I am Cuba [4K UHD]

I am Cuba [4K UHD]

Studio: The Criterion Collection

April 22, 2024
Web Exclusive

By Joey Arnone
Photo from The Criterion Collection

by Mikhail Kalatozov I am Cuba (1964) is an important piece of film history and a criminally overlooked film. A production between the USSR and Cuba, the film did not fare well in either country, remaining in obscurity for several decades before a screening of the film at the Telluride Film festival in 1992 changed the trajectory of the film's impact forever. Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola spearheaded the restoration of the film, and it was given a theatrical re-release and critical reappraisal in 1995.

Sixty years after its release, I am Cuba is a landmark film that is both typically daring and radically political. In four stories, we follow several Cubans and bear witness to their plight as an omnipotent narrator (credited as “the voice of Cuba”) depicts the state of the country.

The first story centers around a prostitute named Maria and depicts the contrast between the squalid conditions of Cuban citizens compared to the rich and exotic lifestyles of upper-class Americans who inhabit the country's bars and clubs. In this sequence we get the first of many thrilling and dizzying shots presented in the film, the first of which begins on a rooftop where a beauty pageant is being held, scaling the entire building before descending into the pool.

The cinematography of Sergei Urushevsky is undoubtedly one of the most impressive of the 20th century. The visual stunts featured throughout the film beautifully shape our perception of the events taking place. Similar to Urushevsky's 1957 Palme d'Or winner Kalatozov Cranes are flyingthe camera is almost a character itself, giving the film an inherently rebellious personality.

The film is full of bravado long shots, in which the camera whips and pans around the given environment, exploring the crevices of every situation it finds itself in. Perhaps the film's most famous moment is a funeral procession in the third story, where the body of a university student is carried through the streets as the camera continuously follows a building, passes through a window, and finally hovers above the streets as thousands of protesters march alongside the Cuban flag.

Interestingly, once the film was completed, many members of the crew were not satisfied with the final product. In the feature-length Brazilian documentary included on Criterion's physical release, I Am Cuba: The Siberian Mammoth (director Vicente Ferraz), many crew members complained that they felt that the use of voice in the film was excessive and that the film's image preceded its content. It would take the collapse of the USSR to finally rediscover the film, and since then a new appreciation for this revolutionary behemoth would emerge.

Criterion's new, 4K edition of this extraordinary film also features perspectives from directors Bradford Young and Martin Scorsese, who infuse their own personal experiences of what the film means to them, noting the cultural significance of the latter half century. I am Cuba it's a molotov of a film that demands to be seen for its bombastic portrayal of a country on the brink of revolution. For cinephiles who haven't seen it I am Cubayou owe it to yourself to see one of the most free-spirited, revolutionary films ever shot in stunning 4K resolution.

(www.criterion.com/films/33466-i-am-cuba)