This is the first animated movie nominated in that category to show pubic hair, and as a film for grown-ups it outclasses most of the nominees for Best Picture. Nostalgic, like The Artist, for a lost culture, at its best director Fernando Trueba and designer Javier Mariscal's collaboration evokes the diaspora of Cuban music from 1948 to the present day as seen by the two musicians of the title. Young, talented, and full of beans, Chico (Emar Xor Oña), a composer and pianist, locks eyes with his future heartbreak when he hears Rita (Limara Meneses) sing at a Havana club. His raffish pal Ramón (Mario Guerra) sees her as the singer their act lacks. Alas, Chico's jealousy and Rita's dreams collide, sending her to New York and beyond. Chico pursues, en route jamming with the likes of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, only to return to where he began. In short, the usual story, but the music and exquisite evocation of time and place and people prevails.
