I must admit, this is my first experience with a Russian propaganda film. Honestly, I didn't know what to expect. Willing and able, I was ready to be bored to death with trivial political matters, textbook film-making, and passionless stories. As the film closed, I did witness some of the aspects that I was expecting. The stories needed to be further developed and the politics of Cuba needed to be explained instead of countering with the mythological island conveying its heartfelt feelings
yet there was something compelling about this film. The cinematography was brilliant. From the opening sweeping scene of the island to the dramatic walk through the streets of Cuba, I was captivated by the beauty that filmmaker Mikheil Kalatozishvili chose to explore while making this film. Without caring about the stories, you could easily be swept away by the sheer enjoyment of the camera work with this film. Kalatozishvili was that impressive. He reminded me of a mix between Jarmusch and Lynch and a sprinkle of Stone (Oliver that is).
Soy Cuba was like watching a one sided debate, which works when creating a propaganda film. I know very little about the history of Cuba, or the regime in place prior to Castro, but I needed to see more of that in this film. I needed a bit of history, a little less overly played drama, and more "true" stories. If this is a Moore-like propaganda film, I have no doubt that Russia could pull true stories from the people of Cuba and recreate those instances. I do believe that what we witnessed were somewhat true, but overly exaggerated. If prostitution was an understandable and common, not respected, form of employment, than why would the "boyfriend" be upset? If sugar was such a priceless commodity, why didn't the landowner take that before selling the property? If the Cuban police force was that corrupt, would you feel that these students would have a secondary plan in place? Finally, the peaceful villager who wants to fight to end the war seemed a bit too bold to be honest. There just seemed to be a sense of drama surrounding these stories. Again, I suppose that you need them to create a true propaganda film, but would you not agree that a debater discussing the horrors of abortion by just telling stories after stories would not fully convey the point without some moments of history. In Soy Cuba, there needed to be more of these points. There needed to be facts, there needed to be honesty, and there needed to be a stronger divide between drama and truth. I believe that what Cuba was experiencing was terrifying, but I needed stronger evidence to support it. From an outside viewer looking in, I wanted to be persuaded. By the end of this film, I was not.
I am a stern believer in skipping the special features of a DVD because those should not sell me on the film. It should be the film itself that is good, not necessarily the quality of the excess features. In past reviews, I have not mentioned the quality of the DVD because I want to have the film speak for itself. For Soy Cuba, I will break from this tradition, but just this once. The quality of this DVD is poor. I am not speaking of the transfer from film to DVD (which is not half bad), but it is the choice to use both Russian and Spanish dubbing with English subtitles throughout the entire film. I found no way to turn this off. Whenever a character had to speak in Spanish, we were bombarded with both the subtitles and the Russian dub over the voice. After the first fifteen minutes, this became extremely annoying. In fact, it takes away from the strength of the film. By the end of the two hours, you are either confused because you couldn't catch everything the characters were speaking, or you have a headache from trying to keep it. It was embarrassing.
One cannot finish a review of this film without again stating the strength of the cinematography. Very few films seem to capture the beauty of a land, no matter if it is being torn apart by a government, or getting ready for a Russian rule. Soy Cuba accomplished the impossible and gave this beautiful island the cinematography it deserved. I mentioned before the sweeping opening shot, but the infamous "top of the hotel to the pool shot" kept me breathless. It was so impressive to the craftsmanship of the camera come into play with this film. You could tell there was heart and passion behind the camera, I just only wish there was more demonstration of that passion in front of the camera.
Overall, the cinematography cannot stand alone. I thought long and hard about this film, and while I thought that Cuba was beautifully captured on film, the stories themselves did not stand up well over time. I also had major concerns about the lack of dedication to the DVD. The horrendous dubbing and painful translation was enough to churn the strongest of stomachs. With all of these points going against it, I do not think it is a film I could sit through again. There is a scene in the film where a man is boating down the river dodging your typical "rivery" obstacles, slowly taking his time as our "island" narrates some truths that are unknown. This scene best summarizes this film. Soy Cuba was slow, overly dramatic, and avoiding as many obstacles as possible that would have transformed this film into a stronger film. The only plus I can give it is the cinematography. Those interested in filming film need to see this movie, otherwise a National Geographic special would do better.
Grade: ** out of *****
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