I finally got to see the In The Heights movie. Never gotten a chance to see it live on Broadway and it hasn’t been here on a traveling tour that I know of, so this was the first time I really had gotten to experience the story (I am aware of the criticisms that had come up around the film version and I agree with them, but this wasn’t an opportunity I could pass up. I am glad I didn’t.
It was going to be good, no doubts on that front. I knew that it was going to be moving and emotional because that’s what Lin and Quiara and Alex and everyone else associated with the film or show is really really good at doing. I knew all these little bits of trivia about it because of my falling headlong down the Hamilton rabbit hole a couple of years ago.
All of this I knew and expected it.
I did not expect that it would make me homesick to the point of tears. The kind of saudade that bowls you over like a tsunami wave and leaves you with an aching head, buckled knees, and the inability to breathe for all of the sheer feeling that is going through you.
There are days where I miss Brasil so much I can barely function. I miss the communidade and the familia and the food. I miss the way everything is so vibrant and colorful and like Usnavi says, the streets are made of music.
If you have a chance before July 11th, maybe give the film a shot. It is a very enjoyable film.