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Features: DVD, Widescreen, Aspect Ratio 1.78:1, Dolby Digital (5.1), Dolby Surround Sound, Audio Commentary, Music Video, Featurette, Theatrical Trailers, Deleted Scenes, English, Spanish Subtitled
Havana: November, 1958. 18-year-old Katey Miller (Romola Garai) brings an innate curiosity and a smattering of Spanish to her new life in Cuba's lush capital, where her father has taken an executive posting at Ford. Bookish and awkward, Katey is expected to join the smart set of American teenagers who are the Millers' neighbors at the exclusive Oceana Hotel. But Katey finds herself drawn instead to the proud, purposeful Javier (Diego Luna), a waiter who also happens to be a brilliant dancer. Determined to learn the slinky, spectacular moves that Javier seems to know in his bones, Katey persuades him to partner with her in a prestigious national dance competition at Havana's glittering nightclub/casino, The Palace. Soon, the straight-A student is deceiving her parents, stealing away both day and night to discover a different part of Cuba with Javier. They meet at the steamy nightclub La Rosa Negra, where only the locals go and where the dancing is hotter than the temperature outside. Some days, they practice on the sand of an out-of-the way beach, aligning their bodies in a sensual harmony that mirrors the growing passion between them. As the night of the contest finally arrives, Katey and Javier are ready to take their place as a couple on the dance floor - unaware that the country club, and the streets of Havana itself, are about to erupt in revolutionary violence.
"A pelvis-gyrating, ponytail-releasing, shirt-unbuttoning good time. " Allison Benedikt, Chicago Tribune
Editor's Note
Katey Miller (Romola Garai) is an 18-year-old girl who is about to have the time of her life, even if she doesn't know it. When her father Bert Miller (John Slattery) is transferred to Havana in 1958, just before Katey's senior year in high school, the whole family relocates to the exotic locale, moving into a luxurious hotel filled with Americans as Cuba teeters on the brink of revolution. Bookish Katey is mesmerized by the raw intensity of the dancing she sees in a public square one afternoon--and by Javier (Diego Luna), a Cuban pool boy that works at her hotel. Soon, Katey and Javier are heating up the dance floor, combining his Latin moves with her formal ballroom training. With some inspiration from the hotel dance instructor, played by none other than the original dirty dancer Patrick Swayze, Katey enters a Latin ballroom dance competition. Based on co-producer and choreographer JoAnn Jansen's own experiences as an American teenager in Cuba, DIRTY DANCING: HAVANA NIGHTS comes to the screen 17 years after the original DIRTY DANCING debuted. This coming-of-age film also features Sela Ward as Katey's mother, and was directed by Guy Ferland (TELLING LIES IN AMERICA).
| Features | Audio Commentary | | Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound | | Dance Piece Featurette, Includes Interviews, Screen Tests And Audition | | Diego Luna Interview Intercut With The Film | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Selection | | Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 EX, Dolby Digital Stereo | | Subtitles: English, Spanish | | Widescreen Presentation | | Theatrical Trailers | | 2 Multiangle Dance Sequences | | Commentary With JoAnn Jansen and Sarah Green | | New Diego Luna Interview Intercut With The Film | | Dance Piece: Includes Diego Luna's and Romola Garai's Interviews, Screen Tests, and Dance Auditions | | Music Videos |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Lions Gate |
| Release Date: 8/30/2005 |
| Running Time: 105 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2004 | | Catalog ID: 13203 | | UPC: 00012236132035 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English [CC], English | | Video: Color |
Aspect Ratio | | Widescreen 1.85:1 |
| Cast & Crew
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| | Professional Reviews | Los Angeles Times
"[S]ufficiently original and engaging..." 02/27/2004 p.C8Box Office
"Garai, ardent and argent as always, brings the same lusty sweetness to her character as did Grey." 04/01/2004 p.158 Entertainment Weekly
"[E]ndearing..." 07/23/2004 p.65 James Berardinelli's ReelViews 5 of 10
If the intention of Havana Nights is to re-invent Dirty Dancing for today's audience,
Chicago Sun-Times 5 of 10
Romola Garai and Diego Luna. You remember him from Y Tu Mama Tambien, and here again he has t - Roger Ebert
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