Soy Cuba (1964)

Director:

Mikhail Kalatozov

Writers:

Enrique Pineda Barnet (writer)
Yevgeni Yevtushenko (writer)(Cuban version)

Release Date:

December 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Four vignettes in Batista's Cuba dramatize the need for revolution; long, mobile shots tell almost wordless stories...

Plot Keywords:

Student | Farm | Sailor | Cuba | Revolution

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Sergio Corrieri	...	Alberto
Salvador Wood
José Gallardo	...	Pedro
Raúl García	...	Enrique
Luz María Collazo	...	Maria / Betty
Jean Bouise	...	Jim (in Cuban version) (as Jean Bouisse)
Alberto Morgan
Celia Rodriguez	...	Gloria (in Cuban version) (as Zilia Rodríguez)
Fausto Mirabal
Roberto García York	...	American activist
María de las Mercedes Díez
Bárbara Domínguez
Jesús del Monte		(as Isis del Monte)
Luisa María Jiménez	...	Teresa
Mario González Broche	...	Pablo (in Cuban version) (as Mario González)

Also Known As:

Я - Куба (Soviet Union: Russian title)
I Am Cuba
Me, Kuba (Soviet Union: Georgian title)
Ya Kuba (Soviet Union: Russian title)

Runtime:

141 min

Country:

Soviet Union | Cuba

Language:

Spanish | English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Brazil:18 | Italy:T (2005) | Singapore:PG | UK:PG | Finland:K-12 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Cuba

Company:

Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industrias Cinematográficos (ICAIC)

Trivia:

The now famous long take that begins at the top of the hotel, then winds around and down into the swimming pool, originally come out of the water and continued. The camera was hand held, passed from crew member to crew member, to make its way down the side of the hotel into the pool. The camera lens had been equipped with a high speed, spinning glass disk taken from a submarine periscope. The spinning disk was installed to fling water drops of the lens when the camera emerged from the swimming pool at the end of the shot. Much to the disappointment of the camera crew, director Mikhail Kalatozov cut the end of the take, ending it underwater.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Mariano repeatedly fires and cocks his bolt-action rifle, but no shell casings are ejected.

Quotes:

Pedro: I used to think the most terrifying thing in life is death. Now I know the most terrifying thing in life is life.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Boogie Nights (1997)

Swallow

This is my favorite piece of propoganda filmmaking -- and I'm remembering Reifenstahl when I write that -- but I think it's better than that kind of genre comparison implies. The film takes a Marxist look at the state of Cuba in 1964; it's episodic, and while the ideas expressed are nothing new, the film presents them so cinematically and with such overt fervor that it transcends its numbskull earnestness. There's nothing naive about it: this isn't the work of a starry-eyed naif, but rather a calculated piece of agitprop in which the Americans chew gum loudly and run their hands up the skirts of the innocent Cuban girls, and the blame for Cuba's woes is laid squarely on Batista's shoulders. But it believes itself, and the film, when it connects, is as powerful as anything you've ever seen. 10/10