One of the scenes that is particularly notable is the telescope scene early in the movie. This scene is an example of the feature film style in the movie. The scene serves to give the viewer a look at Cuba and at Sergio's role in the country and film. The scene is very aesthetically interesting and very important in the film.

Each of the individual things that Sergio looks at symbolizes a part of Cuba. The couple can be seen as the frivolous and romantic nature of the country. The Cuba we as Americans used in our movies; a tropical paradise with beaches and love abounding. It can also be construed that Alea has no intentions of making this film comforting and easy to watch. When this shot is displayed so early on the viewer is uncomfortable. We wonder why he is showing us this, and then it is gone.

Now a schoolyard, very disconcerting immediately after the peeping tom shot just before. The schoolyard shows us that the education of the people in Cuba does exist. But the narrative and the not very scholastic nature of the shot, the kids are playing soccer, leaves the viewer doubting the validity of this education.

The shots of the cityscape are very interesting. They show us the developed country that is struggling to come to maturity, with industry, trade, and municipal buildings to rival a first worldís. We see a building that resembles the capitol building in Washington D.C., a number of large factories with smokestacks and all sorts of advanced looking stuff around. And then the shot of the huge boat steaming itís way across the bay; the viewer thinking that it is full of products. But Sergioís narrative and the shot of the unfinished or possibly stolen monument leave us doubting this development. The whole series of shots are very important in showing the viewer the underdeveloped nature of the country.

The scene ends with Sergio reaching over to the birdcage he has on his balcony and pulling out a dead bird. He looks at it and pitches it over the side. From this we can draw any number of things. Sergio is very quickly showing the viewer where he feels the country is going. The viewers get a glimpse into his feelings on his homeland.

My initial reaction to this scene was reminiscent of the showing of looking through binoculars in a cartoon, the blacked out sides. I was very impressed by the deliberateness and symbolism that Alea uses in the scene. I felt immediately that the scene was a foreshadow of the things to come, notably the placement of Sergio in the story and the mood of the film. I really liked the order of images and the feelings that the images Sergio looked at invoked in me. I felt that this scene was very powerful and well directed.

One of the scenes in the movie that embodies the documentary theme is shortly thereafter when Sergio is walking around in the city. The shots that the director uses are very unstaged. It seems that the people on screen donít even know they are being filmed. The people are shown just standing around and waiting for something to happen. The women have curlers in their hair; the people arenít beautiful they are ugly and real. During all this the narrative from Sergio is very scathing and negative. He talks about how nice Cuba used to be, and how it used to be a Mecca in the Caribbean. He goes on to compare Havana to the Paris of the Caribbean, but says that now it is the Tegucigalpa. (Tegucigalpa being the very third world capitol city of Honduras.) The shots going on during this make you, the viewer, feel as if you are present in the city. The interspersed historical footage of the fire at the major hotel helps to reinforce this idea of documentary. Alea is trying to create a mood. He wants the viewer to not be a spectator of his film, but to be a part of it. Similar to the opening scene in its rawness, this scene draws the viewer ion and places you there. You might as well be strolling along looking at the people just like Sergio is. This technique of the documentary is used to trigger ideas and similarities from their own life; ideas and similarities like, the parallel that this looks like a documentary, maybe it is. Alea fools us into believing unconditionally what he shows us.