This study of Cuba--partially written by renowned poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko--captures the island just before it made the transition to a post-revolutionary society. Moving from city to country and back again, I AM CUBA examines the various problems caused by political oppression as well as by great discrepancies in wealth and power. Beginning in Havana in the pre-Castro era, we see how foreigners contributed to the city's prostitution and poverty; this sequence features dreamy, hallucinogenic camera work that creates a feeling of unease and dislocation. Then, in glorious images of palm tress and fertile land, the film looks at the sugar cane fields in the countryside, and the difficulties faced by peasants working the land. Finally, back in the city again, leftist students battle the police and a corrupt government--and pay a high price for their rebellion.

Production Budget Analysis

The production budget for I Am Cuba (1964) has not been publicly disclosed.

CAST: Sergio Corrieri, Salvador Wood, José Gallardo, Raúl García, Luz María Collazo, Jean Bouise DIRECTOR: Mikhail Kalatozov CINEMATOGRAPHY: Sergei Urusevsky MUSIC: Carlos Fariñas PRODUCTION: ICAIC, Mosfilm

Box Office Performance

Theatrical box office data is not publicly available for I Am Cuba (1964). This may indicate a limited release, direct-to-streaming, or a release predating modern box office tracking.

Profitability Assessment

Insufficient publicly available data to assess profitability.

INDUSTRY IMPACT

PRODUCTION NOTES

▸ Production

Shortly after the 1959 Cuban Revolution overthrew the United States-backed dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, the socialist Castro government, isolated by the United States after the latter broke diplomatic and trade relations in 1961, turned to the USSR in many areas, including for film partnerships. The Soviet government, interested in promoting international socialism, and perhaps in need to further familiarize itself with its new ally, agreed to collaborate with the Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográficos (ICAIC), and finance a film about the Cuban revolution. Shooting began on February 26, 1963.

The director was given considerable freedom to complete the work, and was given much help from both the Soviet and Cuban governments. Among his inspirations for the project was Sergei Eisenstein's unfinished ¡Que viva México!, another Soviet project about a post-revolutionary Latin American nation. Then it stops and slowly moves upwards for at least four storeys until it is filming the flagged body from above a building. Without stopping, it then starts tracking sideways and enters through a window into a cigar factory, then goes straight towards a rear window where the cigar workers are watching the procession. The camera finally passes through the window and appears to float along over the middle of the street between the buildings. These shots were accomplished with a cable device.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

Summary: 2 wins & 1 nomination total

CRITICAL RECEPTION

Despite its dazzling technical and formal achievements receiving excellent support, and the participation of the renowned team of Soviet cinematographers Mikhail Kalatozov and Sergei Urusevsky (winners of the 1958 Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or for The Cranes are Flying, another virtuosistic art film, and also in the midst of the Cold War), the movie was given a rather cold reaction by audiences. In Havana it was criticized for showing a stereotypical view of Cubans, and in Moscow it was considered naïve, not sufficiently revolutionary, even too sympathetic to the lives of the bourgeois, pre-Castro classes.

The film was shot during a period of relatively uneasy relations between Cuba and the Soviet Union. The recently concluded Cuban Missile Crisis had ended with Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev removing its missiles from the island without consulting Cuban leader Fidel Castro, which opened a period of disagreements between the nations over revolutionary strategy.

The movie never reached Western countries during its original release, being a communist production in the midst of the Cold War era during the United States embargo against Cuba.

Up until the 1990s, the film was relatively unknown to the general public both locally and internationally. This changed when Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola subsequently began to promote the film after it came to their attention. Their love for the film differed from the public opinion at the time as critics called it emotionally dragged out and lacking in sophistication film wise. Others thought that the actual filming of the movie was chaotic and brought the audience close to fainting.