1964 ‘Soy Cuba’ Directed by Mikhail Kalatozov
An unabashed exercise in cinema stylistics, I Am Cuba is pro-Castro/anti-Batista rhetoric dressed up in the finest clothes. The film's four dramatic stories take place in the final days of the Batista regime; the first two illustrate the ills that led to the revolution, the third and fourth the call to arms which cut across social and economic lines.
Ich bin Kuba, Я - Куба
just yesterday i repeated that joke—you know, ‘we need to take care of the world we’re leaving to fidel castro’—and desperately prayed he’d hold out at least ’til the end of the year. a great number of 2016’s deaths have hit me hard, but none have made me sob so openly as his.
so i chose to remember him with this, the purest and most extravagant expression of emotion i’ve ever seen committed to film, and thus it came to pass that i completely broke down at ‘you’re not old, papa. you’re not old!’, and then again at ‘they killed fidel castro’, and then all over again at ‘fidel? i am fidel!’
la historia te absolverá, lovely. la historia te ha absuelto.
One day, they might tell stories like this about us. If we keep fighting, one day, they will look back and see only the distortions of us and our struggle, only the broad strokes, and they will be so enamored with our victories that they make something as alive and wondrous as this to celebrate us. The story will not be exactly the same. The tourists who steal treasures and callously dismiss the women they use would be us as well, not some foreigners on our soil, partying and unleashing their unabashed, clawing, taking ids. Those of us descended of European settlers are the invaders here. No revolution here can realize true communism unless that legacy is addressed.
But the…
I Am Cuba is a propaganda piece, and it shows, but it transcends that and becomes genuine cinematic art with strong humanism by its poetic storytelling. Its rather straight-forward in terms of plot, as it shows 4 different vignettes of everyday life, portraying the human struggle of living under harsh circumstances despite of the beautiful surroundings of Cuba. Its however, a technical, audiovisual marvel. Unsurprisingly, one of the most visually breathtaking films i've seen, some of these shots are just unbelievable. It has to be seen in order to be believed. Regardless of political standpoints, and as a filmlover, its pure joy watching these inventive and impressive shots unfold. The opening. The nightclub scenes. The scenes in the fields. The funeral scene. The ending. So much stuff to Wow at. Mikhail Kalatozov and Sergei Urusevsky must be one of the best duo's in the history of film. Beautiful, beautiful stuff, a new favorite.
Mikhail Kalatozov takes us to the last days of Fulgencio Batista's decadent and authoritarian Cuba through four stories in which he captures the dichotomy lived on the island during the 1950s and that serves as the basis on which the Cuban revolution emerges. Luxurious hotels where foreigners spend their vacations contrast with the poor neighborhoods of Havana; farmers stripped of land they have worked for generations due to capitalist interests; the awakening of young people to social injustice, and the beginning of revolutionary action that will bring well-being to the Cuban people.
Soy Cuba is interesting as both historical document and propaganda because, although some of its ideas may be antiquated or romantic, and sometimes falls into exoticism, it is…
For a lot of these setpieces you think, 'Wow, I wonder how they did that?' and then I guess you end up thinking that about the revolution too
"Creía que lo peor de la vida era la muerte, pero lo peor de la vida es la vida"
Audaz largometraje de construcción socialista y producción técnica precisa sobre un pueblo representado en cuatro personajes; una prostituta resignada y auto exiliada de su amor; un campesino explotado que decide arder en libertad; un estudiante furioso que debió disparar primero; y un padre de familia que se levanta en armas ante el bombardeo del régimen.
Con un trabajo sonoro que genera atmósferas en la particularidad reververante del espacio en donde se desarrolla el personaje; una fotografía con selectivo filtraje que imprime contrastes expresivos, angulaciones demenciales poco comunes y angulares que no temen acercarse al rostro, para en su increíble virtuosismo móvil…
Completely bowled over by this.
Utterly arresting to witness and fearlessly radical, I Am Cuba is an anthology film, each segment unveiling a new perspective on the country under immense conflict and political friction.
It’s ambition is boundless, featuring a number of logistically baffling long takes. From a swinging sixties nightclub that completely unsettled the remote villages, to a burning sugar cane field that has been robbed from a farmer by industrial corporations. The film moves closer to it‘s political nerve in it’s final two segments, a student protest group that’s under attack from an oppressive military police force and a family under threat in the middle of battlefield between freedom fighters and the army. The camera proudly swells and swoops around, with it’s characters captured through a wide angle lens, Cuba is always at the film’s foreground no matter how character’s don’t wish to be defined by it.
Dave Vis 250 films
Letterboxd's Top 250 movies, based on the average weighted rating of all Letterboxd users. I removed all stand-up specials, concert…
Top10ner 1,001 films
Official 2020 Edition: Combined the average ratings (Critic's & Users) from IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and Letterboxd, and then weighted and…
