‘Cuba’ sympathetic portrayal

_ of struggle against Batista

CUBA. Starring Brooke Adams,
Sean Connery, directed by
Richard Lester. Screenplay by
Charles Wood. At local theatres.

Cuba, 1959: On the eve of
the revolution, replete with
bearded guerrillas in the hills, a
handsome middle aged British
soldier of fortune, an attrac-
lve female aristocrat and fac-
tory manager (our hero’s love
interest), rich American elites
Strolling the streets of Havana
— and all brought to us
courtesy of Hollywood. The
makings of one reactionary
movie, right?

No, surprisingly enough.
What Cuba, the current
romance and political intrigue
thriller, lacks in artistry, it
more than compensates for in
an essentially sympathetic por-
trayal of a people struggling
for their liberation.

One can only speculate as to
why. Be that as it may, the
film opens with the arrival in
Cuba of Robert Dapes (Sean
Connery), a retired British ar-
my major who makes his liv-
ing travelling the globe
supressing guerrilla
movements for any govern-
ment which can pay the price.
But our mercenary, it turns
Out, has a conscience which
comes into play when he
witnesses the atrocities com-
mitted by the corrupt Batista
regime he has come to aid.

Dapes, and through him the
audience, is given amply op-
portunity to view the barbarity
and decadence~ of his
employers. His estimation of
them drops: several notches
right from the start when he
meets General Bello (Martin

r- | Balsam), a former corporal

who received his rank and his
lucrative sideline of collecting
the proceeds of parking meters

as rewards -for installing
Batista in power. One
nightmare scene follows

| another until the soldier of

fortune comes face to face

uit

with an outrage of apalling

dra (Brooke Adams) are detained by Castro’s forces in a scene from

Cuba.

magnitude, the massacre of
several innocent civilians de-
tained for interrogation.

Guba “isn’t the first
Hollywood movie to expose
those who only a few short
years ago were eulogized as
heroes. Apocalypse Now
showed us the true nature of
the beast in one powerful scene
where American soldiers at-
tack a Vietnamese village and
slaughter dozens for the sake
of finding a nice place to surf.
A lesser known film about
Vietnam, The Boys in Com-
pany C, stripped away media
myths by showing the leaders
of the South Vietnamese
forces and the American brass
alike as corrupt. But Company
C gave no insight into the na-
tional
Vietnam, and as _ for
Apocalypse, what it gave on
the one hand, it took away
with the other with a contrived
account of alleged atrocities
committed by the liberation
forces.

Cuba definitely is a cut
above these films, and a big
cut at that. Cuba’s revolu-
tionary forces are presented as
dedicated, self-sacrificing,
civilized (one telling scene
shows a young women telling
listeners over clandestine radio

liberation forces of:

that their best weapon is
literacy), and merciful.

Director Richard Lester
skillfully utilizes scenes of
poverty and _ exploitation,
slogans scrawled on walls and
a child’s defacing of an elec-
tion poster,
techniques, to demonstrate the
overwhelming popular sup-
port for the revolution.

We are well prepared for the
climax of the film, when fac-
tory hands, field workers, and
virtually all sectors of Cuba’s
work force stage a massive
work stoppage on the day the
revolution successfully topples
the government.

Cuba has its drawbacks, but
they are mostly in terms of ar-
tistry rather than political con-
tent. The romance between-
Dapes and the aristocrat
(Brooke Adams) is presented
in the usual Hollywood man-
ner with syrupy music and
filtered lenses. It is as if the af-
fair is obligatory for films of
this sort, and equally un-
necessary. Indeed, it gets in
the way of an otherwise fast
paced plot.

Cuba won’t win too many
awards, but it’s a good way to
spend your $3.75 on a night
out.

— Dan Keeton
y",

among other |

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2679 E. Hastings St.,

Vancouver, B.C.
253-1221

1980 ANNUAL

Burns Night

Jan. 26 at 6:30 p.m.

@ Haggis

@ Baron of beef
@ Entertainment
@ Dancing

Russian
People’s Home

600 Campbell Ave.
$7.50

Ryan plan rapped

Continued from page 1

“The Soviet Union was re-
quested. to give military
assistance to the revolutionary
government of Babrak Karmal
because of the policy of direct
interference in the internal af-
fairs of Afghanistan that the
U.S. is pursuing,’’ he said.

He backed his contention
with press reports published the
same day which indicated that
both the CIA and China were
arming guerrillas in -Pakistan
which had joined forces with
Afghan _counter-revolution-
aries. .

Kashtan also dealt with two
other contentious election
issues, the federal constitution
and energy.

