.

You could see it clear.
You could cut it with a knife.

You could see that they were,
like, popping to communicate.

Carlos doesn't speak
that much English.

Jackson spoke
a little bit of Spanish,

but not--
not that much,

and I became kind of like
the translator between
Carlos and Jackson.

I was the fuse for that
beautiful friendship that
the two of them have.

So this was
my introduction to him,

so it's really
an ongoing mission,
you know, of mine

to let others experience
his songs

the way I first
experienced them,
which is, you know,

to have someone
explaining them
as they're sung.

It was an improvised concert,
you know, Cuban style.

A great night with,
you know, high art.

It's a funny thing
because you can tell somebody

that this is
an important writer.

But unless you can tell them
what they said,

it doesn't mean
anything to you.

You know, the context of why
it's important to people.

(guitar music playing)

(Varela singing
in Spanish)

(people cheering)

(singing in Spanish)

Del Toro:
A lot of the problems
between Cuba and the U.S.--

you could say a lot of it
is lost in translation.

I find myself sometimes
in a situation where, like,

you know, something is
completely misunderstood

because of-- one word
is not really put there.

And you would not understand
Carlos' music

if you don't understand
the meaning.

I think, most important,
you won't understand the story.

(singing in Spanish)

The funny thing about
the United States' embargo
with Cuba

is that it's designed
to isolate Cuba,

but in fact it's probably
been more effective

to isolate the United States
from Cuba.

All of our allies--
England and Canada

and Australia and Spain
and Sweden--

all travel to Cuba.

They know the Cubans
very well,

and it's the United States
that imagines

that Cuba
has been isolated.

(speaking Spanish)

(chatter in Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(Varela singing
in Spanish)

(speaking Spanish)

♪ Of what use is the moon ♪

♪ When you don't
have the night? ♪

♪ Of what use
is a windmill ♪

♪ With no Quixote
left to fight? ♪

♪ Ah, but this, my love ♪

♪ Is something
you already knew ♪

♪ At some point
on the horizon ♪

♪ The sky can be confused
with earth ♪

♪ Some people
dream of God ♪

♪ And others
dream of wealth ♪

♪ But of course, my love ♪

♪ This is what you see
out on the street ♪

♪ That's how
it's always been ♪

♪ And I know
you know it ♪

♪ There can be freedom ♪

♪ Only when
nobody owns it ♪

♪ Let me say that again ♪

♪ Oh, yeah ♪

♪ 'Cause I know
you know it ♪

♪ There can be freedom ♪

♪ Only when
nobody owns it ♪

♪ Oh, yeah ♪

(singing in Spanish)

If you start reading
Latin American history

with the United States'
involvement in Latin America,

it comes face-to-face with
one's feelings of responsibility

for what one's government
has done in the name
of one's freedom.

You have to get over
your guilt, you know.

And the thing is,
if anybody knows the difference

between the people
and the government, it would
be Cubans, you know.

I mean, the one thing
Cubans really have in common,

whether they're from the right
or the left, you know,

is that they have
this burning desire
for freedom.

Yeah, sí, sí, sí, sí.

Do you want a harmony
on, uh...

(speaks Spanish)

A little bit of--

(strumming guitar)

(Varela singing
in Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

Browne:
This is a political town,

and I think
that it is important

and the purpose of our
U.S.-Cuba policy initiative

is to demonstrate and to show
how idiotic it is

to have a cold war going
anywhere in the world,

and this is Barack Obama's
historic chance

to finally end a Cold War
that should not be going on.

(singing in Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(continues singing
in Spanish)

It just doesn't work.
It's time to stop.

I don't know if he'll see it.

I hope he does.
I hope I see it.

His attempt and his efforts
are not in vain.

Yeah, we gotta do something.
I mean, yeah.

It's just between governments,
not between the people.

But the people are the ones
who suffer, you know,

especially the people
in Cuba.

'Cause he is Cuban
and he is exactly what everybody
hopes a patriot would be.

And not a grandstanding person
who's trying to get
something for it.

(singing in Spanish)

But someone who simply
is able to express

his love for country
and his hope for the future

and his-- his, you know,
belief in his fellows,
you know,

that things can be made
positive.

(singing in Spanish)

(speaks Spanish)

(crowd cheering)

♪ ♪

Del Toro:
Many people have-- that
have never been to Cuba--

is that once you go
against the government,
that's it for you.

Either you leave
or you end up in jail.

They might have
their ups and downs,

but Carlos is an example
that the system can bend,

that it's not as rigid
as you get the impression

of the system in Cuba
is completely rigid.

And I think, in a way
of looking at it,

you can see that the system
is not just black or white.

(singing in Spanish)

The idea of change, I think,
is something very Ché.

It's like, just because
something is written
in some law,

that doesn't mean
that it can't be changed.

Time changes, everything
is changing all the time.

(Varela continues
singing in Spanish)

(Perugorría
speaking Spanish)

Browne:
He just really
is very representative

of people here
and what they have.

They want to rejoin the world.

They want to be able to travel.

They want the things
that this, you know--

that this age could offer.

They say, "Okay, it's time.
It's time to move forward."

And I think that
they're very much

like everybody else
in the world.

They want to move
into the future.

They want everything
that-- you know,

that a modern life
would bring a country.

But they don't want
to go back

and they certainly
don't want to give up

any of the things that
they fought so hard to have.

(Varela singing
in Spanish)

(crowd cheering)

(music playing)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

Browne:
I think there's
a really excellent chance

that as the political
process unfolds and
goes forward,

that the more people
are able to know Cubans

through Cuban music.

But you have to ask yourself,
what would it'd have been like

if you had to travel
to Ireland to hear U2?

If your favorite band
was in Ireland

and the only way
you could hear them
was to go there?

How much of an impact
would that band have
on your culture?

(singing in Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(Varela singing
in Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(Varela singing
in Spanish)

(Varela singing
in Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(crowd cheering)

(singing in Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(chatter in Spanish)

-Woman: I love you.
-I love you.

-I love you!
-(speaks Spanish)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

Del Toro:
Many people from all over
the world admire Cubans

for their poise under
such difficult circumstances.

It immediately puts Cuba
in a position of being
an underdog.

And, you know,
it's hard to root
against the underdog.

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(crowd clapping, chanting):
Cuba! Cuba! Cuba!

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(chanting continues):
Cuba! Cuba! Cuba!

(Varela speaking Spanish)

♪ ♪

(crowd clapping
rhythmically)

-(crowd cheering)
-(Varela speaks Spanish)

♪ ♪

(speaking Spanish)

Man:
In the name
of this university

and by authority
of royal charter,

I admit you
to this degree

with all its rights, privileges,
and responsibilities.

Felicidades.

(applause)

(Varela speaking Spanish)

(singing in Spanish)

(crowd shouts
in Spanish)

(crowd cheering)

(Varela singing
in Spanish)

-(crowd cheering)
-(speaking Spanish)

(crowd cheering)

(guitar music playing)

(singing in Spanish)

(continues singing
in Spanish)

(children chattering
in Spanish)

(music playing)

(Varela singing
in Spanish)

-(crowd cheering)
-(singing continues)

(crowd cheering)

-(song ends)
-(cheering continues)