Don Pedro: The Ambiguity of Evil in La Habanera

Anna's Post:



In my opinion, one of the most complex characters in the film is Don Pedro. As with most characters in the film, it is only too easy to try and place them into stereotypical categories such as “evil tyrant”, “heroic (Aryan) savior”, and “maiden in distress”. However, I believe that all of the characters are much more complex than they are given credit for. I believe that Don Pedro plays two different roles, which can be interpreted by the German audience of the time. He acts as both the “other” to Zarah Leander’s character, Astree, symbolizing the initial draw and eventual disillusionment she experiences with regards to Puerto Rico. He also is the clearly, well-meaning tyrant of an “inferior” southern country. At the beginning of the movie, Don Pedro is clearly the dark, passionate “other” that we are enticed by, but should avoid. He rides up on a black horse, dressed in a black outfit, and engages in the dangerous, cheap entertainment of bull fighting. However, after the elision of ten years his appearance becomes more ambiguous. He is often filmed alone and in shadows, or darkness, which perhaps foreshadows his preventable death. The viewers are made to acknowledge his power and his abuse thereof, in the context of his political and familial power; however, they are also invited to feel sympathetic to him. He is often filmed as standing behind Astree, while she is turned away from him. He loves her, yet she has realized her mistake in leaving the Heimat and wants nothing to do with him. He is never shown with his son except for a scene in which he chastises him, which is a stark difference from the scenes with the boy and his mother. It almost seems as though the snow of the Heimat has replaced the boy’s need for a father. He often reflects on his own decisions and feels remorse for his missteps which further invite the audience to identify with him. In one of the final scenes, when Don Pedro expresses his appreciation and adoration of Astree and she subsequently shuns him to find Sven, it seems as though the viewer is invited to (almost subversively) think of Don Pedro as a misunderstood tyrant and lover.

La Habanera

I think the film The Habanera makes the audience question what kind of hero that they want.  Don Pedro appeals to one side of us; he is the dark, foreign man who is new and different.  He is sensual and dashing, and has an air of danger and excitement about him.  Sierck films him in shadow, with his eyes always glistening and narrow.  He is a character and a hero that we can’t quite trust.  Meanwhile, Sven is the alter ego hero.  He is genuine and steadfast, as seen in his return to Puerto Rico to bring Astree home.  He uses his intellect to save Puerto Rico from the fever, and is the picture of Aryan supremacy. 

 

Viewers can see the attraction of both.  However, it is clear to the viewer which hero is better in fantasy and which is better in “real” life.  10 years after the initial attraction, we see Don Pedro’s passion turn on Astree in his tearing at her clothes.  Meanwhile, Sven is the savior of people, and also succeeds in bring Astree home to Sweden as it is whats best for her, even as she mourns.

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.

Sven Nagel is a knight in shining armor.

Prowess, energy, commitment, all these characteristics and more could be definitive of a classic film hero, however, while Don Pedro shares those qualities with the champions of the silver screen, he must be set aside as a cautionary tale. Don Pedro is the embodiment of the elite in what the Nazi determined to be a backward and misguided society. His emotionally charged good intentions are subverted by a lack of logic, reason, and scientific understanding. Through the vehicle of the “European scientists” he may have had the opportunity to become the type of hero we initially perceive him to be at the beginning of the movie. He is a troubled figure and the way Sierk shoots him would lead the audience to believe as much. Shots of Don Pedro with his hair glistening, eyes narrowed, and immersed in shadow would certainly make him appear to be a dubious character. He does seem to have some redeeming qualities, for example his zeal for tradition (something the Nazis would respect), but, his flaws, which are demonstrative of a “lower level” society set him up to be juxtaposed against the real hero Sven Nagel.

Nagel, upon initial introduction seems hardly a rival for a man of such stature as Don Pedro. However, Don Pedro’s charm and good looks only get him so far. Sven is presented as a superior opponent and the true hero of the story. Nagel is the personification of how the Nazis wanted to be perceived by the rest of the world. He is a logical man, he is a caring, and he benevolently yearns to bring the benefits of “true” European science to help less developed nations. Moreover, coupled with his Nazi characterization is a traditional moral conviction to rescue a “Damsel in Distress” and whisk her back to the white slopes of Sweden. He is the champion of not only the health and well being of the island, but of the beautiful Nordic woman who longs for her homeland. Like Don Pedro he too has conviction, energy, and passion, but unlike his Costa Rican counterpart Sven understands how to apply those motivating emotions to the benefit of those around him. Sven is a wholesome and proud Nordic man; he clearly would be an ideal father for little Juan (you must be joking me with that casting of a Hitler youth). Again, Don Pedro comes up short in comparison by hardly showing any affection for the boy. Ultimately, Sven must be the hero of the story, because it would hardly make sense for the feudal lord of a backward society to beat a Swedish man.

