The Last Supper (1976) User Reviews

Intelligent, challenging, if flawed political drama

[runamokprods · 8/10 · 14 June 2010]

Intelligent political drama about a slave owner trying to soothe his conscience by inviting 12 of his slaves to eat with him Easter week, in imitation of the last supper.

The set-up and rebellion ending are a bit obvious and heavy handed, but the long, theatrical middle, where the master and slaves slowly get drunk and reveal themselves, and the complex contradictions of religion and commerce has moments of real brilliance.

What's impressive is that the film's politics are clear, but not simplistic. The slaves are not painted as purely good and pure, nor is the master without his moments of humanity. All are ultimately products of a corrupt system - one that could be taken as a metaphor for modern capitalism and religion, but really are about any power system that forces submission on human beings

Historical drama examining a slave revolt with religious allegory.

[mdonath · 6/10 · 1 March 2000]

Aside from a fairly realistic depiction of how a historical slave revolt could have occurred on a sugar plantation, the best part of this film is the interplay between the slave owner and his slaves. The arrogant slave owner, believing himself to be sacrosanct, tries to teach his slaves to accept their lot in life. Not surprisingly, they can't understand his bizarre efforts, which wind up igniting the revolt.

One part I really liked about this movie was the way it showed the different characters of the slaves. Instead of just lumping them together as one downtrodden mass, their individual personalities are displayed.

they probably couldn't have made this movie twenty years earlier

[lee_eisenberg · 7/10 · 19 July 2008]

Admittedly, it's very likely improbable that a slave owner would do anything to treat his slaves as his equals. But apparently, "La ultima cena" ("The Last Supper" in English) is based on true events, although I don't know whether or not they changed anything. The movie portrays a slave owner in 18th century Cuba reenacting the famous final meal of Jesus, having his slaves play the disciples.

Of course, the movie's main purpose is to show slavery's brutality and the racism that was law of the land at the time. Aside from the total cruelty inflicted on black people - namely what the slave owner does at the end - someone talks about how white has to come before black (I can't remember the exact line, but it was something like that). As it was, this continued through the 1950s: even though Fulgencio Batista was dictator, he was mulatto and got excluded from an all-white club near Havana. It was only after the revolution that blacks achieved equal status.

For the most part, I recommend this movie. We may have read volumes about slavery, but you have to see it depicted; of course, probably no film can make us truly understand how horrible it was to experience slavery. This movie does what it can. Tomas Gutierrez Alea has turned out some good work.

More about religion than a nun can teach, from a communist

[pablopaz · 9/10 · 23 December 2000]

When this film was first released in the USA, it got wow reviews and drew critical audiences. It left an indelible mark in my memory -- still vivid almost 25 years later. I found its reality (despite a period set-piece atmosphere and an alien mindset) drew me in. Ask yourself at the end: who is Judas? Who is the Savior? What is the myth? This is one movie you must see, no matter how high or low you might rate it.

analysis of film

[Ahsonwali · 20 February 2006]

In the film The Last Supper, we are presented with a historical recreation of 17th and 18th century Cuba during the islands boom as a major sugar producer and therefore consequently, slave importer. This sets the stage for the main purpose of the film: a reconstruction of a slave revolt against the brutal Spanish plantation system. The film is filled with symbolism and imagery and has a political subtext that invokes the spirit of Cubanidad. This is done purposefully, with the director most likely taking into account the target audience, and possibly, a bit of directorial influence from the powers that be. Although the film was made in Communist Cuba in the 1970's, it is not at all a shameless propaganda piece, and does have a great deal of historical merit.

The film begins with a visit by the plantation owner to his plantation estate, a subtle depiction of the absentee landowner system, which was prevalent in the Cuban-colonial system. The landowner is brought into contact with a depraved overseer, and a Catholic priest both of whom exemplify different yet complimentary forms of brutality and exploitation. The overseer, acts as the ruthless enforcer on the plantation who is frequently depicted abusing slaves, and exemplifies the overtly brutal symbol of slave subjugation. The Catholic priest's role is to highlight the complicity of the Catholic Church in the slave trade, and forms the more subtle and covert psychological factor in slave subjugation. This type of psychological subjugation is depicted at several instances throughout the film and gives the most shape and substance to the films basic theme: the use of religion, namely Spanish style Catholicism, as a subjugating and oppressive force to instill a sense of fatalism amongst the slaves who would then become docile and more manageable. This is visualized in the interactions between the Priest and Landowner, with the slaves, in various instances throughout the film.

The symbolic imagery is brought to fruition in the supper scene, from which the title of the film arises, in which the landowner shares a meal with his slaves similar to the last supper Jesus shared with his apostles. The Landowner does so in order to fulfill his white-mans burden and civilize the savage-non-Christian-African-slaves. It is here that the true purpose of Christianity is revealed. The landowner tells the slave that the suffering and misery experienced by them in this world is God favoring them, and that their true reward shall be in the next life. The slaves make a mockery of this and the wisest of the slaves positioned as Judas at the right hand of the landowner (who is symbolically placed in the position of Jesus), launches into a parable based on Santeria, which is purported to have been widespread amongst the people, slave and free, of Cuba at the time. The parable tells the tale of falsehood, in this case Christianity, which roams the earth in the guise of truth. Santeria is positioned as intrinsically Cuban and liberating, while Catholicism is positioned as inherently oppressive and alien. This positioning seems purposely done to invoke a spirit of nationalism for all things Cubanidad. It is this tale, and the enlightened Judas-esquire slave, that serve as catalysts for the eventual orgiastic-slave-rebellion which takes place near the conclusion of the film.

