A Review: The Lost City

In 1958 Cuba was held in the tightening grip of Fulgencio Batista, erstwhile democrat, reinvented as stereotypical Latin American strongman. Idiomatically as he squeezed power tighter and tighter, more and more groups began to slip through his fingers. The most famous now, though not neccessarily then was that led by Fidel Castro and Ernesto "Che" Guevarra. There were others, however. In the post WWII world on the back doorstep of the United States each of these groups sought to appeal to their bigger neighbor by speaking of democracy and pluralism. Paradoxically most also used the anti-imperial language of the day to argue against Batitsta as a stooge of the United States, propped up to ensure stability in the Carribbean in the early days of the Cold War.

In the end, Castro and Guevarra marched into Havanna on January 9, 8 days after Batista fled the country. They quickly abandoned any democratic ideal in favor of the brutal imposition of communist ideals. Guevarra was a particularly idealistic revolutionary who uickly set about reforming the economic, political and social systems. This involved lots of killing, lots of forced labor and lots of Cubans fleeing to semi-voluntary exile in New York and Miami. He was a classic example of a person who believed that the ends justify the means. He took this philosophy to its fullest extent, using the worst forms of injustice in pursuit of paridise for the people he genuinely loved.

Most literary and cinematic treatments of this period of Cuban history take one of two tracks. Either they portray Fidel and Che as idealistic revolutionaries bringing joy to the people, or they portray them as evil power grabbing monsters looking for a country to rule so they could confront the United States. Che in particular is rarely portrayed realistically.

The Lost City succeeds in presenting this period realistically to a degree I have rarely if ever seen. Batista is shown as the nasty tyrant he was, Fidel is shown as the would be tyrant he was, Che is shown as the amoral idealist he was, and the manifest failings of the communist revolution to shape a functioning society are at least alluded to.

It is the story of a nightclub owner Fico Fellove, played well by Andy Garcia, who is trying to hold together his splintering family and business through the trials of the time. One brother goes off to join Fidel in the mountains, another leads a band of would be liberators on a suicide mission to assassinate Batista in his palace. As Fidel begins to consolidate control and pressure mounts his club is shut down, his uncle killed for his tobacco plantation, his friends killed by his brother. Eventually he flees to the US to start over.

The movie is fascinating as a picture of the times, refusing to shed favorable light on any of the players, chosing instead to show it as the very difficult and trying time that it was. It is also an excellent portrait of an individual trying to make sense of the insanity of the world around us. Fico is forced out of his comfortable existence and forced to see and interact with the reality around him. It is a little slow at times, but there's a nice romantic twist and Bill Murray is funny as Fico's disillusioned friend. It is in English, which can be a bit disconcerting, but overall it is very well done.