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I Am Cuba
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I Am Cuba

I Am Cuba

1964
Drama, War
2h 21m
Four vignettes in Batista's Cuba dramatize the need for revolution; long, mobile shots tell almost wordless stories... (imdb)

Directed by:

Mikhail Kalatozov

Screenwriter:

Enrique Pineda Barnet, Yevgeni Yevtushenko

Starring:

Jean Bouise, Luz María Collazo, Sergio Corrieri, Salvador Wood, José Gallardo, Raúl García

Genres:

Drama, War, History, Music

AKAs:

Soy Cuba, Ya Kuba, Я Куба

Countries:

Cuba, Soviet Union

Languages:

English, Spanish
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I Am Cuba

1964
Drama, War
2h 21m
Your probable score
Ratings & Reviews Cast Collections Similar Stats Trailer
Avg Percentile 75.32% from 601 total ratings
Ratings & Reviews Cast Collections Similar Stats Trailer

Ratings & Reviews

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svan81svan81
Rated 14 Aug 2007
100
98th
I Am Cuba, directed by Mikheil Kalatozishvili, is a joint Soviet/Cuba propaganda film shot during the 1060s and lost into obscurity until famous American directors Martin Scorcese and Francis Ford Coppola rescured the film from oblivion. The film is a masterpiece of the cinema with some of the most breathtaking long takes ever captured on film and follows the lives multiple characters during the capitalist period of Batista Cuba.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
magbMagb
Rated 25 Jan 2007
80
61st
Best cinematography of all time? Certainly the best I've ever seen, by a wide margin. Easily a 10 out of 10 for the technical achievement. But then there's the content. The first two segments are heart-breaking and probably quite realistic, but in the second half the propaganda gets a bit much. On the whole, I'd say the first half is a 9 and the second half is a 7, which makes a (9+7)/2 = 8. Once again, math is victorious. Viva la math!
Rated 25 Jan 2007
paxtonPaxton
Rated 08 Jul 2024
80
77th
Hi, Cuba! I'm dad.
Rated 08 Jul 2024
danilolopesDanilolopes
Rated 30 Jul 2008
100
98th
Ok, it's pure propaganda, but man, it makes you feel like "Jesus, Cinema is just great!".
Rated 30 Jul 2008
kasperlKasperL
Rated 08 Jul 2011
80
86th
Let's get down to business: No matter how much praise you've heard of this movie's cinematography, the astonishing long-takes in this are likely to floor you. They easily live up to the hype. I'm probably rating Kalatozov's very accomplished film too low, considering his great ambition and skill, but that's simply because the loosely plotted story and political statements are of little interest to me, personally. But make no mistake, this is absolutely essential viewing.
Rated 08 Jul 2011
cinemahellcinema_hell
Rated 24 Aug 2008
98
97th
I don't mind if this is communist propaganda or not, this is amazing, frame after frame, a masterpiece! And it strikes you like a punch on the face. A propósito, seria bom que os fanáticos por Glauber Rocha aprendessem que isto sim é Cinema de verdade...
Rated 24 Aug 2008
mentaculusMentaculus
Rated 26 Apr 2019
97
97th
Just the sheer spectacle, the brazen audacity of every visual moment gave me heart palpitations. It leans into a peculiar feeling, a surrealism in the air, a lurid, dreamlike (or sometimes, nightmarish) quality to the characters and situations that I found just as dazzling as the shots - a place and a people strangely fated. It's quite literally poetry in motion.
Rated 26 Apr 2019
patslondonPats_London
Rated 03 Sep 2018
90
93rd
The cinematography is astounding and some of the shots are just extraordinary!!! Heartbreaking stories of poverty, inequality and corruption that made Batista's Cuba the back yard of greedy and obnoxious Americans. My favourite segment was the old, debt-ridden farmer; the weakest was the last, too propagandist one. The voice over text is pure poetry.
Rated 03 Sep 2018
henrikHenrik
Rated 11 Mar 2014
90
96th
Rivals Welles' Citizen Kane, Touch of Evil and Lady from Shanghai for the award for most virtuoso and flashy deep-focus cinematography. There's tons of aesthetic poetry to be found here that transcends it's propaganda origin. My favourite part was the old, debt-laden farmer in his sugar fields.
Rated 11 Mar 2014
actionbergActionberg
Rated 07 Mar 2012
90
92nd
