Soy Cuba / I Am Cuba (DVD)

*This is NOT a comic! But it's a wonder of movement and composition. 

By Mikhail Kalatozov. Published by Mr Bongo Films.

DVD, 140 minutes, 1.33:1 aspect ratio, B&W, 1964 

A prostitute solicits in a posh nightclub but lives in a derelict slum in Havana while a disenfranchised sugarcane farmer is driven to burn his precious produce in despair; an angst-ridden student ponders the use of violence as means of resistance and an apolitical peasant is driven to join Castro’s brigades. These four episodes, narrated by a woman who identifies herself as Cuba, chart the course of a nation’s fate from colonialist subjugation to popular revolution.

A Soviet-Cuban production, the film’s elaborately conceived and painstakingly choreographed camera set-ups are without parallel in film history. Initially commissioned as propaganda, its technical tour-de-force has made it a cult film; earning admiration from film-makers Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese.

"Some of the most exhilarating camera movements and most luscious black-and-white cinematography you'll ever see"- Chicago Reader

Cast & Crew: Sergio Corrieri / Salvador Wood / Jose Gallardo / Raul Garcia / Luz Maria Collazo / Jean Bouise / Alberto Morgan / Director: Mikhail Kalatozov / Screenplay: Yevgeny Yevtushenko / Cinematographer: Sergei Urusevsky 

Awards: Independent Spirit Awards (1996): Nominated, Best Foreign Film / National Society of Film Critics Awards, USA (1996): Won, Archival Award / Society of Camera Operators (1997): Won, Historical Shot

Technical: Origin: Cuba, Soviet Union / 1964 / Rated: PG / DVD 9-PAL multi-region / Mono / Black & White / Spanish with English Subtitles / Running time: 140 Mins

Licensed from AUDIOVISUALES ICAIC / Siberian Mammoth licensed from Grupo Novo Cinema e TV  / Marti Scorsese interview licensed from MK2.