On the constitution, he warn-
ed that Quebec Liberal leader
Claude Ryan was ‘‘heading
towards decentralization just
like Joe Clark because he
refuses to face the reality of
another nation in Canada, the
French-Canadian nation of
Quebec.”’

Kashtan warned that giving
more power to the provinces
would weaken the country ‘‘and
the U.S. multinationals will be
the only beneficiaries.”’

On energy, he emphasized
that a comprehensive policy
‘“‘means more than just
PetroCan.’’ He reiterated the
party’s call for public owner-
ship of energy resources.

Housing plan pressed

Continued from page 1
Residents Association ~vice
president Libby Davies both
argued that the proposed figure
of 600 units annually was too
low and should be raised to
2,000 per year to make a real
impact on the housing market,
and that the city’s housing cor-
poration be re-activated to con-
tribute directly to the housing
program.

COPE proposed that the city
write down land costs by bet-
ween 50 and 100 percent to

make land available for non-
profit housing and press the
provincial government for
strengthening of rent controls.

Among the other speakers ap-
pealing for city assistance in
housing. were Vancouver East
MP Margaret Mitchell, Tom
Patch of the Social Planning
and Review Council’s commit-
tee on the handicapped; Bill
Cross of the Public Housing
Tenants Association, and the
YWCA.

NFU opposed

Continued from page 1
sales sanctions against the
Soviet Union. Clark’s an-
nouncement was an echo of
U.S. president Carter who had
earlier embargoed all grain to
the Soviet Union.

The call for grain sanctions
against the Soviet Union, tied to
Soviet action in Afghanistan,
was also repeated by Trudeau
and by Broadbent, with Broad-
bent adding the proviso only
that farmers be compensated.

But farmers themselves have
rejected the idea of sanctions.
At a “‘fightback conference’”’
organized in Saskatoon Jan. 8
and 9 by the NFU, some 300
farmers passed a special resolu-

to sanctions

tion’ “‘rejecting the concept of
using food as a_ political
weapon.”’

The resolution recommended
that the NFU and the Canadian
Labor Congréss grains commit-
tee — made up of unions in-
volved in the movement of grain
— ‘“‘take appropriate action to
pressure the federal government
tO pursue.an independent course
of action in foreign policy and
to honor all grain sales and
commitments.”’

It also recommended that the
NFU and the CLC ‘‘urge the
Canadian wheat board to con-
tinue aggressively pursuing any
potential grain market oppor-
tunities.’’

CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING

COMING EVENTS

JAN. 19 — Celebrate the birth of
Jose Marti. Banquet and social eve-
ning, 6 p.m., Mt. Pleasant Neigh-
borhood House, 535 E. Broadway.
Hot turkey dinner with all the trim-
mings. Adults $6; children $3.
Tickets at Co-op Books. Canadian-
Cuban Friendship Association.

JAN. 26 — Annual Burns Night at
the Russian People’s Hall, 600
Campbell Ave., at 6:30 p.m. Hag-
gis, Baron-of-Beef, live entertain-
ment and dancing. Adm. $7.50.

FEB. 2 — Van. East Election dinner
for Fred Wilson campaign. Full
meal, entertainment. $5. Ukrainian
Hall, 805 £. Pender. For tickets,
phone 254-9797 or 254-4035.

MARCH 29 — Keep this date open
for annual Mac-Pap celebration.

COMMERCIAL

Turn your old letters & postcards
into cash. For further info phone
939-0020, eves. Half of proceeds go
to the Tribune.

ROOF REPAIRS — Reasonable.
New roofs and alum: gutters,
277-1364 or 277-3352.

TRADE UNIONIST seeks re-
search, writing work. Phone Ron
‘Sostad — 980-5157.

LEGAL SERVICES

Rankin, Stone, McMurray, Bar-
risters and Solicitors. 500 Ford
Building, 193 East Hastings St.,
Vancouver 682-7471.

WANTED TO RENT

Single man wants 1-bdrm or bache-
lor apt. in East or Central Vancou-
ver.

Phone 588-3140.

HALLS FOR RENT

RUSSIAN PEOPLE’S HOME —
Available for rentals. For reserva-
tions phone 254-3430.

‘WEBSTERS CORNERS HALL —
Available for banquets, meetings,
etc. For rates: Ozzie, 325-4171 or
685-5836.

UKRAINIAN CANADIAN CUL-
TURAL CENTRE — 805 East Pen-
der St., Vancouver. Available for
banquets, weddings, meetings. Ph.
254-3436.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—JANUARY 18, 1980—Page 7