Past Film/Video | Classics

The Last Supper

(La última cena, Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, 1976)

New Restoration

Info & Tickets

A man stands on top of wooded hills with his mouth and arms wide open.

Jun 13, 2024 7:00 PM

Film/Video Theater

$7 members and adults 55 and over
$9 general public
$5 students

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This rarely screened film blends classical and surrealist elements to create a forceful message against colonialism.

A sanctimonious Spanish count and plantation owner in 1790s Havana decides to stage a pre-Easter recreation of the Last Supper using 12 of his slaves as disciples. He hopes to teach them about Christianity and even grants a reprieve from work on Good Friday. The enslaved men reject the proselytizing during the long dinner and later learn the count has reneged on his promises, leading to a violent uprising. In Spanish with English subtitles. (113 mins., 4K DCP)

See the entire Tomás Gutiérrez Alea lineup.

IMAGE CAPTION
The Last Supper, courtesy of Cohen Film Collection.

Feature: “A Cuban Filmmaker’s Brutal Satire of Religion and Colonialism,” Nadine Smith, Hyperallergic

More about the filmmaker

Tomás Gutiérrez Alea (1928–1996) wrote and directed more than 20 features, documentaries, and short films throughout his life. Steeped in film history during his studies at Rome’s Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia, Gutiérrez Alea pays homage in his films to the greats who inspired him, including Charlie Chaplin and Luis Buñuel. Following the Cuban revolution in 1959, and with the support of the Castro regime, he and a group of other young filmmakers founded the Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográficos (ICAIC). The collective advocated for film as an art form and as the best method of disseminating revolutionary ideals to the masses. Ever dedicated to the revolution, his films nonetheless deftly critique the social, economic, and political realities of life in Cuba.

Tag(s)

Film/Video

Restored in 2020 by Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industrias Cinematográficos and Academy Film Archive in collaboration with Cinémathèque royale de Belgique at Roundabout Entertainment and Audio Mechanics Laboratories.

Copromotional support provided by Ohio State's Center for Latin American Studies.

FILM/VIDEO PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY
National Endowment for the Arts
Ohio Humanities

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY
Rohauer Collection Foundation

WEXNER CENTER PROGRAMS MADE POSSIBLE BY
Ohio Department of Development
Greater Columbus Arts Council
The Wexner Family
Institute of Museum and Library Services
Ohio Arts Council, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts
CampusParc
Ohio State’s Global Arts + Humanities Discovery Theme
The Columbus Foundation
Axium Packaging
Nationwide Foundation
Vorys, Sater, Seymour, and Pease

ADDITIONAL SUPPORT PROVIDED BY
Mike and Paige Crane
Nancy Kramer
Ohio State Energy Partners
Ohio History Fund/Ohio History Connection
Larry and Donna James
David Crane and Elizabeth Dang
Bruce and Joy Soll
Rebecca Perry Damsen and Ben Towle
Jones Day
Alex and Renée Shumate