The Mambo Kings

In the early 1950s, two Cuban brothers, musicians César and Nestor Castillo, must flee Havana after getting into a violent dispute with the mobster owners of a club where they performed.

Eventually ending up in New York, the brothers (Banderas and Assante) work at menial jobs while attempting to revive their musical careers. At a nightclub where Cesar briefly crashes the act of mambo star Tito Puente, they make new friends and connections, as well as meeting cigarette girl Lanna Lake (Cathy Moriarty), who falls quickly into a love affair with Cesar.

Nestor, in the meantime, remains oblivious to other women while continually composing his ode to his lost Cuban love, Maria. He writes version after version of the same ballad, "Beautiful Maria of My Soul," until by chance one day he encounters Dolores (Maruschka Detmers), a shy but attentive young woman who wishes to become a school teacher. When she becomes pregnant, they decide to get married.

Fate intervenes one night at a club, where the Castillo brothers have a part-time job. Nestor's love ballad captures the interest of one of the customers, who turns out to be the Cuban bandleader and American television star Desi Arnaz (played by his son, Desi Arnaz, Jr.). After a pleasant evening in Nestor's and Dolores' modest home, Arnaz generously invites the struggling Castillos to sing and act on an episode of his smash TV series, I Love Lucy.

Cleverly intercutting footage of Banderas and Assante into an actual I Love Lucy episode (where the brothers' characters appear to actually be interacting in a scene with Lucille Ball), the film depicts the rise to prominence of Cesar and Nestor as overnight stars.

Fame doesn't last, however. Nestor is not as ambitious as his brother and desires nothing more than to own his own small club. He is in love with Dolores but lacks the passion he felt for his beloved Maria back home. Cesar, meantime, suppresses his true feelings, that a woman like Dolores would actually be perfect for him.

There are tragic consequences one snowy night when the Castillo brothers' car veers off the road and into a tree. Cesar is in the back seat and barely hurt, but Nestor, driving the car, is killed. The life of Cesar, shattered, is never the same.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mambo_Kings

Bella Maria de mi alma

Si deseo sonreír
Pienso solamente en ti
En la magia del amor
En tu piel, en tu sabor

En la isla del dolor
Recuerdo tu calor
Desearía morir
Cerca de ti

Un ardiente corazón
Colorea mi pasión
Deseando compartir
El sentir de este vivir

En las olas de este mar
Sueño en la eternidad
Con cada luna vendrás
Con la marea te irás

En un caracol
Pienso oír tu voz
La bella María de mi amor

Aunque estemos separados
En un sueño angelical
Si llego de nuevo a amar
No hay razón, porque cambiar

Temo yo permanecer
Sin ti en la eternidad
Lejos nos pueden separar
Jamás pudiera olvidar
Tu risa celestial
Tus besos, tu calor
La bella María de mi amor

Si no te vuelvo a ver
No dejarás de ser
La bella María de mi amor.

(Antonio Banderas)

Tracklist:

01. Ran Kan Kan (Pablo Flores Mix])
02. Beautiful Maria of My Soul (Bella Maria de Mi Alma) - Antonio Banderas
03. La Dicha Mia - Celia Cruz
04. Ran Kan Kan - Tito Puente
05. Cuban Pete - Tito Puente
06. Mambo Caliente - Arturo Sandoval
07. Quiereme Mucho
08. Sunny Ray - Mambo All-Stars
09. Melao de Caρa - Celia Cruz
10. Beautiful Maria of My Soul - Mambo All-Stars
11. Para Los Rumberos - Tito Puente
12. Perfidia - Linda Ronstadt
13. Guantanamera - Celia Cruz
14. Tea for Two - Mambo All-Stars
15. Accidental Mambo - Mambo All-Stars
16. Como Fue
17. Tanga Rumba-Afro-Cubana - Mambo All-Stars
18. Beautiful Maria of My Soul - Los Lobos

http://avaxsphere.com/music/ost_soundtrack/mambo_kings.html