Movie Discussion: I Am Cuba (1964) by Mikhail Kalatozov
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Both a landmark of radical political cinema and one of the most visually ravishing films ever made, this legendary hymn to revolution shimmers across the screen like a fever dream of rebellion. Mixing Slavic solemnity with Latin sensuality, I Am Cuba’s multiple plots take us from the seductive and decadent world of Batista’s Havana, with its swank nightclubs and glamorous poolside social scene, through the city’s poverty-stricken slums, and on to the first stirrings of revolution with brutally suppressed student protests in the streets and armed revolt in the hills. Tepidly received in both Havana and Moscow for being insufficiently revolutionary, I Am Cuba was shelved and largely forgotten for decades. The film's rediscovery and restoration by Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola in the 1990s was a major cinematic event.
"Immensely entertaining and occasionally inspiring, a delirious combination of Slavic solemnity, Latin exoticism, Communist idealism, and breathtakingly beautiful images." (Rotten Tomatoes)
"Suggests Eisenstein filtered through La Dolce Vita with an Afro-Cuban pulse.” (New York Times)
“Interesting not only for its technical skill, but also because it betrays a certain interest in la dolce vita that is not entirely in keeping with the movie’s revolutionary, agitprop stance.” (Roger Ebert)
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Let's discuss the 1964 cult classic propaganda film I Am Cuba (Spanish: Soy Cuba) by the acclaimed Georgian/Soviet filmmaker Mikhail Kalatozov, recently voted the 106th greatest movie of all time in Sight & Sound's international survey of filmmakers.
Please watch the movie in advance (141 minutes) and bring your thoughts, reactions, and queries to share with us at the meeting. You can stream it here {check the player settings for subtitles and to adjust quality) or rent it through Criterion or other streaming platforms (for best quality).
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Check out other movie discussions in the group, currently happening about 2 or 3 times a month.
This link here is a spreadsheet of the approximately 200 movies we've watched in this group and my ratings for each. You're invited to share your ratings too if you've watched a bunch of these movies with us. (I can add your list here if you send me a link. You can make your own list on sites like Letterboxd or by copying my spreadsheet and filling in your own values. Note that my list doesn't include every movie that Yorgo hosted on cause I didn't watch all of them.)