CYRANO FERNANDEZ World Cinema: Latin Showcase

Once honor was the sole possession of those few rich enough cultivate it. Nowadays it is a fossil, a self-imposed handicap for moral Luddites. Certainly that’s the case for Cyrano Fernandez (Edgar Ramirez), a true idealist whose devotion to the notion of romantic, courtly love is both his reason for being and his Achilles’ heel.

In the sure hands of director Alberto Arvelo, Edmond Rostond’s swashbuckling tale of misplaced love has been transported to the crowded slums of Caracas. There, amid poverty, corruption and murder, Cyrano pines for the impossibly beautiful Roxana (Jessika Graul, crafting unsent declarations of love in between stints ghostwriting for a local rapper . Everything changes with the arrival of young Cristian (Pastor Oviedo), who, while challenging Cyrano for Roxana’s affection, inadvertently sparks a gang war.

Arvelo’s camera swirls throughout the ensuing chaos, capturing the small joys of a destitute community, without neglecting the accompanying hardships . Powered by hypnotic music and a remarkable lead performance, CYRANO suggests that honor isn’t dead yet – you just need to look harder, and in unexpected places, to find it.