AllMovie

Cuban director Humberto Solás has a great talent for teasing the complexities of race and class that often drive romantic tragedies and the tragic divas that populate them. One of the finest directors of Latin melodrama, his storytelling skills elevate Cecilia, a mediocre film about the doomed love affair between a plantation owner's son (Nelson Villagra) and Cecilia, an ambitious mulatto girl (Daisy Granados). Solás emphasizes the use of the body, in Catholic and folk religious ceremonies, and in slavery and affluence, to explore ideas of physical and spiritual forces under external and internal pressures. (Though, weirdly, this includes a depiction of "whiteness" as evil by caking powder on the actors' faces so they look like the vampires in Dark Shadows.) Cecilia has "the gift every girl dreams of: Beauty," but discovers that her looks provide opportunities along with new burdens. The conclusion ties a "beauty is within" message, typical of romances, with a larger societal critique. "The world will change outwardly, but not inside." Cecilia is part of Solas' early eighties work that explicitly references the epic sweep of the popular David Wolper's U.S. television miniseries and Latin American telenovelas of the period. Scenes of slavery and torture reminiscent of Roots are combined with an exposition and dialogue heavy core and the occasionally ingenuously conceived interlude. There are interesting moments, but overall this is not one of Solás's greatest movies.