A pious plantation owner attempts to teach Christianity to 12 of his slaves by inviting them to participate in a reenactment of the Last Supper.
Direction
Alea's unblinking long takes that dare you to look away
Writing
Dialogue so loaded it should come with a trigger warning
Production
Claustrophobic single-location tension that makes 12 Angry Men look cozy
Director
Tomás Gutiérrez Alea
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Made in 1976 Cuba, this was Alea's middle finger to both Spanish colonialism and Soviet-approved socialist realism—he got away with formal experimentation because the anti-colonial message was bulletproof.
The entire film is structured like a mass: procession, liturgy, communion, benediction. By the time you realize you're watching a black comedy about genocide, you're already implicated.
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