Madagascar (1994 film)

Madagascar 1994 is a Cuban film that marked Fernando Prezs change of direction into a more lyrical approach to filmmaking, somehow stripped from the realistic documentary feel of his early work. The film chronicles the relationship and lack of communication between a mother and daughter during the Cuban economic crisis known as the Special Period.

Madagascar was inspired by the 1984 Mirta Yez short story Beatles contra Duran Duran Beatles Against Duran Duran. The story chronicles the relationship between the narrator, who is a single mother and pragmatic middleaged professor of physics, and her moody adolescent daughter. The plot of the film draws loosely from the original text, which Prez appears to have used as a point of departure and a rough character sketch as he worked closely with cinematographer Ral Prez Ureta and screenwriter Manuel Antonio Rodrguez during the developmental stages of the project. Laura played by Zaida Castellanos and Laurita played by Laura de la Uz are the central characters of the film and bear an obvious resemblance to the unnamed narrator of the short story and her daughter, Pilar. However, the films mode of expression as well as its plot both diverge greatly from that of the story.The main characters opposing personalities form the focal points of the films narrative, which becomes a sort of psychological travelogue. During the opening sequence, we learn that Lauras life has entered into a mysterious psychological crisis, exacerbated by her daughters extreme behavior. In an opening monologue, she tells us that she has lost the ability to dream anything different from what she experiences in her daily life. This monologue, and ostensibly the rest of Lauras ongoing voiceover narration, occurs in the context of a consultation with an unseen doctor. From then on, the plot focuses around Lauras internal conflicts and her relationship with her daughter. In an early scene, Laurita informs her mother that she has grown tired of school and will be taking a break from her studies in order to travel to Madagascar. In response, Laura becomes furious and criticizes Laurita for indulging in such frivolous fantasies. Increasingly disaffected, Laurita proceeds to undergo a series of personality transformations. This disturbs Laura, who is frustrated with the stagnant conditions of her own life

Source: Wikipedia