There is a fine line between translucent propaganda and those films that are truly riveting and inspirational. Mikhail Kalatozishvili's I am Cuba is one of these truly revolutionary propaganda films of 1960's Communist society.
Through a series of episodic events, Sergei Urusevsky uses his revolutionary hand held video recording techniques to illustrate Cuba's progression from the demeaning and detrimental influences of Western society to an all-out inspirational view of the 'people power' mentality Cuba's people took to redefine and restructure the island and government. Contrasting the extravagances, comforts and luxurious lifestyles of the wealthy and upper class government officials with the staggering and austerity of the poor working class people, Kalatozishvili inspires his viewers to see the flaws of Western societal ways. By doing this, he effectively plants a communistic methodology into his viewers, encouraging them to throw out the materialistic attitudes corrupting government and reinvigorating them to favor the capable views of society set forth by Fidel Castro years earlier.
Kalatozishvili uses music to his favor in I am Cuba to further contrast materialistic and all-are-equal societies. Using bright stylistic sounds of jazz and the attractive imaging of well-to-do women dancing in aesthetically pleasing backgrounds, he forces resentment and jealousy into the poor working class' minds. At the same time, he uses soft, somber music in setting the mood for scenes that illustrate the revolutionaries' heartaches. To inspire the viewers, he uses patriotic songs sung solemnly, allowing the real voices of the revolutionaries to reverberate through the streets.
Kalatozishvili also uses many symbols to subliminally affect the thoughts of his viewers. One instance of this is his use of the white dove, a universal symbol of peace. The government officials shoot a dove and it falls to the ground, showing the materialistic government to be the end of peace. The revolutionaries, favoring the communistic ideology, then pick up the dove and carry it in front of them, illustrating their attempts to bring peace in the midst of corruptness. The materialistic government then shuts them out by using water hoses to control the crowd and keep the "peace" out.
Overall, there is a great appreciation for Kalatozishvili's methodology and his subtle propaganda techniques to inspire such an impoverished people against the corruptness and injustices introduced by Western society.
