Who’s the true hero of “La Habanera”?

After watching the film I was pretty sure that Don Pedro was the bad guy and Sven Nagel the hero of the movie - especially if one thinks about the fact that the movie originated from the Nazi period. A Swedish doctor trying to rescue Puerto Rico against its will would fit too well into the image of depicting Aryans as the superior race to southern people. But after re-watching the first scene my mind changed.

In it Don Pedro is not portrayed as the devil that one probably has in mind after watching the movie. On the contrary, he is depicted as the hero, e.g. when he kills the bull after the torero failed and therewith saved the torero’s death. But already the first scene when he appears sets him clearly apart from the rest of the people. He is sitting on a black horse, is completely dressed in black although his clothes are still very elegant and wears a black hat. The camera work supports the image of him being superior as he is usually filmed from a lower perspective. Also the reaction of the people towards him shows that he is some kind of folk hero as people respect him deeply and follow his instructions immediately. Later at the bull fight scene the crowd sheers on him as he arrives and waves towards them. One of the shots that shows him from behind with the yelling crowd in front of him even reminded me of famous scenes with Hitler standing in front of the cheering crowd. It is somehow confusing that this person is supposed to be the bad guy in the end as this does not support the Nazi regime at all: a leader as the bad guy is really contradictory to the third Reich policy.

But thinking about his further acts instead of letting oneself distract from the devilish way he is portrayed one can still see that he is the hidden hero of the movie. He only wants the best for the people. Knowing that if the international press writes about the disease, the international trade would stop and therewith much more people would die of hunger than of the disease he tries to prevent Sven and his fellow from doing their research. His decisions are based on rationality and his death is just another sacrifice he was ready to give for his cause – a motive that can be found in many other deaths of great heroes.