DE CIERTA MANERA FILMS. 4 EDITIoN ubject of James's The Wings of the Dove, with the sexes reversed and Publications Given the films concern with the realities of democratic cap- Books. italism---manifest inequality, poverty, class oppressionthe""beauty is a potential problem. Indeed it comes perilously close(especially in Adelman, Alan, editor, A Guide to Cuban Cinema, Pittsburgh, 1981 its opening sequences)to aestheticizing misery in the manner of, for Chanan, Michael, The Cuban Image: Cinema and Cultural Politics example, Leans Doctor Zhivago, where the response""Isn't that terrible? is completely superseded by"Isn,t that beautifully photo- phed? The distinction of Days of Heaven lies partly in its careful Article separation of its sense of beauty from the human misery and tension depicted. The pervasive suggestion is that human existence could Chijona, Geraldo, in Cine Cubano(Havana), no 93 correspond to the natural and aesthetic beauty the film celebrates, Lopez, Rigoberto, "Hablar de Sara: De cierta manera, " in Cine were it not for the oppressive systems of organization that men [sicl Cubano(havana). no 93 have developed: the films sense of tragedy is firmly grounded in an Special Sections"of Jump Cut(Berkeley), December 1978 and awareness of class and gender oppression. As in Heaven's Gate, the May1980. woman expresses her ability and freedom to love both men. It is the Lesage, Julia, One Way or Another: Dialectical, Revolutionar nen who precipitate catastrophe by demanding exclusivity and Feminist, in Jump Cut(Berkeley), May 1979 ownership as their right, and as a means of bolstering their threat Marrosu, A, in Cine al Dia(Caracas), June 1980 ened egos. Pym, John, in Monthly Film Bulletin(London), July 1980 Badlands explicitly acknowledged, in its final credits, the influ Chanan, M, ""Otra mirada, in Cine Cubano(Havana), no. 127, 1989 nce of Arthur Penn: in fact, its relation to bonnie and Clyde is at once Lezcano. J. A."De cierta manera con Sara Gomez. in Cine obvious and tenuous, restricted to its subject. Far more important Cubano(Havana), no. 127, 1989 seemed the influence of Godard, especially in Les Carabiniers and Lopez, A M,""Parody, Underdevelopment, and the New Latin Pierrot le fou. The films counterpointing of verbal narration and American Cinema, in Quarterly Review of Film and Video(New image is extremely sophisticated and, in relation to classical Holly Davies, Catherine, " Modernity, Masculinity and neima Dod narrative, audaciously unconventional. Days of Heaven simul taneously modifies and develops this strategy: the verbal narration of Cuba. in Screen(Oxford), winter 1997. represents a less jarring dislocation than the use of Spacek's diary in the earlier film, but provides a continuous and ubtle distancing which contributes significantly to the films flavor, in which irony co-exists with intense involvement. Here is a revolutionary film: dialectical in form and content, humble in the face of real human experience, proposing no final answers except the unending struggle of a people to make something -Robin Wood out of what history has made of them. De cierta manera is that powerful hybrid-the fictional documentary set to a tropical beat- for which the cinema of revolutionary Cuba is justifiably famous. In this instance, the documentary deals with the destruction of slum DE CIERTA MANERA housing and the struggle against the culture of marginality generated in such slums through the creation of a new housing project (Miraflores) (One Way or Another and an accompanying educational program. The fictional embodi- ment of this historical process is seen in the clash of attitudes between Mario(a product of the slums), his lover Yolanda(a teacher who has Cuba. 1977 come to Miraflores to help integrate such marginal elements into the revolution), and his friend Humberto(a fun-loving slacker). In the Director: Sara gomez ourse of telling these stories and others De cierta manera demol- ishes the categories of fiction and documentary, insisting that both Production: Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematograficos forms are equally mediated by the intention of the filmmaker, and that (ICAIC) 16mm; running both thus require a critical stance time: 79 minutes; length: 2147 meters. Released 1977. This insistence on a critical attitude is conveyed, first of all, in the dialectical resonance of the film. a structure characteristic of the best Producer: Camilo Vives. scenario: Sara Gomez and Tomas gonzalez of the Cuban cinema. Visually this resonance is achieved through Perez: screenplay: Tomas Gutierrez Alea and Julio Garcia Espinosa a rich blending of fictional present and historical recreation with documentary and semi-documentary. In fact, it becomes impossible assistant directors: Rigoberto Lopez and Daniel Diaz. Torres: pho. to distinguish the different forms; fictional characters are set in tography: Luis Garcia; editor: Ivan Arocha:: sound: Germinal Hernandez: production designer: Roberto Larraburre; music: Sergio documentary sequences where they interact with real people and real people re-enact historical re-constructions which are not visually in Vitier; songs: Sara gonzalez. accordance with their own telling of the stories. Further, the film repeats various sequences several times, twisting the film back on Cast: Mario Balmaseda(Mario): Yolanda Cuellar(Yolanda): Mario itself and requiring the audience to participate actively in analyzing Limonta(Humberto) the different perspectives offered on the problems posed by the film.DE CIERTA MANERA FILMS, 4th EDITION 294 subject of James’s The Wings of the Dove, with the sexes reversed and the protagonists transposed to the working class? Given the film’s concern with the realities of democratic cap￾italism—manifest inequality, poverty, class oppression—the ‘‘beauty’’ is a potential problem. Indeed it comes perilously close (especially in its opening sequences) to aestheticizing misery in the manner of, for example, Lean’s Doctor Zhivago, where the response ‘‘Isn’t that terrible?’’ is completely superseded by ‘‘Isn’t that beautifully photo￾graphed?’’ The distinction of Days of Heaven lies partly in its careful separation of its sense of beauty from the human misery and tension depicted. The pervasive suggestion is that human existence could correspond to the natural and aesthetic beauty the film celebrates, were it not for the oppressive systems of organization that men [sic] have developed: the film’s sense of tragedy is firmly grounded in an awareness of class and gender oppression. As in Heaven’s Gate, the woman expresses her ability and freedom to love both men. It is the men who precipitate catastrophe by demanding exclusivity and ownership as their right, and as a means of bolstering their threat￾ened egos. Badlands explicitly acknowledged, in its final credits, the influ￾ence of Arthur Penn; in fact, its relation to Bonnie and Clyde is at once obvious and tenuous, restricted to its subject. Far more important seemed the influence of Godard, especially in Les Carabiniers and Pierrot le fou. The film’s counterpointing of verbal narration and image is extremely sophisticated and, in relation to classical Holly￾wood narrative, audaciously unconventional. Days of Heaven simul￾taneously modifies and develops this strategy; the verbal narration of Linda Manz represents a less jarring dislocation than the use of Sissy Spacek’s diary in the earlier film, but provides a continuous and subtle distancing which contributes significantly to the film’s unique flavor, in which irony co-exists with intense involvement. —Robin Wood DE CIERTA MANERA (One Way or Another) Cuba, 1977 Director: Sara Gómez Production: Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográficos (ICAIC); black and white, 35mm, originally shot in 16mm; running time: 79 minutes; length: 2147 meters. Released 1977. Producer: Camilo Vives; scenario: Sara Gómez and Tomas González Pérez; screenplay: Tomas Gutíerrez Alea and Julio García Espinosa; assistant directors: Rigoberto López and Daniel Diaz Torres; pho￾tography: Luis García; editor: Iván Arocha; sound: Germinal Hernández; production designer: Roberto Larraburre; music: Sergio Vitier; songs: Sara González. Cast: Mario Balmaseda (Mario); Yolanda Cuellar (Yolanda); Mario Limonta (Humberto). Publications Books: Adelman, Alan, editor, A Guide to Cuban Cinema, Pittsburgh, 1981. Chanan, Michael, The Cuban Image: Cinema and Cultural Politics in Cuba, London, 1985. Articles: Chijona, Geraldo, in Cine Cubano (Havana), no. 93. López, Rigoberto, ‘‘Hablar de Sara: De cierta manera,’’ in Cine Cubano (Havana), no. 93. ‘‘Special Sections’’ of Jump Cut (Berkeley), December 1978 and May 1980. Lesage, Julia, ‘‘One Way or Another: Dialectical, Revolutionary, Feminist,’’ in Jump Cut (Berkeley), May 1979. Marrosu, A., in Cine al Día (Caracas), June 1980. Pym, John, in Monthly Film Bulletin (London), July 1980. Chanan, M., ‘‘Otra mirada,’’ in Cine Cubano (Havana), no. 127, 1989. Lezcano, J. A., ‘‘De cierta manera con Sara Gómez,’’ in Cine Cubano (Havana), no. 127, 1989. Lopez, A. M., ‘‘Parody, Underdevelopment, and the New Latin American Cinema,’’ in Quarterly Review of Film and Video (New York), no. 1–2, 1990. Davies, Catherine, ‘‘Modernity, Masculinity and Imperfect Cinema in Cuba,’’ in Screen (Oxford), Winter 1997. *** Here is a revolutionary film: dialectical in form and content, humble in the face of real human experience, proposing no final answers except the unending struggle of a people to make something out of what history has made of them. De cierta manera is that powerful hybrid—the fictional documentary set to a tropical beat— for which the cinema of revolutionary Cuba is justifiably famous. In this instance, the documentary deals with the destruction of slum housing and the struggle against the culture of marginality generated in such slums through the creation of a new housing project (Miraflores) and an accompanying educational program. The fictional embodi￾ment of this historical process is seen in the clash of attitudes between Mario (a product of the slums), his lover Yolanda (a teacher who has come to Miraflores to help integrate such marginal elements into the revolution), and his friend Humberto (a fun-loving slacker). In the course of telling these stories, and others, De cierta manera demol￾ishes the categories of fiction and documentary, insisting that both forms are equally mediated by the intention of the filmmaker, and that both thus require a critical stance. This insistence on a critical attitude is conveyed, first of all, in the dialectical resonance of the film, a structure characteristic of the best of the Cuban cinema. Visually this resonance is achieved through a rich blending of fictional present and historical recreation with documentary and semi-documentary. In fact, it becomes impossible to distinguish the different forms; fictional characters are set in documentary sequences where they interact with real people and real people re-enact historical re-constructions which are not visually in accordance with their own telling of the stories. Further, the film repeats various sequences several times, twisting the film back on itself and requiring the audience to participate actively in analyzing the different perspectives offered on the problems posed by the film