La Habanera

The film intends to portray Sven Nagel as the hero of the film in “La Habanera,” although after the viewing it’s clear that Don Pedro is unfairly depicted. Although one could view Don Pedro as the hero of the film because of this, it is clear through many scenes that Sven is the superior figure. The last scene of the movie when Astree is leaving the island after ten years proves the superiority and maturity of Sven over Don Pedro. Taking into account that Sven was in love with Astree and traveled back to Puerto Rico with the intention of bringing her home, he puts his love for her aside and allows her mourning as she watches herself finally leave the island. The shot of Astree looking back, clearly upset, and dressed in black, goes against everything she presumably felt during her tenth year of marriage with Don Pedro. The scene does not show Astree and Sven together heading back home, but rather Sven comforting Astree and allowing her to mourn. Instead of wrapping his arm around her in a loving way, Sven places his hand on her back at a safe distance allowing the viewer to see that he is not a home wrecker, but rather a man who did the right thing by helping a former friend return to where she belongs.

heroes in la habanera

One of the more important components of La Habenera, as far as determining who the film’s hero, is goes is in which light we choose to view the film, as a tragedy or a comedy. From the classical comedic perspective Dr. Nader is the obvious choice for the hero of the film, although he is dry and a relatively static character the fact that he ends up with the girl in the end strongly suggests that he is the films hero. In this scenario, the main plotline then becomes sven’s journey to Puerto rico, his discovery of a cure to the fever and ultimate reclamation of his former flame.

If we consider the film to be a tragedy, then the plot suggests that Don Pedro becomes the hero and in turn the main plotline becomes the struggle of the island against both the forces of nature and the interference of the rest of the world. When we consider Nazi idealism, pedro’s status as a foreigner is the only thing preventing him from being an ideal german. He is strong and fearless and gentlemanly, all qualities praised by nazisim. In this sense it is not so far fetched for us to consider him the films hero. The bottom line is that the film is ambiguous, it would be acceptable to claim either interpretation. I believe it is intentionally made this way and that this sense of ambiguity is the same reason why there are no Germans involved in the conflict, only Swedes, Puerto Ricans and the mention of Americans.

La Habanera

According to Eric Rentschler, German reviewers of the 1937 La Habanera gave the director, Detlev Sierck, lukewarm reviews. He was, however, “lauded for the manner in which he contrasted two very different worlds without painting in black and white” (p. 130). Indeed, it seems that Sierck’s greatest achievement in this movie was to distinguish the two worlds so subtly that even now, we’re not sure which side is supposed to be good and the other evil. He even makes Don Pedro and Dr. Nagel (Sven) simultaneously both the hero and the villain.

One of the last scenes of the movie, in which Don Pedro has invited Sven and his colleague to a dinner party, demonstrates perfectly how the roles of Don Pedro and Dr. Nagel have been confused. We understand that Astreé is tortured by living in Puerto Rico with Don Pedro and that he has several times threatened to take her son, Juan, away from her. We also know that she and Sven had once been in love. We naturally expect that as soon as she sees him, she will eagerly accept his invitation to come to Sweden with him. Of course, he expects this too. So why, we must wonder, does Sierck film Sven as an unwanted intruder rather than the charming knight in shining armor? When Sven arrives, he immediately starts playing around with Juan, going so far as to ride a wooden sled down a flight of marble steps. His buffoonery delights Juan, of course, but is embarrassing to the adults, Astreé particularly. And when Sven gets Astreé alone, he is overshadowed by the scenery and by Astreé herself. Whereas a hero would swoop in and be the center of the scene, Sven is pushed to the side and almost looks the same height as Astreé. But if Sven isn’t the hero of this film, who is? In this scene, although Don Pedro at times looks austere and almost sinister, he is our best candidate for the hero. He is kind to Astreé and is the most adoring fan of her performance. We also realize in this scene that he is only trying to protect his country. Just in this one scene, Sierck blurs the line between good and bad.

