Does anyone know the correct (original) aspect ratio of "I Am Cuba"? On this page it's only labeled as "35 mm" - which could be ANY aspect ratio, of course!
I really NEED to see this film but I wanted to make sure whether the aspect ratio of the U.S. DVD (1 : 1,33) is accurate.
[deleted]
Yeah GregoryT, the Russian is on there, I guess they had a Russian narrator instead of Russian subtitles, I don't think people back then wanted to read a movie. It's kinda weird hearing Spanish, English and Russian and then having English subtitles. Is the sound on your copy a little off or do I have a defective copy? Peace.
shareJust saw this in theater, and the correct aspect ratio should be 1 : 1,33.
Now on to the russion "dubbing", in Russia movies are never subbed but kinda narrated even today. I have checked this by flyning with aeroflot, the russian airline company, there was a french movie and it was "narrated".
It's not really narration, it's more like dubbing but with only one voice actor.
Actually, most foreign movies ARE dubbed in Russia. What you saw on Aeroflot is called "dubbing by a company that's too poor to hire more than one voice actor". :P There was a long period in the mid-90s when Russia was too poor to afford decent dubbing for most films (this applied even to foreign tv shows; through the mid-90s the dubbing gradually became worse and worse).
shareI've been wondering this too-- having seen it at the Castro theater back when, it sure felt bigger than 1:1.33, but that could've been the dazzling cinematography fooling me. Anyway, I found the DVD used & couldn't resist, & there's no noticeable clipping-- the way the credits are layed out even makes a case for 1:1.33, as they'd be oddly bunched in the middle if the ratio were wider.
Wish I had more for you-- anyone tried e-mail Image Entertainment about this? Or heck, even a theater that played it back when it had its run might recall--
I saw this on the Boogie Nights posting and the 1.33/1 ratio is the original. I've never seen this and can't find it to rent, should I just buy it? Peace.
shareIt's definitely no wider. I just saw it in the theater (it was just rereleased in Paris) and I was struck by how gorgeous the cinematography was despite how square the image was.
shareThere is a cuban version of the film without the russian dubbing-narration. But apparently it is impossible to find it in the US.
shareIt's definely square, I watched in Cuban TV, and in France ARTE TV and in both was the copy whithout the russian "voice over", It's a shame the DVD released has it, this is one of the most spectacular exercises done with cinema language, technique, visual possibilities and everything else you can imagine can be printed into a 35mm piece of film.
I am cuban myself, and when I saw it, I said to myself: "This guy is allucinating, he is looking to Havana as if it was New York city, wich I believe it was to him, if we compare both Cuba and Russia at those times, we where more than up to date, we were the hipe, the US lab."
Just another movie experience come to my mind more incredible than this one, and comes casually by the same hand of F.F.Coppola it was Napoleon from Abel Ganz, he launched the restored and re-constructed 4 hours version in the Havana's Film Festival, in the "Karl Marx" Theather (5000 sits) who has a 40-50 mts. screen, his father Carmine conducted the Cuban Philarmonic for those 4 hours. F.F.Coppola use the three projectors that where intended to project this crazy and visionary masterpiece, and at the end they where dressed separately with the blue, red, and white filters for the final scene, I can't express in words what is like to be aloud to have the pleasure of being a part of such a thing, for my was like being in the middle of the creation of cinema.
is your last name really betancourt?
share[deleted]
The French DVD has the original track without the narrating. The picture is far more better than the american DVD, but no english subtitles...
share1:33
shareYes, it's 1:33, also known as academy. I'm a projectionist and have just built this print tonight for a screening in my cinema tomorrow.
share