From Cuba on film to Che-Guevara from outer space in 3-D

Mladen, Kalpić

Kultura

126-2

192

205

0023-5164

http://scindeks.ceon.rs/article.aspx?query=ISSID%26and%269081&page=0&sor...

2010-2021/06/18/08:53:49

This text briefly summarizes the Cuban relationship to the film art and the way it is represented in Hollywood films. Researching political appearance of Cuba on film from 1897 when film crews started to work there until today, including mentioning local Cuban film masterpieces such as 'I Am Cuba' and Cuba's prominent presentation in famous American blockbusters like 'Godfather Part II' and 007 films. From Cuban most popular cartoon hero (also a revolutionary) to Oliver Stone's screenplay for 'Scareface' and his interview with Fidel Castro are individual examples of many interesting fascettes of well traced propagandic ways to be seen of film use from both confronted sides of the cold war curtain concerning this hot island. Western understanding of Cuba as untaming exotic island out of our time is compared here with the western admiration of Japanese culture in the similar way because of it's great diversity from the American culture and often historical-political disagreements with the USA. For the coda the imaginary 3-d world of a far, far away planet Pandora from the newest James Cameron blockbuster film 'Avatar' is used here to stress the profound meaning of a lone island in the (space) sea that raises it's head and it's arms against repressive corporative system. Looking how much guerilla troops that defeat the USA marines have similarity to Che-Guevara and his comrades we can only conclude that po(p)litical obsession with Cuba and it's imaginary echoes is far away from Hollywood and nowadays even more highly raised on meta physical level of 3-d science fiction.