LBJ (1968) User Reviews

Powerful Montage

[niltiac420 · 9/10 · 1 November 2005]

This short film pieces together, a powerful montage of arguments pro-communism against the capitalistic society. The film is quite progressive for its time, touching issues of race, and anti-American values (1968). The soundtrack is amazing and really helps bring out the single themes of each segment. It draws ideas from impressionist films, such as "Ballet Mecanique". Images of Lindon B. Johnson as "the brave cowboy" are played against cowboys killing Native Americans. The images were taken from Life Magazine, and filmed at different angles to produce movement. There were some short clips taken from earlier movies, and sound clips taken from political speeches. Powerful shots of Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy to show where Capitolism and greed have failed America. Actually, this film was not written for American viewing, rather for communist Cuba under the dictation of Fidel Castro. Amazing movement, and a powerful message complete through montage. Salvador Alvarez is amazing at his attempt to promote Commuism. I highly recommend this short film.

Santiago, a craftsman of film

[jorgejackass · 10/10 · 18 March 2009]

I saw this today, only 1 hour ago and it has not sunk in yet. The director of the Cuban Film Institute came to our school today and showed us some of the most beautiful cinema I have ever seen. All short documentaries that are brief but concise. This is a montage of different images from the JFK, Martin Luthor King and Bobby Kennedy triumphs and assesinations, all three events being observed by Lyndon Johnson as the dark figure who is plotting the anti-black rights movement. The montage is so well done for 1968, you can see and feel the amount of work put into this short. Truly a masterpiece of documentary cinema, a must see for anyone interested in the genre.

Not a political movie

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 30 September 2015]

People who hear the 3 letter LBJ, will probably mostly think of basketball player LeBron James today, but of course this has nothing to do with sports, but deals with the former American President Lyndon B. Johnson. This 18-minute movie was directed by Cuban filmmaker Santiago Álvarez, but there are no dialogs in here really, especially not in Spanish. It is not a political documentary as you could guess by the title, but a very very experimental movie that has some footage of the title character included, but also displays scenes from areas that have absolutely nothing to do with Johnson or American politics. As a whole, I cannot say I enjoyed this one too much. Then again, I am not too big on experimental films in general and there are certainly many worse out there. Still, not recommended.