Nagel vs. de Avila

I believe Dr. Sven Nagel to be the hero of La Habanera. First I will explain why I think that Don Pedro is not the hero. Don Pedro’s character development is important in this regard. When we first see Don Pedro, he is a dashing hero riding in on a horse and saving the two European women from being involved in a fracas between some unruly ‘natives.’ Later, Don Pedro rather presumptuously advances on Astree when she drops the fan, and can in this light be seen as a version of the stereotypical sexualized non-white man, although only slightly so. Also, he does decorously realize his mistake. After the film jumps forward ten years, we see him in a furious rage, tearing Astree’s clothes, just because Astree wants to raise Juan in her European cultural tradition. I believe to a large part of the German audience would seem quite reasonable, since to many of them the European culture was ‘superior.’ Don Pedro becomes an even more villainous character when he threatens to take Juan away from Astree. As the film continues, we find that Don Pedro has deliberately prevented the Puerto Rico Fever from being cured in order to make money, and finally that he has actively destroyed the cure created by Dr. Nagel. Thus, Don Pedro is presented in the beginning of the film as being a species of hero, only to fall farther and farther into villainy until it finally gets the better of him.

Dr. Nagel, on the other hand, is the protagonist. Not only does he go to Puerto Rico to save it from the scourge of Puerto Rico Fever, but he exposes himself to harm in order to do so in the scene that shows him sneaking around the fever infested and guarded wharf area. He also agrees to try to get Astree to come back to Sweden. Although this is partly done because of his personal longing for her, he is still essentially saving the ‘helpless’ Astree, imprisoned by Don Pedro, the damsel in distress so to speak. Additionally, he is somewhat of a father figure to Juan in the scene with the sled, something Don Pedro with his stern manner of speaking to Juan, and lack of appearances in the same scene, was not. Indeed, with Juan’s complexion Sven looks more like his father than Don Pedro.

Dr. Nagel vs Don Pedro

LaHabenera presents its two male stars in stark contrast, subtly extolling Aryanism over non-Nordic peoples. As Goebbels and other officials from the propaganda ministry state, good propaganda is when the reader/viewer has no idea that they are looking at a slanted viewpoint. This film is particularly good at tricking the view into making pro-Nazi assumptions through the use of two dynamic male characters and their complexities. The film presents Dr. Nagel as the smart European who is able to solve most problems he encounters, though he is physically lacking. In contrast, Don Pedro is a strapping, passionate man who maintains these youthful traits far into his later life. On the surface, it appears very stereotypical with the white doctor pitted against the Hispanic Don, however their relationship to Astree is what intensifies the plot and provides the best cover for propaganda. After the film establishes that Don Pedro has a mean side and his marriage to Astree is dead, the plot takes a U-turn and has Don Pedro loving Astree again at the thought of her singing La Habenera. This odd emotional reaction goes unexplained and is joined by the Swedish doctor's lack of participation in the plot resolution. If the doctor was the force to defeat the island's leaders or Don Pedro himself (instead of disease) the character of Dr. Nagel would gain more strength which is his greatest weakness. However, the complexities behind these two men are merely a ploy to force the viewer to make desired assumptions. These assumptions subtly appear several times, such as the off-the-cuff remark about the American medical team's failure to find a serum. This is briefly discussed but it asks the viewer to agree with American incompetence in order to proceed with the story. At another point the viewer must agree that Hispanic nations are incapable of handling their own problems and need Western help whether they want it or not. This very quiet part of the plot slips in at the end with the ironic death of Don Pedro. The complexities between Dr. Nagel and Don Pedro serve as a distraction to cover up the propaganda assumptions that lie in secret inside the film.

It's Hero time

La Habenera is definitely a film of heroes. Read one way, there is the jealous husband who sees his wife as only a posession and the former lover, current hero of the day who wises only to be reunited with his past love and return to Sweden and fulfill his loves every desire and save the world somewhere along the way. Read it the other way, and you have a husband who does not understand how to make his wife happy, though it is clearly his only desire in life and provide for her every whim, creating the island paradise that she fell in love with in the first place. There to is the foreign doctor who will end up destroying the country's economy if he does not stop meddling and tear a loving father away from his family.

I think that in the end I side with Don Pedro as hero, though only slightly, for the villian is not Sven, but Astree. Don Pedro did not understand his wife, but sought to love her. He understood only business, and that the people of Puerto Rico could not afford bad press if they were to survive. He did not think that the fever was a good thing, but a necessary evil. It can be presumed that he had welcomed the Rockefeller doctors eight years before only for the entire thing to blow up in his face, and thus did not want to chance 20,000 of his people dying again in a preventable fashion.