Mikhail Kalatazov enslaves the camera and bends it to his insane, bizarre and brilliant will. This is motion. Each section is completely unique in its approach to the narrative, and succeeds every time in astounding fashion. From the weird meandering look at the sleazy Americans, to the tragic (and triumphant! Jesus, this movie) march towards armed conflict, this whole thing is so eclectically delectable. It's yet another classic bred by the uniqueness of Soviet cinema in the 50s and 60s.
Rated 07 Mar 2012
tjekhovTjekhov
Rated 07 Jul 2011
75
79th
Amazing cinematography - makes today's cinematographers seem obsolete.
Rated 07 Jul 2011
trixrabbiTrixRabbi
Rated 02 Jul 2011
88
95th
I Am Cuba takes the camera and throws it around in the air. Filled with long shots and acrobatic cinematography, I am legitimately puzzled as to how some of these shots were achieved in a single take. The stories in the film as well hold up strong, making for a forgotten classic.
Rated 02 Jul 2011
rufamRufam
Rated 17 Apr 2011
90
97th
The film that almost turned me into a communist. It's that good.
Rated 17 Apr 2011
alex_watkinsAlex Watkins
Rated 11 Sep 2010
5
91st
Blunt, broad propaganda in the form of melodrama, but infused with such a revolutionary, energetic spirit that it never becomes obnoxious (though I would say the third vignette was a bit heavy-handed). And what amazing, brilliant, bold, eye-popping technique. One of the absolute towering achievements in cinematography, bar-none.
Rated 11 Sep 2010
eveeluneveelun
Rated 22 Jun 2008
81
82nd
Gorgeous, stunning cinematography. The camera does things that will make your jaw drop. Unfortunately the stories suffer from heavy-handed politics. It's honestly not all that bad (all the stories except for maybe the last one have some narrative depth and interesting characterization), but there's definitely a huge drop in storytelling quality from The Cranes are Flying.
Rated 22 Jun 2008
martintellerMartinTeller
Rated 07 Feb 2007
84
81st
Pure propoganda, with four stories presenting different stages of revolution. It's not as ridiculous as Vertov's Three Songs of Lenin, but it's definitely not an even-handed film. You might as well watch it with the subtitles off, because what's dazzling about I Am Cuba is the phenomenal photography. As in The Cranes Are Flying, Kalatozov and Urusevsky do astonishing things with a camera. They go a little overboard with the dutch angles, but otherwise it's a wonder to behold.
Rated 07 Feb 2007
cambelcambel
Rated 20 Jan 2007
90
95th
Although it reduced the power of montage with long takes this one still has that unique Soviet vision of 30's. And it's a great experience. Even though it's a hard core propaganda film you never get annoyed.
Rated 20 Jan 2007
anilscnanilscn
Rated 23 Nov 2023
70
81st
senaryo kötü. bu çekim teknikleriyle, sol görüşle benden 100/100 alacak filmken tr dizileri gibi propaganda uğruna aşırı dramatize etmeleri tarihi fırsatı hiç etmiş. 90-95 li puanlara asla bu senaryo varken katılamıyorum.
Rated 23 Nov 2023
radumsmnradumsmn
Rated 25 Jan 2017
81
89th
The social propaganda movie Lubezki & Malick would have loved to shoot.
Rated 25 Jan 2017
malcymMalcym
Rated 24 Oct 2016
8
91st
Beautiful, haunting imagery - a broken old farmer watching his sugar crop burn, thousands of pamphlets fluttering over Havana - the camerawork here is dazzling. The four vignettes themselves are certainly engaging and moving, but its the unique visuals that will stay with you.
Rated 24 Oct 2016
suture_selfSuture Self
Rated 09 Sep 2016
8
80th
Beautiful and simple. This hardly registers as propaganda because of how simple it is. Like lisa- said, there ain't anything wrong with a leftist revolutionary spirit. Its main problem is its lack of depth, which makes almost every character on screen some kind of categorization or caricature. The Russian translator was also irritating. However, like everyone has already said a thousand times over, the camerawork is unreal. The tracking shots remind me of Lubezki.
Rated 09 Sep 2016
lisa_iilisa-
Rated 16 Jun 2015
6
83rd
as everyone else has said the cinematography is remarkable, the camera rolling and swerving all over the place. the vignette-style storytelling doesn't quite work, but it's mostly the photography that steals the show anyway.
Rated 16 Jun 2015
wetwillieswetwillies
Rated 09 Jul 2013
60
10th
This has what may very well be THE BEST camera shot of all time. Every shot in this movie is stunning, even more so when you put it into historical context. But the fact of the matter is, the rest of this is horribly lame. Plus, they thought it was a good idea to have a Russian guy talking over the whole movie translating into Russian which is annoying and vaguely terrifying.
Rated 09 Jul 2013
natebarriosnatebarrios
