Del chocolate a la fresa, del exilio interior a la expatriación : las etapas de un doble recorrido iniciático en Fresa y chocolate de Tomas Gutiérrez Alea y Juan Carlos Tabío

Abstract

“From strawberry to chocolate, from internal exile to the expatriation: The stages of a double initiation in Strawberry and Chocolate, by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea and Juan Carlos Tabío”The Cuban film Strawberry and Chocolate is based on a traditional pattern of confrontation between two radically opposite characters: an homosexual dissident, loving culture, and a young patriot, defender of revolutionary orthodoxy. As often happens in the movies, a friendship is born from the confrontation that can not longer prevent inner exile suffered by homosexual becomes real and forced exile at the end of the film.This article considers the parallel evolution of the two characters from the model of the initiatory tales and traditional stories to reveal the ambivalence of its position with regard to homosexuality and dissent.