I Am Cuba By Mikhail Kalatozov: Film Analysis

In the film I am Cuba, directed by Mikhail Kalatozov in 1964, consists of four short stories of suffering of Cuban people and their reaction to a rebellious march against the government. The narrator, described as the voice of cuba, shows how there is a great gap between the poor and wealthy in Cuba and is what sparked the revolution. In the first scenes, the contrast from the wealthy and poor is clearly defined as there are people who paddle down a river with poor quality lifestyles. Then, the screen shifts to a luxurious building rooftop with a pool and rich people celebrating a clothing show, taking pictures and enjoying liquor and the life of card games and sitting by the poolside.
The first story starts off showing the contrasting living

Pedro sends his children to the town to have fun while he sets everything on fire. He was so angry that another person told him to leave all of his life’s hard work. The third story describes a story of a rebellious college student named Enrique who wanted to do something drastic as a revolutionary. The police attempts at shutting the revolutionaries up but the more they tried to shut them down, the more the revolution grew stronger in riots. This shows social inequality in the face of the oppressed. The fourth and final part shows a farmer Mariano rejecting to participate in the revolution. Right after he rejects the suggestion, his home is destroyed and his son is killed by bombs sent by the government. He joins the rebels and leads them to Havana to proclaim the revolution. He was driven by anger towards the government, questioning their right to ruin his life and kill his son. Social inequality is what drove all conflicts within each one of these stories. The narrator continuously states that “I am Cuba” as in she/conflict/the history of the revolution/social inequality is what makes up the country