Carla's Song

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Robert Carlyle - George
Oyanka Cabezas - Carla
Scott Glenn - Bradley
Salvador Espinoza - Rafael
Louise Goodall - Maureen
Richard Loza - Antonio
Gary Lewis - Sammy

This is the second consecutive film from British realist director Ken Loach to deal with Hispanic issues; the epic Land and Freedom immediately preceded it. Scriptwriter Paul Laverty is a Glasgow lawyer who worked with human rights organisations in Nicaragua in the mid-80s.

This bittersweet cross-cultural romance works better in the first half, when chirpy Glasgow bus driver George (Robert Carlyle) is wooing beautiful Carla (Oyanka Cabezas) on home territory. Among the impoverished passengers on George's bus is Carla, a beautiful Nicaraguan refugee from the ongoing Contra wars, she has become detached from a dance troupe touring the British Isles and now earns her living dancing in the street. Attracted more by her exotic appeal than any concern for her welfare, George finds her a place in the spare room of a friend’s apartment. Shortly after moving into her new dwelling, Carla cuts her wrists and George discovers from a doctor that this is her second suicide attempt in six weeks. George nurses her back to health after the suicide attempt, he discovers the reason for her depression is that her boyfriend Antonio (Richard Loza) was captured by the Contras and probably killed.

The year is 1987, and in Carla’s home country the Contra rebels are mounting their final, lethal assault against the Sandinista Government. Although he loves Carla, George decides that their love can never be realised while she is still uncertain about Antonio's fate. Therefore, he urges her to fly back to Nicaragua with him accompanying her and search for Antonio. The shift into violent Central America leaves George with nothing much to do but observe the troubles pointed out by human rights worker Bradley (Scott Glen), while the engaging romance gets overpowered. Nonetheless it's typically intelligent and committed film-making from Ken Loach.