To this day, films produced in the United States appeal to\nCuban audiences. Since the early days of the Revolution, ICAIC promoted the\nbest international films to be shown in Cuban movie theaters, including films\nfrom United States. Many posters from the period 1964 \u2013 1974, especially those\ndesigned by Ren\u00e9 Azcuy (1939 \u2013 2019), became part of how Cubans envision their\nculture as well as how people imagine Cuba.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2009, celebrations of the fiftieth anniversary of the Cinemateca de Cuba (Cuban Film Archive) included screenings of a number of classic films including some from the United States, ranging from Charlie Chaplin\u2019s Modern Times<\/em> (1938) to Jonathan Demme\u2019s Silence of the Lambs<\/em> (1991). A group of designers contributed to a poster portfolio to mark the occasion and called it Classic Films, Contemporary Design<\/em>. Seven posters, from the portfolio of twenty-three, are of U.S. films. In addition, some Cuban designers have independently produced posters, like Edel Rodriguez\u2019s 2016 Bonnie and Clyde<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n [UD_EXHIBITION_ITEM] <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ren\u00e9 Azcuy, designer<\/em> [UD_EXHIBITION_ITEM] <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ra\u00fal Vald\u00e9s (Raupa), designer<\/em> [UD_EXHIBITION_ITEM] <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Claudio Sotolongo, designer<\/em> [UD_EXHIBITION_ITEM] <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Pepe Men\u00e9ndez, designer<\/em> [UD_EXHIBITION_ITEM] <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Giselle Monz\u00f3n, designer<\/em> [UD_EXHIBITION_ITEM] <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ra\u00fal Vald\u00e9s (Raupa), designer<\/em> [UD_EXHIBITION_ITEM] <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Roberto Ramos, designer<\/em> [UD_EXHIBITION_ITEM] <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Claudio Sotolongo, designer<\/em> [UD_EXHIBITION_ITEM] <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Edel Rodr\u00edguez (Mola), designer<\/em> [UD_EXHIBITION_ITEM] <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ren\u00e9 Azcuy, designer<\/em> To this day, films produced in the United States appeal to Cuban audiences. Since the early days of the Revolution, ICAIC promoted the best international films to be shown in Cuban movie theaters, including films from United States. Many posters from the period 1964 \u2013 1974, especially those designed by Ren\u00e9 Azcuy (1939 \u2013 2019), […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"parent":47,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-exhibition.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-80","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.lib.udel.edu\/black-with-a-drop-of-red\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/80"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.lib.udel.edu\/black-with-a-drop-of-red\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.lib.udel.edu\/black-with-a-drop-of-red\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.lib.udel.edu\/black-with-a-drop-of-red\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.lib.udel.edu\/black-with-a-drop-of-red\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.lib.udel.edu\/black-with-a-drop-of-red\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/80\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":299,"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.lib.udel.edu\/black-with-a-drop-of-red\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/80\/revisions\/299"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.lib.udel.edu\/black-with-a-drop-of-red\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/47"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/exhibitions.lib.udel.edu\/black-with-a-drop-of-red\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Freud
(Freud: The Secret Passion)<\/strong>
John Huston, director<\/em>
poster 1971 \/ film 1962
silkscreen on paper
Collection Morri\u00f1a-Men\u00e9ndez
<\/em>
The visual language of Cuban film poster design crystallized between 1964 to 1974. This poster for Freud<\/em> is an example of the distinctive sensibility of one of the most celebrated Cuban poster designers, Ren\u00e9 Azcuy. Beginning in 1960, he designed more than 250 posters for ICAIC. The contrasting black-and-white design produced using a halftone effect was one of Azcuy\u2019s signature styles. A partial white face disrupts the poster\u2019s black background, visually suggesting many scenes in the high-contrast black-and-white film where dark shadows frame pale faces. The impression that someone lurks beyond the surface evokes the theme of the subconscious explored in the film.
