Cuba (film)
Encyclopedia
Cuba is a 1979 drama film
directed by Richard Lester
and starring Sean Connery
, set during the build-up to the 1959 Cuban Revolution
.
Connery stars as a British mercenary who travels to Cuba
, which is on the brink of revolution with the authority of dictator Fulgencio Batista
collapsing every day. Connery meets a former lover there (Brooke Adams), who is neglected by her Cuban husband (Chris Sarandon
). The film ends with Havana
falling to Fidel Castro
's revolutionaries and most of Connery's employers fleeing the island aboard one of the last flights out.
The same historical events were featured five years earlier in Francis Ford Coppola
's The Godfather Part II
and would be covered again by Sidney Pollack in his 1990 film Havana
, starring Robert Redford
. Lester's film was perhaps the most stylish of the three, aided by its stirring Spanish locations, "with a marvelous sense of atmosphere."
) arrives in Cuba
under General Bello's (Martin Balsam
) orders to train the Cuban army to resist Fidel Castro's upcoming revolution. Before he even begins his task, he struck by the reappearance of an old flame, Alexandra Lopez de Pulido (Brooke Adams), whom he repeatedly tries to pursue. The plot winds around the tremendous wealth of the present leaders, the mostly American tourists who seem to ooze money, the poverty-stricken and ex-urban slums where most Cubans live, and the rum and cigar factory that Alexandra's husband owns and that Alexandra runs. A blatant sexual nightclub performance is interrupted by Fidel's soldiers in olive green, with machine guns, scattering the entertainment and the entertained and leaing a bloodsoaked scene.
When Alexandra's husband takes her out and expects her to sit and have a drink with a potential (factory) investor and his prostitute, she leaves the restaurant and runs into Robert. Furious with her husband, she is more open to spending time with him and reminiscencing about their old affair in North Africa (when she was 15 and he was 30). They find a motel and make love. It is clear that they care for each other. But he will not stay in Cuba. Will she leave with him?
The next day virtually every Cuban worker goes on strike, including those in Alex's factory. Alex watches the events go by, believing things will soon return to normal. Robert begs her to leave, either to be with him or just to escape Cuba. She refuses.
Not seeing Alex at the airport, Robert boards the plane. Meanwhile, Alex is at the airport, outside the wire fence, watching him board the plane and weeping.
This movies weaves many more plots around these events, as various Cubans, Brits, and Americans try to make something of the revolution. What is most stunning about this movie, however, is that it unwinds like a James Bond movie but "inside out." Robert is the cool, competent, knowledgeable spy: but he is inserted into a history that imposes on him an almost complete passivity: he is supposed to engineer Fidel's defeat; he knows Fidel will win. And instead of powerfully sweeping his gorgeous counterpart off her feet,she's always one step ahead of him, and he must let her go.
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Richard Lester
Richard Lester
Richard Lester is an American film director based in Britain. Lester is notable for his work with The Beatles in the 1960s and his work on the Superman film series in the 1980s.-Early years and television:...
and starring Sean Connery
Sean Connery
Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...
, set during the build-up to the 1959 Cuban Revolution
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement against the regime of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista between 1953 and 1959. Batista was finally ousted on 1 January 1959, and was replaced by a revolutionary government led by Castro...
.
Connery stars as a British mercenary who travels to Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
, which is on the brink of revolution with the authority of dictator Fulgencio Batista
Fulgencio Batista
Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar was the United States-aligned Cuban President, dictator and military leader who served as the leader of Cuba from 1933 to 1944 and from 1952 to 1959, before being overthrown as a result of the Cuban Revolution....
collapsing every day. Connery meets a former lover there (Brooke Adams), who is neglected by her Cuban husband (Chris Sarandon
Chris Sarandon
Chris Sarandon is an American actor who was married to actress Susan Sarandon between 1968 and 1979. He is best known for playing Prince Humperdinck in the film The Princess Bride, the vampire Jerry Dandridge in Fright Night and Detective Mike Norris in the first entry of the Child's Play series,...
