More than 40 years has passed since Mikhail Kalatozov made I Am Cuba, his 1964 masterpiece. A rare co-production between Mosfilm and Fidel Castro’s new state-run ICAIC, the film underperformed on release but has endured by reputation as cinema’s Great Lost Text. Unearthed for a Kalatozov retrospective at the 1992 Telluride Film Festival and since released in the US, Communist agitprop’s most cherished hymnal finally comes to us looking as fresh and innovative as it did four decades ago.
The astonishing, often supernatural camerawork makes you think the Silver Surfer was manning the lens. Watching the famous long take that begins at the top of the hotel, then winds down into the swimming pool (the camera was passed along a daisy-chain of crewmembers) you can see how I Am Cuba impacted on the work of Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola, both of whom have presided over this release.
The film’s sense of outrage remains as keen as the visuals. Multiple plotlines recreate Cuba under Batistuta’s regime – a place where young girls become playthings for visiting Americans and farmers can be displaced at the behest of United Fruits with no compensation. The revolutionary romance culminates with a surging throng of students rising up in support of Castro’s rebel war.
Revolution doesn’t get more romantic. Even those uncomfortable with the notion of propaganda playing art will be blown away.
141mins. Opens September 22.