Actually Fidel became president because he was seen as the leader of the revolutionary movement in the late 1950s. Raul came to power next because he is one of the only original revolutionaries left who went to Cuba on the Granma with Fidel and other revolutionaries. If you have ever been to Cuba it is pretty obvious that the government is not a tyranny, thinking that Cuba is run by a tyranny is a main reason why the Bay of Pigs failed. The revolutionaries are viewed as national heroes.
@NathalieF13 Fidel became "president" because he banned elections & persecuted, imprisoned & killed the opposition. He has never one a single election other than the rigged one man elections Cuba hold every couple of years. When author Reinaldo Arenas published an international document signed by an array of world intellectuals & Nobel Prize winners asking Castro to hold a simple plebiscite to see if they people wanted him to stay or no, he blew a gasket & absolutely refused.
@Rayarena the political system funnels up from the bottom which I will gladly say is highly flawed leading to basically no opposition. Still this is not a tyranny in which the Cuban public is oppressed. During the "Special Period", there were riots in Santiago b/c people were upset with the state of living after the end of Soviet occupation; however, when Fidel showed up, unannounced, the rioters chanted for Fidel. A tyranny was Batista's gov't which was supported by the US as "democratic".
@NathalieF13 It's really quite astounding to hear anyone say that Cuba is not a tyranny considering that there is so much evidence that proves otherwise, testimony like Reinaldo Arenas's memoir, "Before Night Falls," Armando Valladares's "Against All Hope," & reports from various NGO's. In fact, Cuba violates each & everyone one of the 30 principles stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in one way or another. The Cuban secret police was trained by the KGB & the Stasi.
@Rayarena Both of these pieces do depict the actual accounts of Cubans who were viewed to be against "revolutionary ideals" and in no way do I want to belittle their accounts. So much has changed since then but Cuba is still not perfect. Cuban revolutionaries violated as many articles of the UDHR as the US-sponsored democratic gov't did before it. Two wrongs don't make a right but, again the Cuban gov't now follows most of the articles despite many of them reflecting capitalist views.
@NathalieF13 Against the "revolutionary ideals"? These men simply wanted to enjoy their God given inalienable rights. Reinaldo Arenas for instance was falsely charged because he smuggled two of his manuscripts out of Cuba and they were published in Mexico and France. Armando Valladares, a minor bureaucrat, was incarcerated for 23 years simply for refusing to put a communist slogan on his desk at work. What type of regime is that? And Cuba is not changing. It's as bad as ever.
@Rayarena Yes, they were viewed as not supporting the revolution which, in those days, was skewed as being against revolution. Like in "Fresa y Chocolate" with Diego turned into the gov't for being "counterrevolutionary" simply by being homosexual, learned in European culture, and showing interest in religious art. The Cuban gov't needs to change more structurally and it will be interesting to see what they come up with after all the "originals" have gone. I don't see how Cuba is as bad as ever.
@NathalieF13 You don't see how Cuba is bad as ever? Just this past November a 31 year old was unjustly imprisoned to 4 years.for participating in a peaceful protest asking for human rights. Wilmar Villar Mendoza died of a hunger strike in prison. He was protesting prison abuse and the outrageous sentence. You see, the judicial system in Cuba is nothing more than another arm of the all-power, repressive totalitarian gov't that runs Cuba, so you can't ask for an appeal.
@Rayarena I cannot give an informed opinion on the Cuban legal system for I am afraid that I know very little about it due to the poor quality of Cuban media. Seriously, when I was in Cuba in December, their newspapers were quite horrible to the point of being almost comical that people actually read it. Reading what I could online, I could not help but compare it to Guantanamo Bay. Again Cuban gov't needs to make major changes structurally but Cuba has improved upon its past.
@NathalieF13 Cuba not only needs a major structural change, it needs a complete overhaul. The castro family has controlled Cuba for 53 years. Can you imagine if President Bush were still in power? If he had said, repeating castro's infamous worlds, "elections for what?" What if after almost 50 years of George Bush in power, he had suddenly gotten sick & he had then appointed Jeb as president? This is just to give you an idea of what Cubans go through.
