Viva Cuba - Plot

Plot

Malú is from an upper-class family and her single mother does not want her to play with Jorgito, as she thinks his background is coarse and common-place. Jorgito's mother, a poor socialist proud of her family's social standing, places similar restrictions on her son. What neither woman recognizes is the immense strength of the bond between Malú and Jorgito. When the children find out that Malú's mother is planning to leave Cuba to go to another country (she has a boyfriend there), they decide to run away and travel to the other side of the island to find Malú's father and persuade him against signing the forms that would allow Malú and her mother to leave the country. Both children are seen preparing for the journey and their social statuses are greatly contrasted: Malú's clean clothes, her plastic drinking cup at breakfast and her toys; Jorgito's dirty clothes, the use of a metal cup for the latter's breakfast. The two children embark on a journey, avoiding the police sent to search for them. The disappearances of both children bring their two mothers closer together in their grief. Jorgito loses the map and tensions rise between the two children. They insult each other; Malú bringing up Jorgito's social status, and Jorgito calling Malús' mother a slut. When they reach the lighthouse where Malús father works, the forms had already been signed before she could persuade him otherwise. The parents (minus Malú's father), having flown to the lighthouse before the kids got there, begin to beat their children and argue among each other. The two children run away from the fight and console each other by the shore; a silent goodbye.