In this Book
University of Minnesota Press
- Cuban Cinema
- Book
- 2004
- Published by: University of Minnesota Press
- Series: Cultural Studies of the Americas
summary
The earliest films made in Cuba—newsreel footage of the Cuban-Spanish-American War—date from the end of the nineteenth century, but Cuba cannot be said to have had an indigenous film industry before the revolution of 1959. The melodramas, musicals, and comedies made until then reflected Hollywood’s—and the United States’s—cultural domination of the island, but the revolution precipitated urgent debates about the role of cinema in a socialist country and the kinds of films best suited to the needs of the people and their rulers. Among the feature films, documentaries, and short subjects made in accordance with revolutionary principles are celebrated works by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, Humberto Solás, and other filmmakers who have had a profound influence on both Latin American and world cinema. Michael Chanan provides a comprehensive, authoritative, and absorbing account of Cuban cinema both before and after the revolution, deftly setting individual films and filmmakers within the larger framework of Cuba’s social, political, and cultural history. First published as The Cuban Image in 1984 to wide acclaim, Cuban Cinema now appears in a new, expanded edition that updates Chanan’s discussion to the beginning of the twenty-first century. New chapters address ongoing concerns about freedom of expression; Havana’s restored importance within the Latin American film industry through the Havana Film Festival, before state support for filmmakers dwindled in the economic collapse that followed the fall of the Soviet Union; Cuban cinema’s place within the globalized cultural market; and the changing audience for Cuban films. The only book-length study of Cuban cinema written in English, this indispensable work on one of the world’s most vital national cinemas offers a unique perspective on the Cuban experience in the twentieth century.
Michael Chanan is a documentary filmmaker and professor of cultural and media studies at the University of the West of England in Bristol.
Michael Chanan is a documentary filmmaker and professor of cultural and media studies at the University of the West of England in Bristol.
Table of Contents
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- Coppola on Cuban Film
- pp. xv-xvii
- Introduction: Forty Years On
- pp. 1-22
- PART I: Before the Revolution: Cinema at the Margins
- ONE: For the First Time
- pp. 25-37
- TWO: Back to the Beginning
- pp. 38-55
- FOUR: Melodrama and White Horses
- pp. 68-89
- FIVE: Amateurs and Militants
- pp. 90-114
- PART II: The Revolution Takes Power: A Cinema of Euphoria
- SIX: The Coming of Socialism
- pp. 117-143
- SEVEN: The First Feature Films
- pp. 144-162
- EIGHT: Beyond Neorealism
- pp. 163-183
- NINE: The Documentary in the Revolution
- pp. 184-217
- TEN: The Revolution in the Documentary
- pp. 218-246
- ELEVEN: The Current of Experimentalism
- pp. 247-272
- TWELVE: Four Films
- pp. 273-304
- THIRTEEN: Imperfect Cinema and the Seventies
- pp. 305-331
- FOURTEEN: One Way or Another
- pp. 332-352
- PART III: New Generations: A Cinema of Readjustment
- FIFTEEN: Reconnecting
- pp. 355-394
- SIXTEEN: Return of the Popular
- pp. 395-443
- SEVENTEEN: Wonderland
- pp. 444-496
- Distribution Information
- pp. 519-520
- Index of Film Titles
- pp. 521-528
- Index of Names
- pp. 529-538
- About the Author
- p. 539
Additional Information
ISBN
9780816690664
Related ISBN(s)
9780816634248
MARC Record
OCLC
77560454
Pages
560
Launched on MUSE
2015-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No