I love the atmosphere when that duo sing "Crazy Love," [I also love their interpretation of the song] but the movie is pure propaganda from castroite Cuba no different than "The Battleship Potemkin," or "Birth of a Nation."
@Rayarena than what is Indipendence Day and all other shity films about aliens, atomic danger, sovietic danger and arab etc etc etc? An Occidental propaganda?
This film (beyond propaganda) is a masterpiece in each film school. Try to read about this film and about the concept of propaganda in East and West
@ShqipjaMaleve So, just because its a "masterpiece" that means its beyond propaganda? Leni Riefenstahl's "Triumph of Will" which is a far superior movie must then beyond propaganda as well. Castro himself in his infamous words to Cuba's filmmakers, writers and artists said, "within the revolution everything, outside nothing," meaning that he was not going to allow anything critical of the regime. All artistry was supposed to to prop up the regime. PERIOD. That's propaganda.
@Rayarena Yeah its propaganda, but between Rambo and Im Cuba there are lots of things...No one try to analize Rambo 1-6 in the film schools, but for sure Kalatozof, Eiseinstein, Riefenstahl etc etc etc. So its beyond propaganda in this case, because in Rambo, beyond propaganda there is nothing, just a macho man fully armed who is alone in the middle of barbarians
@ShqipjaMaleve Your comparisons are odious. While the U.S. is a flawed democracy, it still has democratic institutions that work, while Cuba is a straight up tyranny. ICAIC, Cuba's film institution is not independent, while Hollywood is. In fact, Hollywood is full of nonconformists, anti-establisment types that are often very critical of the US gov't. By the way, Stalone's Rambo is nothing more than a manifestation of Stalone's insecure need to prove how macho he is.
@Rayarena Im not saying that Cuba and US are the same. Im not so stupid to say that. The US democracy in the highest point in the world but this has nothing to do with propaganda wich is a mecanism on both democracy and totalitarism. Media, film, internet, publicity are forms of manipulation in all kinds of societies and political models. Hollywood is not the same since 30-40, years of the best american cinema. Even nonconformism is a kind of propaganda in the service of democracy...
@ShqipjaMaleve Cuba has an ossified 53 year long regime run by one family whose heads are megalomanical brutal, killers. Whatever technical merits this movie may have are eclipsed by the fact it was made in the service of that regime. If you infer Hollywood makes propaganda films in the service of democracy, that's better than making propaganda in the service of a tyranny. Sorry, this movie is no different than "Triumph of Will" other than Triumph is incomparably superior.
@Rayarena This film was banned from the Soviet regime and it was discoverd by Martin Scorcese in the 80 acclaiming it. The technique of filming is the same of Touch of Evil (Orson Welles) but also in some parts of Once upon a time in the West of Sergio Leone, both of them in the service of democratic regime... Is one thing to condam Hitler, Stalin or Castro and one thing to give value to those films, like we do for Schindler's list (7 oscars) of Spielberg in 1992.
@ShqipjaMaleve I never said that the movie doesn't have artistic value. Like Leni Riefenstahl's "Triumph of Will" it has artistic value [but of course of a much lower level since Riefentahl's film is incomparably superior], what I said was the fact that it was made in defense of a tyranny such as castro's eclipses its merit.
I didn't realize this was a version of an American song - "Crazy Love", by Paul Anka. You can search for the original on YouTube.
hebneh 4 weeks ago
Actually Fidel became president because he was seen as the leader of the revolutionary movement in the late 1950s. Raul came to power next because he is one of the only original revolutionaries left who went to Cuba on the Granma with Fidel and other revolutionaries. If you have ever been to Cuba it is pretty obvious that the government is not a tyranny, thinking that Cuba is run by a tyranny is a main reason why the Bay of Pigs failed. The revolutionaries are viewed as national heroes.