Rated 09 Apr 2012
75
75th
Sick tracking shawts dawg
Rated 09 Apr 2012
ebelcEbelC
Rated 06 Apr 2011
70
72nd
Technically is great, the use of the camera, the implication we feel thanks to it. But only the first half of this movie really works in the narrative aspect. Then, for the last two plots it's still great technically, and have great punctual scenes, but has no implication and looks just like the propaganda it is. There's a big difference in that aspect and really spoils the movie for me.
Rated 06 Apr 2011
slantmagSlantMag
Rated 17 Oct 2010
40
97th
"I Am Cuba is a cinephile's wet dream, a collage of Herculean feats of technical wizardry that would be easy to dismiss if it wasn't so humane." - Ed Gonzalez
Rated 17 Oct 2010
peaceanarchyPeaceAnarchy
Rated 12 Jul 2010
91
95th
As everyone else in their right mind has said and will say, this is stunningly beautiful. It is a bit heavy handed, but frankly not more than one would expect for series of stories of snippets from pre-revolutionary Cuba as the tension mounts and the eve of the revolution arrives. If the second half had been a little shorter it'd be perfect, as is it gets a bit repetitive towards the end but still very compelling.
Rated 12 Jul 2010
5thhobbit5thHobbit
Rated 03 Jan 2009
80
47th
The 80/100 is for cinematography alone. This is one of the most visually stunning films I have ever seen, but the communist propaganda got tiresome and distracting by the end. As I recall, the storylines that didn't deal heavily with politics were all interesting, but unfortunately they're not what stuck with me.
Rated 03 Jan 2009
kafka1325kafka1325
Rated 14 Nov 2008
74
91st
Maybe one of the best visual movies ever! And it going by hand with many stories but one or two ruined perfect row...
Rated 14 Nov 2008
emtiltemtilt
Rated 16 Dec 2007
81
84th
The cinematography is perfect.
Rated 16 Dec 2007
nathanbatesNathanBates
Rated 06 Jun 2024
80
78th
Short review, because I've got to go join up with a revolution. This film doesn't hide the fact that it's (ever-increasing) propaganda through four stories of "ordinary" Cubans, all of whom get the short stick (or worse) from the then-ruling system. The beauty here is in all the dynamic camera shots (although the sugarcane one made me a little seasick) and titled angles. The dubbing, though, is worse than those 70s kung fu flicks. Must-see for film lovers.
Rated 06 Jun 2024
carlosproCarlospro
Rated 24 Apr 2024
90
97th
que deleite
Rated 24 Apr 2024
babaracusbabaracus
Rated 14 May 2023
10
98th
it starts slow but picks up in the second half, the ending is a huge payoff
Rated 14 May 2023
ohmessylifeohmessylife
Rated 20 Jan 2023
3
42nd
An innovatively made and horribly acted piece of propaganda.
Rated 20 Jan 2023
psimpsim
Rated 09 Nov 2022
60
12th
I only watched the first 10 minutes but life in Pre-revolution Cuba seems great! (okay I did watch the whole thing, but the opening and closing tracking shots were the real highlights in an otherwise much too long and shakily acted propaganda picture)
Rated 09 Nov 2022
st_bernaSt. Berna
Rated 19 Oct 2022
97
98th
Konunun tarihsel önemi bi yana, kamera kullanımı, görüntü estetiği ve çekim teknikleri yönünden zamanının çok ötesinde, teknik olarak gerçekten üst düzey bir film. Yıllardır ertelemekle ne büyük hata etmişim. Ertelemeyiniz.
Rated 19 Oct 2022
mrcimrci
Rated 09 Sep 2022
70
67th
Stunning visuals and music, masterpiece in the first hour. Looses focus with too much revolution propaganda. Some scenes are extraordinary and some were shot on an infrared reel.
Rated 09 Sep 2022
shockularSHOCKULAR
Rated 22 Aug 2022
91
95th
If you can get past the pro-communist, pro-Castro messaging (understandable since it was made by a Soviet director at the height of the Cold War), this is an absolutely magnificent film and piece of propaganda. I have no idea how they achieved many of the shots--the tracking shot during the funeral procession, the tracking shot including the underwater shots especially stand out. The propaganda is strong but not as much as some of the old Eisensteins, which makes it much more effective.
Rated 22 Aug 2022
overratedoverrated
Rated 11 May 2021
57
59th
So palm trees look amazing in b&w infrared and you've got perhaps the greatest single tracking shot in cinema history, but the propaganda is so blatant it detracts from any kind of emotional connection - similar to how I remember Battleship Potemkin.
Rated 11 May 2021
djrossdjross
Rated 06 May 2021
60
63rd
