#180: I Am Cuba

Directed by: MIKHEIL KALATOZISHVILI
1964, TSPDT Rank #464

As I look back on the other films I've reviewed here so far, I find in shock that this is the foreign film featured in the blog. I usually love watched films from all over the place, it just so happened that I had been watching a long string of American films. Well, I Am Cuba was a joint production of Cuba and the USSR, but what truly matters is that this is a great film. The images here are incredible - it's a visual rollercoaster, filled with sumptous sights and beautifully composed shots. In short, it's a feast for the eyes. Looking at the film from another standpoint, it consists of four vignettes set before Castro's revolution (the film was made during his reign), all of which are deceptively simple, poetic, and filled with great communist spirit. I can somewhat sympathize with communism in theory anyway, but the film does a fine job of leaning you toward that feeling even if you are very much against the idea of communism (although, if that's the case, this probably isn't the best film to watch). So you may say you are being manipulated, and in that you would be right. But isn't that essentially the point of every film, to prove a point, or try to have us believe or realize something that the director has to say? Especially many of the films made here in the U.S. during World War II, I don't see how you could look on those and not realize most of them as very strong pro-American propaganda. But all politics aside, this is a great film well worth watching for those with a taste for somewhat obscure cinema, and an open mind when addressing the films message.

(Rating: 9/10)