NathalieF13 4 weeks ago
@NathalieF13 Fidel became "president" because he banned elections & persecuted, imprisoned & killed the opposition. He has never one a single election other than the rigged one man elections Cuba hold every couple of years. When author Reinaldo Arenas published an international document signed by an array of world intellectuals & Nobel Prize winners asking Castro to hold a simple plebiscite to see if they people wanted him to stay or no, he blew a gasket & absolutely refused.
Rayarena 4 weeks ago
@Rayarena the political system funnels up from the bottom which I will gladly say is highly flawed leading to basically no opposition. Still this is not a tyranny in which the Cuban public is oppressed. During the "Special Period", there were riots in Santiago b/c people were upset with the state of living after the end of Soviet occupation; however, when Fidel showed up, unannounced, the rioters chanted for Fidel. A tyranny was Batista's gov't which was supported by the US as "democratic".
NathalieF13 4 weeks ago
@NathalieF13 It's really quite astounding to hear anyone say that Cuba is not a tyranny considering that there is so much evidence that proves otherwise, testimony like Reinaldo Arenas's memoir, "Before Night Falls," Armando Valladares's "Against All Hope," & reports from various NGO's. In fact, Cuba violates each & everyone one of the 30 principles stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in one way or another. The Cuban secret police was trained by the KGB & the Stasi.
Rayarena 4 weeks ago
@Rayarena Both of these pieces do depict the actual accounts of Cubans who were viewed to be against "revolutionary ideals" and in no way do I want to belittle their accounts. So much has changed since then but Cuba is still not perfect. Cuban revolutionaries violated as many articles of the UDHR as the US-sponsored democratic gov't did before it. Two wrongs don't make a right but, again the Cuban gov't now follows most of the articles despite many of them reflecting capitalist views.
NathalieF13 3 weeks ago
@NathalieF13 Against the "revolutionary ideals"? These men simply wanted to enjoy their God given inalienable rights. Reinaldo Arenas for instance was falsely charged because he smuggled two of his manuscripts out of Cuba and they were published in Mexico and France. Armando Valladares, a minor bureaucrat, was incarcerated for 23 years simply for refusing to put a communist slogan on his desk at work. What type of regime is that? And Cuba is not changing. It's as bad as ever.
Rayarena 3 weeks ago
@Rayarena Yes, they were viewed as not supporting the revolution which, in those days, was skewed as being against revolution. Like in "Fresa y Chocolate" with Diego turned into the gov't for being "counterrevolutionary" simply by being homosexual, learned in European culture, and showing interest in religious art. The Cuban gov't needs to change more structurally and it will be interesting to see what they come up with after all the "originals" have gone. I don't see how Cuba is as bad as ever.
NathalieF13 3 weeks ago
@NathalieF13 You don't see how Cuba is bad as ever? Just this past November a 31 year old was unjustly imprisoned to 4 years.for participating in a peaceful protest asking for human rights. Wilmar Villar Mendoza died of a hunger strike in prison. He was protesting prison abuse and the outrageous sentence. You see, the judicial system in Cuba is nothing more than another arm of the all-power, repressive totalitarian gov't that runs Cuba, so you can't ask for an appeal.
Rayarena 3 weeks ago
@Rayarena I cannot give an informed opinion on the Cuban legal system for I am afraid that I know very little about it due to the poor quality of Cuban media. Seriously, when I was in Cuba in December, their newspapers were quite horrible to the point of being almost comical that people actually read it. Reading what I could online, I could not help but compare it to Guantanamo Bay. Again Cuban gov't needs to make major changes structurally but Cuba has improved upon its past.
NathalieF13 3 weeks ago
@NathalieF13 Cuba not only needs a major structural change, it needs a complete overhaul. The castro family has controlled Cuba for 53 years. Can you imagine if President Bush were still in power? If he had said, repeating castro's infamous worlds, "elections for what?" What if after almost 50 years of George Bush in power, he had suddenly gotten sick & he had then appointed Jeb as president? This is just to give you an idea of what Cubans go through.
Rayarena 3 weeks ago
my favorite scene in the movie
NathalieF13 1 month ago
I love the atmosphere when that duo sing "Crazy Love," [I also love their interpretation of the song] but the movie is pure propaganda from castroite Cuba no different than "The Battleship Potemkin," or "Birth of a Nation."