Sven lacks real presents to be a hero. He cures disease, yes, but as a doctor he should. He does not fight off bad guys or solve a crime. Yes, he is a hero, but not in the bravery sense of the word. At no point was he in true danger (perhaps of falling victim to the fever himself?) but never like that of Don Pedro and the bull.

Astree is the villain here. She is tired of Sweden, so she escapes to the tropics, but perhaps only with the knowledge of male to save the day and take care of her. She never strikes out on her own. One could argue she worked on her own to return to Sweden, but that wasn't entirely true as she had her family waiting for her, and her position in high society that she had left. She put Sven in danger (or he allowed himself to be placed there) because of the same petty desires that lead to her entrapment in Puerto Rico. She only succeeds in her return because of Sven being there to pull her away. If La Habenera was really such a curse she would have never wanted to be there in the first place, nor sung it on purpose. She lacks any true motivation save her own boredom. I just wish to see when she wants to go on her next adventure. Perhaps to South Africa. They have snow there, and cuckoos (if only according to her song.)

Role of "hero" in La Habanera

I think it is important to the film's overall message that the true hero should be Nagel, while Don Pedro exhibits many of the signs of a hero at the beginning, but this ultimately turns out to be a mistaken impression. At first, Don Pedro's role is to be the charming, reputable bullfighter who is everything Astree should want, and Puerto Rico is the geographical equivalent. However, they both turn out to be merely convincing shams. In order for La Habanera to function as a Heimat film and get its basic message across, both the "paradise" island and its representation in Don Pedro as the "hero" must be discredited. This is why Nagel must, in the end, be the true hero, in contrast with Don Pedro: he represents the Heimat, Sweden, Western culture, etc. - when Astree returns with him, she is in a sense being "rescued" (something a hero does) and going back "where she belongs." While Don Pedro may seem heroic in many ways, especially at first, this is merely to emphasize the crafty nature of alluring, yet ultimately damaging, foreign temptations. Since the film links the concepts of Don Pedro-Puerto Rico-foreign-irrational-disease-tempting-ultimately undesirable-uncivilized etc., and Nagel-Sweden-the homeland-civilization-true happiness-rationality, all of these must together be grouped as superior/inferior to show the "proper" hierarchy and tell the audience how to feel about foreign ideas. Therefore Don Pedro cannot be the true hero of the film without changing its meaning.

Heroes?

I think it is an interesting concept to try and pick a hero in this movie. We spoke yesterday about the incredible amount of ambiguity and contradiction we say amongst the characters and I think this in many ways discredits the opportunity for a true hero to emerge. I think in the end of the day if I was to choose a hero between Don Pedro and Dr. Nagel, it would depend on how we're viewing the movie - meaning from which perspective are we looking at it.

In this case I am going to look at the movie with Germany as Puerto Rico, and Sweden playing an outside country, like America. In this case, I think we would have to classify Don Pedro as the overall hero. He stands for stability within the country and the country's ability to maintain their independence and control over their people and their problems. His concern to keep the outbreak of the flu a secret demonstrated not only his fear of what might happen if the public found out, but what would happen if the international community heard of the outbreak. As we spoke about in class, the fear of international sanctions and intervention from another powerful country would mean Germany's loss of control over their fate. Don Pedro illustrated that his people were his primary concern, and I think a pivotal scene for this is when Don Pedro and Astree have their conversation about their son and the bull fight.

In this scene, Don Pedro stands up to Astree by letting her know that their son will participate in the bull fight. One thing I noticed throughout the movie was the lighting which is important in this scene as well. In the beginning of the movie when all seemed fine and dandy, both Astree and Don Pedro were filmed with a ton of light surrounding them, emphasizing their faces. However, as the movie progressed and we see Dr. Nagel come more into the light, Don Pedro fades into the darkness, with many scenes lacking light on his face, making it seem as if he became the bad character in the movie. But in this scene, Don Pedro is clearly lit up, with the light from the windows and from the film crew emphasizing his power and presence in this moment. He stands up not only for what he wants but what is important to the country, which is his son becoming a man and participating in this "national" event. He did not want Astree's "old" culture influencing his son any more than it had been and wanted to emphasize the importance of the land and Puerto Rico's cultural values, which he felt needed to be embraced. I think this is really important because it demonstrated Don Pedro's desire to keep foreign nations out of Puerto Rico's affairs, therefore keeping it independent and the keeping the control in his hands. His leadership, while in the end did not get him far, I think demonstrated a much more powerful hero what Dr. Nagel's character embodied.

