I Am Cuba: The Ultimate Edition (1995)

DVD Details: USSR/Cuba, 1964, 141 minutes, Color, Region 0, NTSC, Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0, Optional English subtitles, In Spanish and Russian; Special Features of this 3-disc deluxe box set: DISC 1: New high-definition transfer of the feature film from original Russian 35mm fine grain interpositive; video interview with Academy Award®-winning director Martin Scorsese; language tracks in both Spanish and Russian with new English subtitles; Cuban version of opening credits; original Milestone trailer; stills gallery; DISC 2: THE SIBERIAN MAMMOTH, Vicente Ferraz's award-winning documentary on the making of I AM CUBA (2005. 91 mins. Color/B&W. Portuguese, Spanish & Russian with English subtitles.); City Cinematheque's Jerry Carlson interviews screenwriter Yevgeny Yevtushenko (2004. 10 minutes. Color. English); DISC 3: A FILM ABOUT MIKHAIL KALATOZOV, a comprehensive documentary on this giant of Russian cinema (2006. 120 mins. Color/B&W. English & Russian with English subtitles); PLUS scene selections; I AM CUBA: THE TRUE STORY, a booklet on the making of the film and its history since then.

A fever dream, a plunging rollercoaster ride, a cinematographer's hallucination, a love song to the power of cinema. Welcome to I AM CUBA, the film rediscovery that has changed filmmaking forever in a new deluxe edition! Director Mikhail Kalatozov (THE CRANES ARE FLYING) and cinematographer Sergei Urusevsky's hybrid offspring of Soviet orthodoxy and Cuban tropicalismo is a film of dazzling contrasts. In four intertwining stories of the revolution, Urusevsky's acrobatic camera takes the viewer on a dizzying ride through smoky nightclubs and rooftop pool parties, rickety shantytowns and rustling sugarcane fields, student protest rallies and remote guerilla outposts. I AM CUBA culminates in the most gorgeously filmed funeral procession of all time, as the camera floats through a cigar factory and hovers high above the narrow streets of Havana. A whirling dance through the sensuous decadence of Batista's Cuba, I AM CUBA: THE ULTIMATE EDITION is a cinephile's dream come true. Product Description

Great Doc on the Making of the Film

The doc accompanying the restored film is really terrific. In it, it was great to see contemporary Cuba's reaction to the film and also the participants and how they'd aged. I like the docs a bit more than the film but there is not denying the incredible power of the 'poetic' soviet style on display here. The camerawork, as everyone mentions, is often incredible - simply fantastic. The lighting design is evocative and provocative. What lingers, ultimately, for me, is the least appreciated aspect of the film: the story. Seeing 'Americans' depicted thru a soviet prism in a film about the Cuban revolution was quite arresting. While the price for this boxed set is fairly steep, given the somewhat obscure nature of this film (and supporting documentaries,) I'd have to say it's worth it. A unique film and film experience. Whew, I want to see more 'soviet realism' if it's up to these visual standards. September 7, 2008

Iam Cuba de-constructed

This 'propaganda documentary' is an excellent example in that genre, BUT THIS IS NOT Cuba in the late 50s! It is no piece of factual history, but a fictional re-creation and re-invention of Cuba in 1958. It was filmed in 1964, by a Russian master of black and white photography, and this aspect of the film makes it visually rewarding and even beautiful.
But be warned!, the content is pure propaganda for Castro's tale of what took place in Cuba before '59. The politics of the film are NAIVE, and never beyond the depth of a political pamphlet.
It was filmed in 1963-64, in a Havana already in the grip of Castro and his Russian allies, barely two years after the Missile Crisis. The "American" tourists in the film are in reality Russian and Eastern European actors from the Soviet-Bloc behind the Iron Curtain and the Berlin Wall. It is almost a political caricature, and a lesson in the art of cinematic fantasy and deception. But in a time when Che Guevara t-shirts and lighters sell well, and for the consumption of a fossilized 'left' who still wants to believe there is a revolution going on in Cuba (and not 50 years of squalor in a police-state), this piece of 'beautiful mythology' will do for "history". Specially when you don't have to live the end-result of these past 50 years, as your only REALITY! July 2, 2008

EXCELLENT MOVIE

These two children growing up in today's Cuba represent many stories that happen around the world. The migration and separation is a subject that is all too common in many places which distance friendships and families. The movie was done in a very playfull and innocent view of Jorgito and Malu that try to stay together no matter what. Their jurney across Cuba is interesting and sometimes predictable but mostly entertaining. January 20, 2008

The Ultimate Edition contains SCRATCHED discs.

I received The Ultimate Edition as a Christmas gift from my wife from Amazon. Considering Amazon always packs their products quite well, the I AM CUBA box came in perfect shape. Inside, however, two of the three discs had come loose in their slim cases and are scratched. I took the advice of the Milestone representative who responded to the complaints about scratched discs on this very amazon page and emailed Milestone video to inquire about a replacement. They have still not returned my email. As great as this film is, please know that you will not be paying for perfect discs when you purchase this item. January 17, 2008

Revolutionary filmmaking at it's best

The first two scenes alone are worth the price of admission! The camera work as it floats on the river, past huts and under foot bridges and then immediately to the rock and roll on the roof! Incredible filmmaking. Some scenes may be naive or melodramatic but the totality of it is so beautiful and inspiring. It is one of the best films I have seen in the past ten years.
The total Milestone package is great and puts the story and the film in context. Why hadn't this masterpiece been seen sooner? is answered in 'the Siberian Mammoth' documentary. Liked the interview with Yevtushenko as it adds some political background.
Thanks to Coppola and Scorsese for their artistic generousity in promoting this film.
January 15, 2008

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