Top 100 greatest films

I just saw this film a few days ago and do not claim to be an expert, but i'll try to convey what i though the general message was. Essentially the movie was intended to remind Cubans, and I guess Russians as well (though I'm not sure why they should care) that the revolution that had occured five years before was the greatest thing to happen in Cuba's history. It does so by depicting the worst aspects of the military dictatorship of Batista, who was basically a thug whose job was to ensure that business ran smoothly for the mob and corporate america in Cuba, which had an economy that revolved around a single resource: sugar. The brothel scenes symbolize the collective rape of colonial Cuba by foreign interests, and of course this sort of thing did go on, and likely still does since Cuba is still a fairly patriarchical society for all its supposed socialst values. This sexual theme is continued with the drunken US sailors claim that no woman in Guantanamo ever turns them down. The sugar cane field scenes are really the core of the film. The harvesting sequences are in the tradition of promoting the ideal of the nobility of physical labour (a soviet hallmark) and its sale to the United Fruit Company, whose nefarious activites are well documented, represents again the usurpation of the right for Cubans to self-determination and prosperity. I was amazed by the sugar cane fire sequence, quite possibly one of the greatest achievments in the history of cinematography for its sheer technical brilliance and also its cathartic power. Later on the death of a student protester completes the series of the three archytypal martyrs of the revolution: the prostitute (who represents more than just women), the peasant and the intellectual. The film ends just as the revolution is on the brink of overthrowing Batista with Fidel and his conscripts fighting in the Sierra Maestra mountains. It is compelling propaganda made with great energy and conviction and I think its overall message is that Cuba was once a colonial vassal to the US and now, thanks to the revolution, is free of these shackles and progressing towards socialist utopia. Of course, as with all propaganda one must view it with a critical eye, but the depiction of the Batista era is accurate even if you don't agree with the conferring of sainthood on Fidel Castro. I hope this was interesing for you, it was for me.

The message is that everyone is Cuba who lives in a capitalist society that oppresses the many for the benefit of the few, some or many of whom are foreigners with a financial interest in your country.

A bird sings and the mountain's silence deepens.