Film: Sons Of Cuba
Release date: 19th March 2010
Certificate: TBC
Running time: 88 mins
Director: Andrew Lang
Starring: Yosvani Bonachea, Cristian Martinez, Santos Urguelles
Genre: Documentary
Studio: Windfall
Format: Cinema
Country: Cuba/UK
Anyone with a keen interest in sport, and particularly the Olympics, will be aware that Cuba have been a dominant force in boxing – not surprising given most boxers emanate from underprivileged backgrounds, and, as this documentary starkly illustrates, conditions in this country are appalling enough to breed “fighters” (according to the film’s coach, “We Cubans are fighting from the moment we are born.”)…
This award-winning film focuses on three promising child boxers - Cristian ‘The Old Man’, Santos ‘The Singer’ and Junior ‘The Dalmation’ – who have been hand-picked to train at the Havana Boxing Academy (essentially, a detention camp) by a single-minded coach, Yosvani Bonachea, desperate to avenge a previous defeat, and so dedicated that he “can’t give his own kids the love they need.”
With unprecedented access, we follow these three talented youngsters over an eight month period, as they aim to reach the National Boxing Championships for the under-12s, where it’s win or nothing, offering an insight into how this country, despite its restrictions, has become a leader in the sport’s amateur field.
Given the country’s mistrust and contempt for outsiders (in one scene, a 10-year-old boxer talks about his fears of an eminent US military attack, and being ready to fight when that happens), it’s a major feat that Lang has been able to capture such personal and intimate moments on film – the subjects open up, and this as honest an account as you could hope for.
Most viewers will be repelled by the treatment of these children (who “enlisted now can’t quit”), a number of whom sleep on bunk beds in a small box room, and are woken daily at 4am to begin a gruelling exercise regime that is only interrupted by school (which seems to focus on brainwashing with political propaganda) – they understandably struggle to stay awake. In some scenes, the coach has them barking and howling like dogs, and in others you see the sacrifices forced upon them to ensure they are kept underweight (i.e. starving them) – what they are fed is basic, unappealing, and served on what resembles a prison food tray (or out of a bucket). Santos, in particular, struggles to keep his weight borderline anorexic (when he wants to leave, his family show zero compassion and ignore him), and is caught out when a pastry shop sends a bill to the academy. Methods to induce sweat and weight loss include covering them with mattresses as they sleep. Even their heads are shaved to ensure there is not even the smallest unnecessary additional weight.
Your views will waver, however, when the children are allowed to leave for a short home stay. Cuba is shown as bleak and crumbling, and the children return home to what are essentially slums, and broken families – Cristian’s ever competitive father, now separated from his mum, is a former Olympic and world boxing gold medallist, but given his clear despondency, and the poverty he now finds himself in, it’s a massive contradiction to the children’s belief they are competing for “a better future.”
But you can understand why these children strive for this opportunity. For now, their surroundings have been improved, and when you see the camaraderie and bonds between them (Cristian is unable to hide his upset at having to fight, and ultimately beat his friend in a forced match-up), and with their coach, who is genuinely close to the boys, showing moments of real care and emotion (tucking them into bed, shedding tears, and comforting a distraught Junior whose parents are separating), despite otherwise being a strict disciplinarian. One child describes the academy as his home, whilst another refers to people there as his family.
Still, whilst we warm to the children, and ultimately root for their success against main rivals the Matanzas (farmer’s sons who “eat stones” and can “punch you to the north pole”), what really stays with you is the empty look in their eyes and continuous emotional and physical distress they are forced to endure (in one scene, a group of children are stood in just their pants to be weighed, resembling a cattle market). There are also comparisons to an underground dog fight, in the manner these children are put to fight each other, providing a slightly perverted spectacle for the older audience.
Even if their lives are being marginally improved by attending this academy, it’s only because of the country’s regime, and its warped sense of pride and self-worth. As much as you can admire a country’s individual, non-capitalist footing, it’s clear this is not a just system, with children manipulated and bullied.
The film opens with Fidel Castro’s (a now fashionable, iconic, and even revered figure by many in the west) words that sport was “on the frontline” and “Fatherland or death,” and he is omnipresent throughout (from posters, wall gravity, to marches and news footage), with children under the belief their efforts were making him proud, with reading matter and schooling focussed on their “duty” - anyone that deferred from his rules (three former Olympic champions defected to the US) are said to have “betrayed” their country.
Under the pretence of examining a comparatively small subject, and with little effort to delve or force, Lang has succeeded in exposing wider socio-political issues. Deeply affecting. DH
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