I Am Cuba (Mikhail Kalatozov, 1964) November 20, 2010

Filmed by the great Russian director Mikhail Kalatozov (The Cranes are Flying), I AM CUBA is an epic poem to Communist kitsch—a whirling, feverish dance through the sensuous decadence of Batista’s Havana and the grinding poverty and oppression of the Cuban people. In four main stories showing the rise of the revolution, Kalatozov’s astonishingly acrobatic camera takes the viewer on a rapturous roller-coaster ride of bathing beauties, landless peasants and student revolutionaries. Presented by Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese. 35mm restored print.