Half expected to see Hyman Roth in the first scenes, and disappointed not to hear the "Rebels Are We" song from BANANAS (and SLEEPER!) in the final scenes, but it's worth it anyway for the flag shot in between. Nevertheless, despite how good it looks, and how attractive some of the actors are, it never escapes its limitations. Maybe it would have been better with no dialogue at all.
Rated 06 May 2021
caspiancaspian
Rated 27 Oct 2020
82
63rd
the photography in this film is jaw-dropping... when the story veers into propaganda territory, the cinematography similarly dropped off in quality
Rated 27 Oct 2020
darrenDarren
Rated 26 Sep 2020
90
92nd
Too many non communists like this movie for it to be truly good on a political level. But as filmmaking it's quite quite good. Right up my alley
Rated 26 Sep 2020
fredericg54frederic_g54
Rated 08 Sep 2019
8
78th
To give you an idea of how insanely good the camera work is, I must've taken my phone out at least twice to snap a picture of one of the many amazing shots this film had to offer. With such distinct, almost fastidious approach to framing and composition, I wasn't surprised at all to find out its DP Sergey Urusevsky was a photography enthusiast. Not every segment leaves an equally lasting impression, something I think a tighter edit could've fixed, but as a whole, Soy Cuba is essential viewing.
Rated 08 Sep 2019
ottott
Rated 06 Nov 2018
97
98th
proletarians of all countries, unite!
Rated 06 Nov 2018
larmorlarmor
Rated 28 Jul 2018
94
98th
The creativity with the camera movements is awesome. The choreography of each scene is mesmerizing. The only modern equivalent to Kalatozov is Belà Tarr. I'm completely down with the underlying ideology of the movie (except the hint at prostitution-shaming in the first part). First part is for liberals, second part for the radical left. If you liked the first part but not the second, I got bad news for you. Overall, I Am Cuba is the perfect hat-trick: cinematography, politics and poetry.
Rated 28 Jul 2018
moncliviemonclivie
Rated 31 Dec 2017
50
12th
The camera is doing unusual things, but it doesn't make it more interesting nor less naive.
Rated 31 Dec 2017
astrakhanastrakhan
Rated 13 Mar 2017
71
20th
Many may call it an important film; my main takeaway is that it's way longer and slower than I felt it needed to be - a serious detriment to the story and message.
Rated 13 Mar 2017
staryarabbistaryarabbi
Rated 14 Nov 2016
85
88th
One of the best formalist achievements in the history of cinema. Its like Soviet formalism minus Eisenstein's dialectical montage plus Third cinema with long shots and wide angels. Every formal choice directly translates to a feeling and meaning, which is, regarding the poor content, is phenomenal. Kalatazov refreshed my belief in inventiveness in cinematic language. Great!
Rated 14 Nov 2016
itbspodcastITBSPodcast
Rated 26 Oct 2015
100
0th
"To me the star is the 9.8 millimeter lens." http://illusionpodcast.blogspot.com/2015/10/episode-74-unedited-commentary-track.html
Rated 26 Oct 2015
snallygastersnallygaster
Rated 28 Mar 2014
75
84th
Not sure I'm up to a summary for this one but the cinematography is brilliant and lyrical and it might be the most enjoyable example of "revolutionary film" I can think of.
Rated 28 Mar 2014
lepraLepra
Rated 20 Feb 2014
65
24th
Beautiful cinematography, but not much else.
Rated 20 Feb 2014
nepetaNepeta
Rated 24 Feb 2013
90
90th
Based purely on cinematographic grounds I am Cuba is perfection - this features some of the most thrilling camerawork you will ever see. The patriotism in the second half sours it a tiny bit, but not majorly so, and the first half is moving and damn near devastating at times.
Rated 24 Feb 2013
theyshoot11theyshoot11
Rated 30 Nov 2011
76
52nd
#481
Rated 30 Nov 2011
whitejeftwhitejeft
Rated 28 Jul 2011
98
96th
Beautiful propaganda.
Rated 28 Jul 2011
eadwinneadwinn
Rated 24 Jul 2011
100
96th
A lush, poetic propaganda piece, conceived in virtuoso cinematography -- every shot in the film is like a little miracle...
Rated 24 Jul 2011
by_devolby Devol
Rated 02 Mar 2011
81
78th
I'm glad there aren't too many films like this to rank because it's hard to come up with a balanced rating for a film that has an insane disparity between writing and production values.
Rated 02 Mar 2011
theyshoot10theyshoot10
Rated 14 Jan 2010
77
54th
464
Rated 14 Jan 2010
theyshoot08theyshoot08
Rated 19 Dec 2008
78
56th
446
Rated 19 Dec 2008
theyshoot07theyshoot07
Rated 02 Mar 2008
63
40th
# 748
Rated 02 Mar 2008
vincentevincente
Rated 09 Nov 2007
78
66th
null
Rated 09 Nov 2007

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