Dr. Nagel, the Hero by Default

From a general cinematic standpoint, the hero and villain of La Habanera are established easily enough due to a somewhat formulaic plot line. The hero arrives to save the damsel in distress from the foreign villain with a formidable amount of power and influence. Don Pedro fills this character type well enough, but Dr. Nagel is only labeled as the hero for lack of a better option.

Don Pedro's role as the villain only occurs after the "ten years later" time lapse in between scenes. Before this, Don Pedro is shown in broad daylight, wooing Astree with impressive acts such saving the scared matadors or clearing the road with his mere presence. Don Pedro is even near heroic in his white suit, saving Astree from her oppressive aunt and sweeping her away to his massive estate, as shown with the wide shots of the building and his many servants. After the time lapse, Don Pedro is shown only with dark backgrounds, circles around his eyes, and grayer hair. His diminished looks and his crumbling relationship with Astree are symbolic of his transformation to the supposed hero to the villain.

Since every villain needs a hero to save the day, Dr. Nagel should fill that void, yet his portrayal in the movie prevents him from completely stepping into that role. Scenes with Dr. Nagel (specifically the scene where he receives his invitation to the dinner) often involve fast shots, representative of his nervous and gauche actions. In the scene where Dr. Nagel plays with the sled of Astree's son, Dr. Nagel's transitions from coming off as lively and carefree to immature and out of place. Dr. Nagel also fails to come off the hero in either of the typical "rescue" moments with the damsel: when Astree asks to come along back to Stockholm at the dinner party or once the ship departs. Both were prime setups for a dramatic, loving embrace, but Astree seemed more concerned with getting off of that confining island than she did about being swept away in the hero's embrace. Yet because there were no other choices to cast as the role of hero, Dr. Nagel wins by default.

Mixed Heroes

While watching La Habanera, the filmmaker’s choice of a hero was not clear to me, however after discussing the characters a little bit in class, it seems as though neither Dr. Nagel nor Don Pedro is the definitive hero of the film. Both men seem to be represented positively in some manners while negatively in others. For example, although he is Puerto Rican and would have been considered a “savage” or “native” by most contemporary Germans, Don Pedro seems to represent the archetypal German hero physically: he is very manly looking, muscular, and regal. His body is intimidating and svelte, unlike Dr. Nagel, who is somewhat small, thin, and generally weak. Someone in class brought up that Don Pedro is represented as an almost devilish character, due to his beard and the sometimes-erratic look in his eyes, but I think these techniques are merely a way of depicting his passion for his wife and his country. Also, Don Pedro is undoubtedly the central authority figure to the locals, and he genuinely cares about his people and his country. He is presented as a capable, passionate, and dedicated leader, albeit at times illogical. On the other hand, however, Dr. Nagel is more heroic in terms of what he is actually able to accomplish. Dr. Nagel and Dr. Gomez are the characters that eventually find the cure for the Puerto Rican fever, and Dr. Nagel is the one who eventually convinces Astree to come back to Sweden, leaving the viewer with the sense that they end up together. While Dr. Nagel may not embody the physical characteristics of a hero nor the apparent leadership that Don Pedro has, he is heroic by means of his culture and the intelligence that eventually leads him to the discovery of a cure that could be used to help people. Therefore, while Don Pedro embodies the idea of a hero through his physical appearance and his admirable leadership qualities, the European Dr. Nagel is presented as a hero through his cultural “superiority.” Since Don Pedro eventually dies of the Puerto Rican fever that Dr. Nagel could have cured him of, the message of the filmmaker could perhaps be that European culture of intelligence and rationality will inevitably win out over passion and excitement.

The Dramatic Hero

Although Don Pedro is shown as a dashing, strong and important man in La Habanera, he cannot be considered the hero. While his motives for stopping Dr. Nagel may have been benevolent (he did not want the outside world to know about the fever because it would hurt business and leave more people to die of hunger), it ultimately brings his demise, as he dies of the disease before Dr. Nagel can save him. His death is the most telling reason as to why he is not the hero of the story. When a hero dies at the end of a film, he usually does so in memorable fashion, risking his life for the common good or standing up for what he believes in. However, Don Pedro’s death is not glamorous. He dies quickly and does not give any inspirational last words. In fact, he could have prevented his own death had he not been so short-sighted and destroyed Dr. Nagel’s antidote. Don Pedro’s death scene does not glorify Don Pedro but actually glorifies the film’s real her, Dr. Nagel. Even when he learns that Don Pedro had his hotel room sacked, Dr. Nagel can still only think about saving him, as he shows by insisting that Don Pedro’s workers give him his antidote. While Don Pedro “dug his own grave,” Dr. Nagel tried to prevent him from doing so, even though he had betrayed him and ruined his work.

