The Last Supper

	Cine Cubano después de 1959 "The Last Supper" Tomas Gutiérrez Alea 1976

	The film is based on a true story as John Mraz describes in his article: Recasting Cuban Slavery: The Other Francisco and the Last Supper "... The Last Supper is based on an anecdote about a slaveholder who in 1790 decided to replicate Jesus' act of washing his disciples' feet. Gutiérrez Alea found the account in a work by one of Cuba's most eminent historians, Manuel Moreno Fraginals: 'His Excellency the Count de Casa Bayona decided in an act of deep Christian fervor to humble himself before the slaves. One Holy Thursday he washed twelve Negroes' feet, sat them at his table, and served them food in imitation of Christ. But their theology was somewhat shallow and, instead of behaving like the Apostles, they took advantage of the prestige they thus acquired in their fellow-slaves' eyes to organize a mutiny and burn down the mill. The Christian performance ended with rancheadores (hunters of escaped slaves) hunting down the fugitives and sticking on twelve pikes the heads of the slaves before whom his Excellency had prostrated himself." Another account of the film is found in A Guide to Cuban Cinema: "The Last Supper is both an allegory and satire on Christianity in an oppressive society. The film is actually based on an incident which occurred in Cuba towards the end of the 18th Century, when a guilt-ridden Count, torn between the need to keep up production on his plantation and a desire to introduce the tenets of Christianity to his slaves, decides to reenact the Last Supper. It is no surprise that once the slave master decided on this course he would portray himself as Christ. The events take place during Holy Week between Maundy Thursday and Easter Sunday. Central to the entire film are four fundamental conflicts: that of the priest who is determined to teach the slaves the meaning of Christianity, for which he demands from the Count that there should be no work on the Sabbath and holy days, and from the slaves that adhere to the maxim that slaves should obey their masters; that of the overseer who has his production quotas to fill and who is determined to keep the slaves in line on the plantation and who sees the work of the priest as both dangerous and detracting from the achievement of his quotas; that of the slaves, proud, resilient, and forever ready to subvert the system; and that of the Count, torn between the need to extract as much labor from his slaves, and burdened by the guilt that as a white slave holder his work would be unfulfilled if he failed to bring the true teachings of Christianity to his slaves. The skillful manipulation of these conflicts makes for a very exciting film."