). The film ends with Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
falling to Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
's revolutionaries and most of Connery's employers fleeing the island aboard one of the last flights out.
The same historical events were featured five years earlier in Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
's The Godfather Part II
The Godfather Part II
The Godfather Part II is a 1974 American gangster film directed by Francis Ford Coppola from a script co-written with Mario Puzo. The film is both a sequel and a prequel to The Godfather, chronicling the story of the Corleone family following the events of the first film while also depicting the...
and would be covered again by Sidney Pollack in his 1990 film Havana
Havana (film)
Havana is a drama film starring Robert Redford, Lena Olin and Raúl Juliá, directed by Sydney Pollack with music by Dave Grusin, and released in 1990. In the film, an American professional gambler named Jack Weil decides to visit Havana, Cuba to gamble. On the boat to Havana, he meets Roberta Duran...
, starring Robert Redford
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
. Lester's film was perhaps the most stylish of the three, aided by its stirring Spanish locations, "with a marvelous sense of atmosphere."
Plot
Former British Major Robert Dapes (Sean ConnerySean Connery
Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...
) arrives in Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
under General Bello's (Martin Balsam
Martin Balsam
Martin Henry Balsam was an American actor. He is known for his Oscar-winning role as "Arnold Burns" in A Thousand Clowns and his role as "Detective Milton Arbogast" in Psycho.- Early life :...
) orders to train the Cuban army to resist Fidel Castro's upcoming revolution. Before he even begins his task, he struck by the reappearance of an old flame, Alexandra Lopez de Pulido (Brooke Adams), whom he repeatedly tries to pursue. The plot winds around the tremendous wealth of the present leaders, the mostly American tourists who seem to ooze money, the poverty-stricken and ex-urban slums where most Cubans live, and the rum and cigar factory that Alexandra's husband owns and that Alexandra runs. A blatant sexual nightclub performance is interrupted by Fidel's soldiers in olive green, with machine guns, scattering the entertainment and the entertained and leaing a bloodsoaked scene.
When Alexandra's husband takes her out and expects her to sit and have a drink with a potential (factory) investor and his prostitute, she leaves the restaurant and runs into Robert. Furious with her husband, she is more open to spending time with him and reminiscencing about their old affair in North Africa (when she was 15 and he was 30). They find a motel and make love. It is clear that they care for each other. But he will not stay in Cuba. Will she leave with him?
The next day virtually every Cuban worker goes on strike, including those in Alex's factory. Alex watches the events go by, believing things will soon return to normal. Robert begs her to leave, either to be with him or just to escape Cuba. She refuses.
Not seeing Alex at the airport, Robert boards the plane. Meanwhile, Alex is at the airport, outside the wire fence, watching him board the plane and weeping.
This movies weaves many more plots around these events, as various Cubans, Brits, and Americans try to make something of the revolution. What is most stunning about this movie, however, is that it unwinds like a James Bond movie but "inside out." Robert is the cool, competent, knowledgeable spy: but he is inserted into a history that imposes on him an almost complete passivity: he is supposed to engineer Fidel's defeat; he knows Fidel will win. And instead of powerfully sweeping his gorgeous counterpart off her feet,she's always one step ahead of him, and he must let her go.
Cast
- Sean ConnerySean ConnerySir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...
: Maj. Robert Dapes - Brooke Adams : Alexandra Lopez de Pulido
- Jack Weston : Larry Gutman
- Hector ElizondoHector ElizondoHéctor Elizondo is an American actor. Elizondo's first major role was that of "God" in the play Steambath, for which he won an Obie Award...
: Capt. Raphael Ramirez - Denholm ElliottDenholm ElliottDenholm Mitchell Elliott, CBE was an English film, television and theatre actor with over 120 film and television credits...
: Donald Skinner - Martin BalsamMartin BalsamMartin Henry Balsam was an American actor. He is known for his Oscar-winning role as "Arnold Burns" in A Thousand Clowns and his role as "Detective Milton Arbogast" in Psycho.- Early life :...
