Heroes within La Habanera

The juxtaposition between Don Pedro and Sven Nagel as heroes within La Habanera leaves us at a thought-provoking crossroads from which our ability to distinguish one character as the hero becomes particularly reliant on the film’s underlying connection to Nazi cinema. While Don Pedro is presented as heroic at the beginning of the film – liberating Astree from the confines of her regimented and suffocating Swedish life – his valiant nature is dissipates throughout the film, reducing his character to a symbol of Puerto Rico’s backwards society. This is where we begin to see the Nazi influence within the film. Don Pedro, Puerto Rico, and La Habanera become a symbols of temptation that are able to derail Astree from her structured life and tear her away from her Swedish heritage – something that she comes to deeply regret later on. The idea of abandoning one’s heritage and homeland contradicts heavily with the Nazi conception of national pride and staying true to one’s origins. For this reason, Astree becomes a victim of her own impulsivity, while Don Pedro transforms into the antagonist of the film.

Sven Nagel becomes the true hero in the film because he embodies Nazi ideals of national pride and the progression of society. Despite his more humble portrayal as a hero, Nagel’s dedication to the sciences, as opposed to Don Pedro’s suppression of the sciences, reveals admirable qualities that the Nazi’s would endorse. In addition, while Don Pedro is an ardent nationalist in his own right, Sven Nagel is able to recognize Astree’s desire to leave Puerto Rico and helps her return home to Sweden – something that Don Pedro neglected to support or accept. Thus, Nagel is able to free Astree and her son from Puerto Rico, a society in which they did not belong, and effectively serves as their savior at the end of the film.