Rayarena 3 months ago
I don't really see that being a knock on the film (or any of the others you mentioned). If anything, it adds to the whole mystique of the film.
Benny2ILL 2 months ago
@Rayarena than what is Indipendence Day and all other shity films about aliens, atomic danger, sovietic danger and arab etc etc etc? An Occidental propaganda?
This film (beyond propaganda) is a masterpiece in each film school. Try to read about this film and about the concept of propaganda in East and West
ShqipjaMaleve 4 weeks ago
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Rayarena 4 weeks ago
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@ShqipjaMaleve So, just because its a "masterpiece" that means its beyond propaganda? Leni Riefenstahl's "Triumph of Will" which is a far superior movie must then beyond propaganda as well. Castro himself in his infamous words to Cuba's filmmakers, writers and artists said, "within the revolution everything, outside nothing," meaning that he was not going to allow anything critical of the regime. All artistry was supposed to to prop up the regime. PERIOD. That's propaganda.
Rayarena 4 weeks ago
@Rayarena Yeah its propaganda, but between Rambo and Im Cuba there are lots of things...No one try to analize Rambo 1-6 in the film schools, but for sure Kalatozof, Eiseinstein, Riefenstahl etc etc etc. So its beyond propaganda in this case, because in Rambo, beyond propaganda there is nothing, just a macho man fully armed who is alone in the middle of barbarians
ShqipjaMaleve 4 weeks ago
@ShqipjaMaleve Your comparisons are odious. While the U.S. is a flawed democracy, it still has democratic institutions that work, while Cuba is a straight up tyranny. ICAIC, Cuba's film institution is not independent, while Hollywood is. In fact, Hollywood is full of nonconformists, anti-establisment types that are often very critical of the US gov't. By the way, Stalone's Rambo is nothing more than a manifestation of Stalone's insecure need to prove how macho he is.
Rayarena 4 weeks ago
@Rayarena Im not saying that Cuba and US are the same. Im not so stupid to say that. The US democracy in the highest point in the world but this has nothing to do with propaganda wich is a mecanism on both democracy and totalitarism. Media, film, internet, publicity are forms of manipulation in all kinds of societies and political models. Hollywood is not the same since 30-40, years of the best american cinema. Even nonconformism is a kind of propaganda in the service of democracy...
ShqipjaMaleve 4 weeks ago
@ShqipjaMaleve Cuba has an ossified 53 year long regime run by one family whose heads are megalomanical brutal, killers. Whatever technical merits this movie may have are eclipsed by the fact it was made in the service of that regime. If you infer Hollywood makes propaganda films in the service of democracy, that's better than making propaganda in the service of a tyranny. Sorry, this movie is no different than "Triumph of Will" other than Triumph is incomparably superior.
Rayarena 4 weeks ago
@Rayarena This film was banned from the Soviet regime and it was discoverd by Martin Scorcese in the 80 acclaiming it. The technique of filming is the same of Touch of Evil (Orson Welles) but also in some parts of Once upon a time in the West of Sergio Leone, both of them in the service of democratic regime... Is one thing to condam Hitler, Stalin or Castro and one thing to give value to those films, like we do for Schindler's list (7 oscars) of Spielberg in 1992.
ShqipjaMaleve 4 weeks ago
@ShqipjaMaleve I never said that the movie doesn't have artistic value. Like Leni Riefenstahl's "Triumph of Will" it has artistic value [but of course of a much lower level since Riefentahl's film is incomparably superior], what I said was the fact that it was made in defense of a tyranny such as castro's eclipses its merit.
Rayarena 4 weeks ago
Comment removed
Rayarena 3 months ago
Quien son los interpretes?
Musicuba1 4 months ago
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Beautiful. No other way to put it.
Haggism 1 year ago
Wonderful Country, Brilliant song.
dobbiemark 1 year ago 2
...simplemente bella...
rayudesh 1 year ago