: Gen. Bello - Chris SarandonChris SarandonChris Sarandon is an American actor who was married to actress Susan Sarandon between 1968 and 1979. He is best known for playing Prince Humperdinck in the film The Princess Bride, the vampire Jerry Dandridge in Fright Night and Detective Mike Norris in the first entry of the Child's Play series,...
: Juan Pulido - Danny De La Paz : Julio Mederos
- Lonette McKeeLonette McKeeLonette McKee is an American film and television actress, music composer/producer/songwriter, screenwriter and director.-Biography:...
: Therese Mederos - Alejandro ReyAlejandro ReyAlejandro Rey was an Argentine actor. He immigrated to the United States in 1960, later became a U.S. citizen and gained his widest acclaim there.-Career:...
: Faustino - Louisa MoritzLouisa Moritz-Early life:Louisa Moritz was born Louisa Castro in Havana, Cuba and left Cuba during the upheaval of the 1950s, hiding on a ship and eventually making her way to New York City. She chose the stage last name of Moritz after seeing the Hotel St...
: Miss Wonderly - Dave King : Miss Wonderly's Press Agent
- Walter GotellWalter GotellWalter Gotell was a German actor, known for his role as General Gogol, head of the KGB, in the James Bond film series.Gotell was born in Bonn, Germany; his family emigrated to the United Kingdom after the Nazis came to power...
: Don Jose Pulido - David RappaportDavid RappaportDavid Stephen Rappaport was an English actor, probably one of the best known dwarf actors in television and film...
: Jesus - Wolfe MorrisWolfe MorrisWolfe Morris was a British film and television actor.He played character roles on stage, television and in feature films from the 1950s until the 1990s. He made his film debut in Ill Met by Moonlight. His grandparents were from Kiev and escaped the Russian pogroms, arriving in London in about 1890....
: Gen. Fulgencio Batista - Michael Lees : Roger Maxwell-Lafroy
- Tony Mathews : Carrillo
- Roger Lloyd-Pack : Nunez
- Leticia Garrido : Celia
- Maria CharlesMaria CharlesMaria Charles is an English actress who carved a niche for herself on television playing clingy Jewish mothers. She appeared in the memorable Play for Today entry, "Bar Mitzvah Boy", and played Maureen Lipman's character's mother in the sitcom Agony...
: Senora Pulido - Pauline Peart : Dolores
- Anna NicholasAnna NicholasAnna Nicholas is a British travel writer and author based in Majorca, Spain.Nicholas spent most of her childhood in London before studying Classics and English Literature at Leeds University in 1980...
: Maria - Earl CameronEarl Cameron (actor)Earl Cameron, CBE is a Bermudian actor. He is known as one of the first black actors to break the "colour bar" in the United Kingdom, along with Cy Grant...
: Col. Leyva - John MortonJohn Morton (actor)John Morton is an American movie actor and stuntman from Annapolis, Maryland. John appeared in the 1980 hit sequel film Superman II as an astronaut named Nate, also that year he appeared in Flash Gordon...
: Gary - Anthony Pullen Shaw : Spencer
- Stefan Kalipha : Ramon, Cigar Factory Foreman
- Raul Newney : Painter
- Ram John HolderRam John HolderRam John Holder is a British actor. He began his performing career as a folk singer in New York. In 1962 he came to London and worked with Pearl Connor's Negro Theatre Workshop initially as a musician, and later as an actor...
: Fat Sergeant - James TurnerJames TurnerJames Turner was the 12th Governor of the U.S. state of North Carolina from 1802 to 1805. He later served as a U.S. senator between 1805 and 1816....
: Pulido's Chauffeur - Willis BoucheyWillis BoucheyWillis Ben Bouchey was an American character actor who appeared in almost 150 films and television shows. He was born in Vernon, Michigan, but reared by his mother and stepfather in Washington State....
: Cavalry Officer on TV (archive footage) (uncredited) - Ana ObregónAna ObregónAna Obregón is a Spanish actress, celebrity and socialite.She obtained a Bachelor of Sciences in Biology from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid ....
: Woman (uncredited)