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.
Sergio Corrieri Salvador Wood José Gallardo Raúl García Luz María Collazo Jean Bouise Alberto Morgan Celia Rodriguez Fausto Mirabal Roberto García York María de las Mercedes Díez Bárbara Domínguez Jesús del Monte Luisa María Jiménez Rodríquez Mario González Broche Tony López Héctor Castañeda Rosendo Lamadriz Roberto Villar Roberto Cabrera Alfredo Ávila José Espinosa Rafael Díaz Isabel Moreno Manuel J. Mora Raquel Revuelta Aramís Delgado Raúl Gómez Pepe Ramírez
Ich bin Kuba, Я - Куба, Ikari no Kyuba, Je suis Cuba, Eu Sou Cuba
Politics and human rights War and historical adventure propaganda, historical, war, political or historic political, democracy, president, documentary or propaganda political, president, historical, politician or democracy war, soldiers, combat, fought or military racism, african american, powerful, hatred or slavery Show All…
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 descended of European settlers are the invaders here. No revolution here can realize true communism unless that legacy is addressed.
But the landlords will…
“Why are you running away?
You came here to have fun.
Go ahead, have fun!
Isn't this a happy picture!
Don’t avert your eyes.
Look!
I am Cuba.
For you, I am the casino, the bar, hotels and brothels.
But the hands of these children and old people are also me"
The beating heart of a nation in flames.
Rulers all deceive but The People must believe, not in faux figureheads and spurious imposters, but in The People themselves. Revolution via an unyielding, impregnable humanism—the single answer—disemboweling the dictatorial body in front of you from within before its ever-rearing head has time to regenerate, because it always does; always with messages meant to appease, only to again oppress.
A Revolution does not end with the overthrow, for it is only the beginning; the hardest part has yet to come.
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.
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.
the floating, lyrical camerawork was as rich and dizzyingly gorgeous as advertised but i was particularly struck by how this flows and builds its revolutionary momentum as a whole, turning what should be at least in terms of individual characters a series of disconnected vignettes and developing so many kinetic visual patterns and intense feelings that they tell a passionate story of an entire place and its people. there's 1) the literal high & low class divide drawn not just via the the rooftop parties vs. the muddy slums but also spectacular high and low angle lensing throughout, 2) the insanely choreographed formal musicality that with long-take images in expressive, sprawling aerial motion eventually revealing the power of an organized collective…
To love film is to love Soy Cuba. This Russian and Cuban collaboration captures the spirit of revolution and the soul of cinema. After having been lost for decades, and maligned as mere propaganda, this rediscovered masterpiece has earned its place as one of 20th century cinema’s real highlights.
The most apparent genius of Soy Cuba is the filmmaking. The director’s other acclaimed feature, The Cranes are Flying, showed an incredibly grasp of visual storytelling as well as a virtuosity behind the camera. This is that times a thousand. There are shots in here that echo throughout cinema and that have never been equalled. It is most famous for its long takes, like one that Paul Thomas Anderson homages in…
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Soy Cuba is the first film I've seen from director Mikhail Kalatozov, and it did not disappoint in the slightest. What a ravishing film, especially from the perspective of the camera. It is within the rousing emotion and energy of revolution that Mikhail Kalatozov offers a magical entry-point into this landscape. Long-takes that float through the air, observing the action, finding beauty in its top-down construction. Not to mention the intimacy of the camera in close-ups, a reminder that this is a personal story, no matter the success of its style. The innovative power of the images are properly conveying the importance of the subject. This is no mere exercise, but a historical snapshot, a cry for change, all…
Revolutionary. Soy Cuba is cinema outside the rules. It is filled only with beautiful, ethereal shots. The camera floats around constantly, in a artful combination of tracking shots. A wide angle look is used, despite pressing close to its subjects. Soy Cuba observes and captures, nobody turns to the camera to talk to us. This is art with a message, but the message is spread across a large canvas of life rather than summarised in one short paragraph. Cuba is given a literal voice, a narrator that speaks between the four segments of this anthology. Soy Cuba is trying to represent a nation, though it does not capture then-contemporary Cuba, just the previous revolution and the injustice which started such…
What's interesting about this film is that it is a piece of pro-Castro propaganda, but at the same time the vignettes meant to illustrate the injustice of the Batista years are genuinely emotionally involving. Even though Kalatozov's vision is political, he focuses intently on his human subjects. I'm amazed that a movie made by the bloody Soviet Union ten years after the death of Stalin can grasp of how to make a film with a political agenda while still creating moments between people that feel genuine. Yet, every chuckleheaded Hollywood knob who has tackled the Iraq war has ended up creating a bloodless, didactic mess
(Criterion Laser Disc Collection)
(Foreign language film - Spanish)
Director Mikhail Kalatozov's magical camera swoops over and around this island paradise to present a tragic romanticized view of life for people leading up to the Cuban revolution.
"I am Cuba. Sometimes it seems to me that the sap of my palm trees are full of blood. Sometimes it seems to me that the murmuring sounds... around us are not the ocean but choked-back tears of the people. Who answers for this blood? Who is responsible for these tears?"
While the masterful camerawork of I am Cuba is clearly more dazzling and epic compared to the other Kalatozov film I have seen 'The Cranes Are Flying'. I would say I am…