The other reason why Dr. Nagel is the film’s ultimate hero is that he gets the girl. In a melodrama or any movie that has a romantic element to it, the hero is the guy who ends up winning the girl’s heart. In this case, Dr. Nagel saves Astree from her miserable marriage is able to bring her back home to raise her son the way she wants. Even though she is wearing black and is in mourning when she gets on the boat, she seems to only be doing it for cultural reasons and is actually looking forward to going back to Sweden. Dr. Nagel is able to convince her to get on the boat and that makes him the film's ultimate hero.

Nobility and Heroism

Valor and heroism go hand in hand. Heroes are known for their brave efforts despite the existence of opposition. However, when determining which figure from La Habanera, either Sven Nagel or Don Pedro, is the film’s hero, it is imperative to consider the role that nobility plays in heroic acts. Furthermore, one must equally emphasize nobility and bravery, in order to avoid being misled by the film’s aesthetic manipulations. Although the good looks of Don Pedro, combined with his outward masculinity, make him appear to be the film’s hero at various parts, Dr. Sven Nagel is ultimately the film’s hero, due to his underrated bravery and his honorable behavior. This idea is supported by arguments in favor of Dr. Nagel, as well as arguments against Don Pedro. Focusing on a single scene from the film will help to explain this argument, so let’s consider the scene toward the end of the film, in which Don Pedro collapses and dies from the Puerto Rican Fever.

Heroes stand for noble causes. Although Don Pedro appears to be a perfect gentleman early on in the film, he quickly transforms to be a controlling figure that suppresses his wife and uses his power to hinder medical developments which could save innocent lives on his island. Shortly before dying, he hears the song La Habanera, and then praises his wife for her singing ability, emphasizing how happy she has made him. Although his words may initially appear to positively represent him, their true nature becomes more apparent after closer inspection. He is only happy because she succumbed to his will; although she has been longing to go home and leave Puerto Rico, she decides to sing a song that she knows will please him. His kindness appears only after he has been served, in a way, from his wife, and has little to do with his moral fiber. Don Pedro’s nobility is better reflected later in the scene, when he is hit with the fever. He falls to the ground and is unable to receive treatment because he has destroyed all progress made by the Dr. Nagel and Dr. Gomez. There is no honor in this act, and he dies a mere martyr, rather than a heroic figure in the film.

Dr. Nagel, on the other hand, lacks some of the valor that Don Pedro so regularly displays. He is simply wimpier. But valor is not the only measurement of heroism. Dr. Nagel wants to help cure the fever. He comes to the island in hopes in doing just that, and also to win back the heart of the one he let get away. Returning to the scene in which Don Pedro dies, we see Nagel’s nobility stand out in contrast to Don Pedro’s moral inferiority. Despite knowing that Don Pedro has been working against him since his arrival and wants him arrested, the honorable Sven Nagel rushes to help save Don Pedro’s life as soon as he see him collapse. He orders others several times to go get the cure, and only after he hears the news about what has happened does he give up trying to save his nemesis, declaring that he “dug his own grave.” Dr. Nagel tries his best throughout the movie to help the Puerto Ricans against the ferocious fever. Although he lacks the dashing nature that Don Pedro has, Dr. Nagel is undoubtedly the film’s hero. He is brave enough to conduct experiments despite knowing that doing so puts himself in danger, and is noble enough to try and save the very man that wanted him stopped, all the while winning back his long lost love. The saying “don’t judge a book by its cover” certainly comes to mind here, as the characters outward appearance leads one to unjustly conclude that Don Pedro is the hero, when, in fact, the hero is Dr. Nagel.

Dr. Pardway

In La Habanera, I find it interesting that Sven Nagel, doctor extraordinaire from Sweden, is able to create a cure for the Puerto Rico Fever in his hotel room within a week of arriving. This impressive display of Sven's scientific prowess is especially striking because eight years earlier, the Americans tried the very same thing, but failed, and in the years since, the Puerto Rican doctors have been trying [to no avail] to also  discover the cure. This instance struck me as one of the most blatantly propagandistic moments in La Habanera, but it is not without complication. Dr. Nagel is portrayed as a benevolent scientist who is working for a hostile audience- he is working out of the goodness within him, supposedly, but we are soon to realise that his true motive for going to Puerto Rico is not to help the general population [which he does,] but rather, to chase his old girlfriend. Curing the fever comes across as an afterthought.
Another curiosity that arises around the fever and said cure is that although Dr. Pardway officially denies the existence of the fever altogether, and works earnestly to impede Sven's progress, he is the only one who  ends up using any of the research for the good of Puerto Rico. His study of Sven's notes while breaking into his apartment, [in order to eventually arrest both Nagel and Gomez] is the only fruit of the entire labour seen, because both Nagel and Gomez leave the country without returning to their studies, or resynthesizing a cure. [The cure is secondary, very obviously, because once Sven has secured the girl, he leaves the country.]