John Huston\u2019s Freud, The Secret Passion<\/em> examines Sigmund Freud\u2019s early career. It begins in 1885 with Freud\u2019s work on hysteria using hypnosis and traces early phases of his development of psychoanalysis. Huston commissioned philosopher, Jean-Paul Sartre to draft the screenplay. Sartre\u2019s huge script explored controversial material including prostitution and Freud\u2019s theory of the Oedipal complex. Attempts at editing angered Sartre and he withdrew his name from the project. Nevertheless, the film retains Sartre\u2019s themes and some of his dialogue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
El silencio de los corderos
(The Silence of the Lambs)<\/strong>
Jonathan Demme, director<\/em>
poster 2009 \/ film 1991
silkscreen on paper
Collection Morri\u00f1a-Men\u00e9ndez<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tiempos modernos
(Modern Times)<\/strong>
Charles Chaplin, director<\/em>
poster 2009 \/ film 1936
silkscreen on paper
Collection Morri\u00f1a-Men\u00e9ndez
<\/em>
In his poster for Charlie Chaplin\u2019s film Modern Times<\/em>, Claudio Sotolongo references the film\u2019s most iconic scene. Unable to keep up with the pace of the assembly line, Chaplin\u2019s bumbling factory-worker character falls onto a conveyor belt and passes through a chute, only to be rolled through the giant gear-like machinery in the depths of the factory.
By focusing on the machinery and excluding the figure of Chaplin, the poster stands in contrast to most Cuban posters of Chaplin films. Although Cuban posters rarely focus on Hollywood stars, Chaplin is an exception. Numerous ICAIC posters feature Chaplin, often in the guise of his character the Little Tramp\u2014including the first film poster produced for the Cuban Film Archive (Cinemateca de Cuba).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Doce hombres en pugna
(12 Angry Men)
<\/strong> Sidney Lumet, director<\/em>
poster 2009 \/ film 1957 silkscreen on paper
Collection Morri\u00f1a-Men\u00e9ndez<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
La soga (Rope)
<\/strong> Alfred Hitchcock, director<\/em>
poster 2009 \/ film 1948 silkscreen on paper
Collection Morri\u00f1a-Men\u00e9ndez<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
El resplandor (The Shining)
<\/strong> Stanley Kubrick, director<\/em>
poster 2009 \/ film 1980
silkscreen on paper
Collection Morri\u00f1a-Men\u00e9ndez<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rebelde sin causa
(Rebel Without a Cause)
<\/strong> Nicholas Ray, director<\/em>
poster 2009 \/ film 1955
silkscreen on paper
Collection Morri\u00f1a-Men\u00e9ndez
<\/em>
This poster highlights Hollywood star, James Dean, who died in a 1955 car crash at age twenty-four. It re-envisions him in his role as Jim Stark from the second of his three films, Rebelde sin causa (Rebel Without a Cause)<\/em> \u2013 here with his iconic red jacket made black. The black outlining and black jacket maintain the characteristic solarized appearance of many Cuban posters. The touch of red in the t-shirt may point to the angst that underlies the film.
High school student Stark is filled with anger towards society and his family. His anxiety manifests in destructive behavior including arrest for public drunkenness, a knife fight, and a car racing incident that leads to the death of his opponent in the rival car. The film explores possible causes behind what would have been called \u201cjuvenile delinquency.\u201d
Imagery of James Dean and Rebel Without a Cause<\/em> is a famous part of 1950s Americana, yet the film presents a troubling picture of American society. The poster, with its wordplay and font on the jacket and t-shirt, pays tribute to American counterculture while questioning the \u201cAmerican system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cabaret (Cabaret)
<\/strong> Bob Fosse, director<\/em>
poster 2009 \/ film 1972 silkscreen on paper
Collection Morri\u00f1a-Men\u00e9ndez<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bonnie and Clyde
<\/strong> Arthur Penn, director<\/em>
poster 2016 \/ film 1967
silkscreen on paper
Collection Morri\u00f1a-Men\u00e9ndez
<\/em>
In this poster, designer Edel Rodr\u00edguez (Mola) uses various black gun barrel shapes to form a heart surrounding the movie title. The design highlights the violence and the relationship at the core of the story of Bonnie and Clyde. It also references the way violence is depicted in the film \u2013 particularly the famous final scene.
Released in 1967, Bonnie and Clyde broke cinematic taboos for its portrayal of graphic violence. The film was controversial because it appeared to glorify Bonnie and Clyde, characters based on a real couple who went on a crime spree and killed people who stood in their way. The movie ends with an ambush scene in which policemen kill Bonnie and Clyde in a firestorm of bullets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
El prestamista
(The Pawnbroker)<\/strong>
Sidney Lumet, director<\/em>
poster 1971\/ film 1964
silkscreen on paper
Collection Morri\u00f1a-Men\u00e9ndez<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"