A wealthy German pays for his daughter and two of her friends to go to Cuba in search of his son, who was researching the vanishing manatee but has himself vanished. The motives of the three differ widely. The boy Benni conscientiously wants to spend all day hunting for one man in an island of 11 million people, but is also consumed with desire for the girl Judith. The third, Katharina, just wants to sleep with all the handsome Cubans she can, by paying them. When the three at last stumble upon the lost son, he is living happily with a poor family who have befriended him and has no desire to return to Germany. Judith impulsively marries a handsome Cuban from an even poorer family and at the wedding Benni at last gets the sex he has been dying for, up against a wall with the ever-ready Katharina.
Hardly a romantic comedy, though set in picturesque locations with lively local music, the film carries a heavy weight in portraying its clash of two worlds. Two of the four Germans are able to overcome the taboos of their own society to find love and friendship in a very different country. The other two remain trapped, as symbolised by their loveless coupling at the end (though there is a possible ray of hope for Benni). Not having been to Cuba, I can't judge whether showing it as poor but entirely full of friendly and generous people is a dramatic device or reality.
Hardly a romantic comedy, though set in picturesque locations with lively local music, the film carries a heavy weight in portraying its clash of two worlds. Two of the four Germans are able to overcome the taboos of their own society to find love and friendship in a very different country. The other two remain trapped, as symbolised by their loveless coupling at the end (though there is a possible ray of hope for Benni). Not having been to Cuba, I can't judge whether showing it as poor but entirely full of friendly and generous people is a dramatic device or reality.