Dr. Pardway is the pragmatic hero of Puerto Rico, he knows his place and follows his leader, because he knows Pedro de Avila to care for the greater good of the people. Moreover, he takes advantage of an opportunity to help his patients. He is motivated by nationalism and cares greatly for his countrymen. He is the only character who really does anything concrete to actually help the people [discounting, of course, the intentions of Dr.s Nagel and Gomez.]

The hero of La Habanera...Don Pedro? Dr. Nagel? or someone else?

I am going to start this post by going out on a limb, a very very very far limb, and say that I do not think that Don Pedro or Dr. Nagel are the heroes in this film. I am going to do the best I can to clarify why this is without rambling so just bear with me.

First, it is clear that Don Pedro and Dr. Nagel are antagonists to each other in the film, and that, on the surface, one is supposed to identify with Dr. Nagel in his attempt to go to Puerto Rico and not only cure the fever but to get Astree back to Sweden. On the flip side, I see Don Pedro as his antagonist in that he moves in a way that is counter to Dr. Nagel...making it difficult for Dr. Nagel (and Dr. Gomez) to function as doctors, trying to win back the heart of Astree while Dr. Nagel tries to woe her away from him (or, rather, the island), and the simple fact that at the end Don Pedro dies because he has clearly made a counter move against Dr. Nagel that, in effect, seals his own fate (destroying Dr. Nagel's work). However, I think it is important to distinguish the two in their own right. Dr. Nagel, as we know, goes to Puerto Rico in order to find a cure for the fever...he does this. He also goes at the request of the Aunt to get Astree back...naturally, he falls for her, she for him but only at the end, he brings her back. But what does he do, what does he really do, that is so heroic beyond these two things? He spends 11 days? in Puerto Rico finding a cure (he and Gomez are obsessed with finding a cure), they find it, and then he leaves...and even though his work is destroyed he could not stay and figure out the cure again and help those who are sick? What was so important at the outset, finding the cure for the fever, is unimportant in his need to be with Astree. The progression of the movie, when one really thinks about it, has nothing to do with the fever....the fever is simply a way to move the greater story along and to constrast the two men and their actions.

On the flip side, we have Don Pedro. To discuss him, I refer to what our classmate Sven says about him. Sven writes, "Knowing that if the international press writes about the disease, the international trade would stop and there with much more people would die of hunger than of the disease he tries to prevent Sven [Dr. Nagel] 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. " I couldn't have said it better myself. In essence, Don Pedro, the glorified leader who we see on the horse at the beginning on the movie, is simply reacting to circumtances and is looking out for his people... certainly a noble and heroic feat. However, in being so rational in wanting to help his people he seals their fate which we see embodied in his fate...death at the hands of the fever. Again, the fever is simply used as a plot device...it is not about fighting the disease, it is about how the fever moves the Don Pedro-Dr. Nagel story line along. One could probably write a a fascinating paper on how the fever functions in this film...

Now, why do I say that neither of these men are heroes? To truly answer this question, after considering the two men as I have, one must consider one more key element in the plot development surrounding the two...Astree. Astree was lured to the charm of Puerto Rico which is embodied in Don Pedro at the outset...this apparently goes sour quickly. As the island paradise falls apart, so to does Don Pedro. Then, on the flip side, Dr. Nagel is the embodiement of her native Sweden...what says home more than an old friend who used to be a love interest many years ago? On top of this, Dr. Nagel is seen sledding down the stairs with her son, something that her son desperately wants to do but can not do...Dr. Nagel embodies all of the joys of Sweden. Now I can answer the question as to who the hero is...neither of these men are the hero. Instead, I think Astree is the hero. Sure it does not seem that way, but lets think about it. She is lured to the appeal of this paradise (Don Pedro) and then comes to really dislike it as it becomes a miserable relationship that is devoid of true affection and love. On the flip side, Dr. Nagel arrives to bring her back, but she has already made the decision to go back to Sweden with her son even though Don Pedro will do everything in his power to ensure this does not happen. Astree not only recognizes that her heart belongs in Sweden (she falls for Dr. Nagel) but she recognizes the need to bring her son back to Sweden, which clearly (the boy looks incredibly out of place in Puerto Rico given his skin color and hair color...and clothing) is his native homeland. Incredible! Astree, who was so easily lured to this paradise is the one who recognizes the importance of returning to the homeland. Nr. Nagel surely helps in this process, but I feel that she is the one who takes the most heroic steps towards returning. Sure Don Pedro and Dr. Nagel have heroic qualities in their own right, Astree, although conflicted, knows what she must do and goes forth with it.

