Post-Revolution Nonfiction Film by Malitsky Joshua;

Post-Revolution Nonfiction Film by Malitsky Joshua;

Author:Malitsky, Joshua;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Indiana University Press


Such determination and moral and political commitment are shown to be the legacy Ho leaves to his people, who mourn his death with great emotion in the subsequent section. Foreign diplomats as well as Vietnamese children, adults, and seniors are visibly overwhelmed by the loss. As a funeral speech is read (not subtitled into Spanish), accompanied by the non-diegetic drumbeats and electric keyboard of Iron Butterfly (which shortly thereafter take over for the speech), an array of people walk past to pay their respects. Each group is presented in slow motion. In one example, people’s movements superimpose and eventually dissolve into that of another group’s. In another, ambulating feet gradually dissolve into a negative image, recalling the sequence in which Ho Chi Minh is seen aging. In one other, Álvarez and his special effects coordinator Pepin Rodriguez construct a shot in which it appears that people walk with their own ghosts slightly behind them. The effect is achieved by the superimposition of two shots. The first is an image of visibly distraught students descending a staircase in slow motion. The second consists of the same shot as the first, only captured after a one- to two-second lag time. When these images are superimposed, the students appear to be walking along with their own transparent traces. It is a remarkable effect that, along with the other aesthetic choices in the sequence, articulates a sense of collective unity and historicity. The superimpositions reinforce the idea of a populace united behind a leader. The negative images and trace effect capture a shared history—shared between Ho and his people and shared among the people. In this case, it is not just the photographic nature of the image but what distinguishes cinema from photography—its existence in time—that is critical. Álvarez’s effects in this sequence rely on motion to construct a sense not of embalmed history but of historical progress. It is movement in time and through time. The point, and this is reiterated at the end of the film, is that the funeral is not the culmination of a struggle. The film is not a wholly historical document of Ho’s life. It is a statement and an attempt to realize historical movement. The people, both Vietnamese and Cuban, are in the midst of a battle that must continue until “an everlasting Spring”—the realization of both Ho’s and Che’s visions—is finally reached.

The section concludes with another intertitle, this one from José Martí. He writes, DEATH ISN’T REAL WHEN A LIFE’S WORK HAS BEEN WELL FULFILLED. The quote reinforces this section’s connections with the first section of the film about Ho’s life and contrasts it with those that focus on the war. Both the funeral and the biographical sections urge citizens to think about what is involved in living a meaningful life (and therefore leaving a lasting legacy). They are emotionally and intellectually reflective as opposed to viscerally jarring. They are about steeling the heart for action and preparing to engage a battle without fear, no matter the consequences.



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