The Danger of New Technologies
By Olga Zhakova, with comment by Ed Tabor
[1] This scene contains one of the most profound, though very short, conversations in the film. This conversation is about new technologies and the consequences their introduction may have -- a question that was crucial for Cuban history. Thus, this scene refers the viewer to the situation in Cuba at the end of the 18th century, making The Last Supper an extremely historical film.
[2] The scene might be divided into two parts: conversation between Monsieur Ducle and the priest, and the conversation between Monsieur Ducle and the Count. It is interesting that these three figures represent three corners of a triangle: the Church (the priest), new technologies (Monsieur Ducle), and slavery (the Count together with Don Manuel) -- a triangle that is crucial for understanding not only the film but Cuban history in general. These three forces supporting and reinforcing each other defined the course of slavery and, as a result, the history of Cuba.
[3] It is obvious that the priest and Monsieur Ducle don’t like each other. Monsieur Ducle is constantly mocking the priest’s views and beliefs. In this scene, Monsieur Ducle, while showing different types of sugar, addresses the priest saying that the pristine white sugar is purged by fire just like souls are purified in purgatory. Smirking, the priest answers that “Unfortunately, not all souls are purified in purgatory.†Monsieur Ducle doesn’t give up, saying that “not all cane is converted into white sugar.†It is important that on the last two phrases the camera stops its movement and “stares†at the two characters, emphasizing the importance of the words being pronounced. Then Don Manuel crosses the screen, supporting with his smile Monsieur Ducle and making fun of the priest. Different meanings can be found in this mini-dialogue. For example, Paul Schroeder finds here an implication that “miscegenation in Cuba will not produce a white race, as some abolitionists were arguing at the time†(81). However, what I see here is, first of all, the reference to the Church’s actions. Monsieur Ducle uses the word “convert,†implying the priest’s efforts in converting blacks into Christians and the failure of such actions. One can also see the confrontation between the Church (represented by the priest) and people who represent new technologies (Monsieur Ducle) and slavery (Don Manuel). With Don Manuel and Monsieur Ducle making fun of the priest, one can suspect that this confrontation will be crucial for the film. What if Don Manuel respected the Church and the priest? What if Monsieur Ducle thought about people, not about money? The events in the film could be absolutely different.
[4] Taken together with the previous scene in which Monsieur Ducle shows his innovative technology in cane production, the given scene is especially important since it refers the viewer to the historical context in which the events in the film take place. It was the sugar industry that defined the Cuban history after the independence of Haiti. Before the independence of Haiti, Cuban economy grounded on trade, not on sugar. However, with the Haitian revolution, the French landowners had to leave the country, and they moved to Cuba with the intention of continuing their sugar business. It is not an accident that the engineer in the film has a French last name -- Ducle -- meaning the role of the French in the history of Cuba, the development of the sugar industry, and, as a result, a crucial demographic change took place at the end of the 18th century -- right when the action in The Last Supper happens.
[5] It was technological advancements that caused each wave of the demographic growth. The introduction of the steam-powered sugar mill at the end of the 18th century made a huge difference. As Louis Pérez mentions, “The size of the average sugar plantation in 1762 was 320 acres worked by six to eight slaves. Thirty years later the average had increased to 700 acres worked by almost one hundred slaves†(qtd in Deaver 440). Each of the technological developments allowed the owners to process more cane; however, in order to do it, more slaves were needed. As a result, the number of slaves in Cuba increased severely. As is pointed out in by Schroeder, “During the previous 250 years of Spanish rule between 1512 and 1763, an estimated total of 60,000 slaves had been introduced into Cuba. This rate changed dramatically, and between 1764 and 1790 the number of slaves imported into Cuba surpassed the 50,000 mark, averaging approximately 2,000 slaves a year†(80). In the given scene, Monsieur Ducle and the Count discuss the introduction of another technology -- the parallel press. Monsieur Ducle is talking about the danger related to this new technology, since it will bring an enormous number of blacks into the country. He is anticipating this demographic revolution that actually happened in the first half of the 19th century, when the number of slaves increased from about 40,000 in 1791 to approximately 400,000 in 1862 (Schroeder 80). (see comment by Ed Tabor)
[6] The use of music in this scene is very supportive of the content. Most of the scene is done without any music, but when Monsieur Ducle pronounces the phrase “We shall need more blacks,†disturbing music begins to sound, growing louder as he continues talking about the danger that comes along with the growth of the black population. Thus, Gutierrez Alea makes the viewer pay attention to the words, remember them, and unconsciously the audience begins to worry, anticipating something important to happen. This scene is an amazing example of how music can reinforce meaning, make an emphasis on certain words or events, and influence viewer’s emotions on the subconscious level.
[7] Although the camera movement in this scene seems quite common, it does an important job picking out the characters needed for this or that dialogue, stopping while some phrases are being pronounced, thus emphasizing their meaning, and distributing the frame space between characters so that the viewer could concentrate on the most important details. Plus, one can find a remarkable example of the zooming technique in this scene, which adds an enormous amount of meaning to the shot. When the Count, while talking to Monsieur Ducle, pronounces the phrase “Don’t worry. We know how to handle the blacks,†the camera gradually zooms in on his face. By the time the camera has stopped, the expression on the Count’s face changes from confident to anxious as someone is screaming (they caught the escaped slave). Together with the disturbing music, this zoom onto the Count’s face and his phrase put together an amazing freeze frame that reflects the core theme of the film.
[8] Interpreting the whole film though this scene, it is easy to understand how important it is to think not only about the profit, but about people. It is lack of understanding of human nature and, most importantly, lack of a desire to comprehend slaves as human beings that leads to the revolt on the mill. Together with the unconsidered aspiration for money (represented by the new technologies), it could be a disaster.
Comments
Although Gutiérrez Alea only hints at the dangers of technology in his film, John Mraz argues that not only were machines problematic in the number of slaves that were necessary to run them but that they also made slavery more difficult. He relates the fact that “machines were a curse to the slave. . . . In their first stage they magnified slavery in an exploitive process that was progressively bestial. . . . This partial mechanization increased the traditional barbarism of the mill by demanding synchronization of manual work with mechanical processes†(115). Gutiérrez Alea is much more careful in his condemnation of industry than his contemporary filmmaker Sergio Giral. Giral had no problem questioning the excessive use of machinery in The Other Francisco. Gutiérrez Alea seems to stepping more cautiously around the figure of the industrial revolution. In fact Duclé, although a slave-driver, is an enlightened master engineer who seeks progress -- although he is careful to weigh the benefits against the dangers. While the attack on the corrupted doctrine of the Church is clearly one the film’s objectives, I’m not sure Gutiérrez is out to condemn the machine. In the end Duclé turns out to be the most progressive thinker of all, for he hides Sebastian from the trackers.
