I Am Cuba

Set in 1950s Cuba during the Batista era, a period of political unrest and mounting anti-government sentiment. The era features stark contrasts between casino wealth and shantytown poverty, underscoring social tensions. As the stories unfold, rebellion and reform are on the horizon, culminating in urgent calls for change.

The action unfolds in Havana’s poorest neighborhoods on the city’s edge alongside the glittering casinos that line the coast. It also travels to the Cuban countryside where sugar fields symbolize exploitation by landowners and foreign interests. The closing reels shift toward the Sierra Maestra, the mountains that become the stage for the revolutionary march.

💸 Economic disparity

The film juxtaposes destitute mass living conditions with the glitter and greed of the casino world. It shows how wealth from a foreign-flavored economy worsens poverty at home and erodes personal relationships. This gulf drives characters toward desperation, infidelity, and risk. The narrative uses intimate stories to critique how money shapes power and dignity.

🪖 Revolution and sacrifice

Three stories trace a growing urge for change: student unrest, rural resistance, and a final call to arms. The revolutionary impulse is tempered by grim choices and collateral damage, including the sacrifice of a young would-be martyr. Police crackdowns and the suppression of dissent heighten the nightmarish stakes. The ending merges personal resolve with collective memory as a march into Havana signals victory.

👗 Identity and exploitation

Maria’s double life—public glamour in a casino and private poverty—exposes how gender and class intersect under exploitation by wealthier patrons. The theft of her crucifix and the cashier’s call of 'Goodbye, Betty' reveal the fragility of identity under a commodified economy. The story emphasizes the personal cost of economic systems that commodify women’s labor. It asks who gets to choose one’s own life when money decides access and dignity.