Der Held

I think that Don Pedro has all the outward appearance of a certain brand of hero - the impeccable dress, the clean trimmed hair, his head held high, a charm for the damsel in distress before Happily Ever After. The focuses in his own small regime are on his people and their protection, even regardless of the final success, realized or not. However, the tables turn as the film progresses, as Don Pedro is the one who is seen in a negative light, with his world slowly breaking apart and his shameful demise of metaphorically digging his own grave, while Dr. Nagel's image rises up as the new hero. Though he has a less impressive outward portrayal in the film, Nagel is a hero who resisted the wrong and unreasonable choices in order to save a people who were no longer in the right hands, and his deeds redeem what is otherwise unheroic about him.

Perhaps Don Pedro really is the Nazi regime's hero in at least all of his heroic appearance and adamant nobility. Politically, it could be said that Juan, the Aryan Hitler Youth so subtly slipped into the course of the film, is the ideal heir of the future of the Nazis. Perhaps it is then in Juan's responsibility to extract all of the heroic qualities of his father while at the same time leaving the land of his birth, along with all of its faults and undesirable qualities. He leaves it all for a country that is both part of his roots and is also portrayed in the film in its own admirable way for producing the medical breakthrough that would play such a critical role to the saving of a society.

Freedom to be a Hero

In class today many of the other students felt that Dr. Nagel was not deserving of praise for rescuing Astrée; rather, they believed him to be boring when compared with the talented Don Pedro. Although it is true that Dr. Nagel may be somewhat bland when pitted against Don Pedro, I do not believe he was intended to come out as boring or unworthy of the audience’s praise. I believe that the director chose to focus on Dr. Nagel’s worth against that of his companion, Dr. Gomez, from Brazil. Dr. Nagel spends the majority of his time in the company of Dr. Gomez, and interacts very little with Don Pedro. The audience has no choice but to focus on the strength and status of Dr. Nagel when he is in a room with Dr. Gomez. For example, when the two men are in their hotel room in Puerto Rico, Dr. Nagel is the man giving orders to Dr. Gomez and instructing him on how to work on the cure for the fever. This scene functions as proof to the audience that Dr. Nagel is in charge and has the strength to complete the tasks set before him.

One contradiction the audience is witness to is Dr. Nagel’s behavior following the receipt of an invitation to Don Pedro’s house. Dr. Nagel becomes overly excited, running around the room and focusing on his appearance rather than his work on the cure for the fever. The only explanation I can find for this change in behavior is that the audience is supposed to see Dr. Nagel’s love for Astrée. While Don Pedro is solemn in his adoration for her at the beginning of the movie, Dr. Nagel is wildly ecstatic about the possibility of even being in the same house with the woman he loves. The audience never sees Don Pedro in anything less than his full suit whereas Dr. Nagel can be disheveled. This theory is further supported by Dr. Nagel’s interactions with Juan. While Don Pedro does not take a role in raising his son, Dr. Nagel is immediately drawn to the boy and plays with him on the sled. Dr. Nagel is a family man, with no qualms about openly showing his affection. This is not a weakness, but a strength that Don Pedro does not have. In the end, it is the freedom Dr. Nagel has to show his feelings that make him the true hero.

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.

October 13-15: La Habanera

Identify and defend your categorization of the film's hero, either Don Pedro or Sven Nagel. Think about the different ways each character is presented, cast, shot. Take the complexity of each character into account when making your argument. One option would be to pick a scene and discuss how it functions for the audience. Consider how lighting, sound, and the edition of shots function, including how they seem to represent specific cultural values.

If you prefer, you can instead tease out problem points, where you believe the scene to change shots, perspectives. Be sure to also make use of the actual film: lighting, editiong choices. It may be productive to think of the film in terms of things which are not included.