The film also captures the exploitative reality of the coartacion system, which often times is the basis some scholars use in stating that the Spanish system of slavery was less brutal than those that existed in other colonial systems. The movie comes closer to the truth and is actually supported by historical documentation in properly portraying the coartacion system as a means to better exploit slave labor, rather than to liberate the individual slave. This irony of the coartacion system is not lost on the director who skillfully depicts its true nature. This is done so in the supper scene, where an elderly slave makes a request of the landowner to forgive his remaining debt and allow him to go free. The landowner acquiesces, but the elderly slave having become completely institutionalized has nowhere to go and breaks down in tears. The elderly slave is near death and has toiled the majority of his life away trying to buy his freedom, which he ultimately fails to do. The landowner uses this to further belittle the slaves, attempting to point out that freedom would not bring them happiness, only a life of endless toil with the possibility of achieving recompense in the hereafter could achieve this end.

In the concluding scenes of the film, the once warm and forgiving landowner has abandoned his previous disposition and subdues the slave revolt in a brutal manner. The final scene is the erection of a new cross on the future site of a new church to be built in the honor of the overseer who meets his fate at the hands of the metaphorical Judas during the uprising. The site is surrounded with the amputated heads of revolting slaves, placed on pikes at the landowner's behest. This final imagery brings full circle the theme of the film.

Interesting Take.

[anaconda-40658 · 10/10 · 16 February 2016]

The Last Supper (1976): Dir: Tomas Gutierrez Alea / Cast: Mario Acea, Mario Balmaseda, Francisco Borroto, Samuel Claxton, Silvano Rey: Curious foreign film about the misunderstanding and misinterpretation about the person of Jesus Christ. Whether the director and writers are schooled on the Bible and the life of Jesus is not known, but the satire element works. Set in Rural Cuba 1789 with a slave named Sabastian whose ear is severed and tossed to the dogs upon his third escape attempt. The overseer is a strict brute named Don Manuel who is ordered by the Count to pick out twelve slaves including Sebastian who will recite the Lord's supper with him. Effective sequence with scripture is recited but the Count becomes drunk and cannot recall giving the slaves no work on Good Friday. This leads to a rebellion where the slaves torch the mill. Beautifully crafted by director Tomas Gutierrez Alea with stunning location shots and exquisite photography throughout. It is obvious the the Count has read scripture but hardly understands their true meaning. The conclusion is both disturbing and symbolic as Sebastian joins the birds in a frantic flight for freedom. Strong character portraits highlight the film and the Biblical is not mocked but rather observe through the Count's clouded vision. He is a leader easily swayed by drunkenness and non Christ-like qualities. Score: 10 / 10

The boring testament

[Tarsitius · 5/10 · 11 January 2010]

In the introductory and the ending part, the play is enthralling, but unfortunately the medium part consists of 'the last meal', during which the landowner tries to explain the bible to the uneducated slaves. They react by making jokes about this metaphysics and by replying with their own cultural convictions.

After half an hour of eating, drinking and preaching, the landowner himself falls into sleep, as is the audience inclined to. This is what Hitchcock denounced as 'shooting the faces of people who are talking'.

To sum up: 2 hours is too much for this content, 1 1/2 would have been better.

True Events

[jnq242 · 9 March 2006]

I just thought I would contribute to comments by Kenneth and Willie by adding that the events actually did happen. It really contributes to the historical credibility of the film, as it was taken from the archives of one of Cuba's most eminent historians who also worked with the director on the film to ensure that it was as historically accurate as possible. This film is in fact a great insight to so many relationships and movements during this period of Cuban slavery and is, despite what might seem believable today, taken from true events. The only difference is that I am pretty sure that all of the slaves were captured and killed in the end. So it really just underscores the positive reviews that have already been made by both Kenneth and William.

Totally Believable

[islandkokonut · 4 September 2004]

Kenneth,

As a Cuban of African descent, this film IS believable. Just because the Anglos in this country acted ONE WAY, did not mean that Spaniards in another country couldn't possibly act ANOTHER WAY. Open your mind to other people's history. Just because Cuban history isn't comparable to U.S. History does it mean that it is not correct or believable. The world doesn't start and end with U.S. opinions. You exude that typical arrogance ascribed to "Americans"... like it was all about you. It is quite believable given our history as Africans in Latino America whether you choose to acknowledge it or not.

Three-dimensions of historical romance

[nyc848484 · 28 February 2006]

Willie,

The fact that you are of Afro-Cuban descent makes you no more credible a source than Kenneth. What any of this has to do with American arrogance or sensibilities is anyone's guess as I am not even sure that Kenneth is an American. Your assumptions that he is either arrogant, misinformed or that any of these traits are representative of Americans in general are asinine at best and say much about your own ignorance. Further, slavery was a brutal institution everywhere that it festered. The idea of a master kissing the feet of any slave is noteworthy regardless of what European language the master spoke. That being said, the movie was exceptional!

The movie provides a better history lesson than a history book.

[kennethpombert · 5 May 2000]

The movie The Last Supper provides audiences an excellent opportunity to truly understand the hardships slaves had to endure. Books can state facts and offer descriptions, however, this movie provides the opportunity to see deeper than what history books and stories can tell. The most profound example of this is when Sebastian is caught after attempting to run away. As his punishment, his ear is cut off. This demonstrates the violation of basic human rights and the cruel treatment slaves had to endure.

At the end, when the slaves' heads are displayed, it is another brief lesson on the white male dominance and the control of the church over everyone. History lessons may teach that the church was extremely powerful during the conquest, but the movie makes it much more obvious on how far people took this power.

Unfortunately, the storyline is not believable, and for some people it is a distraction because it is an impossible situation. I highly doubt a slave owner would invite his slaves to a feast and humble himself infront of them by kissing their feet. However, a movie would not receive much attention if it presented the basics of slavery in a documentary format. The story provided the entertainment, and a history lesson was tucked inside of it.