Red Zone Cuba: Coleman Francis

Is it weird that Red Zone Cuba reminded me of Budd Boetticher's collaborations with Randolph Scott? Wait, don't answer that. Yes. Yes, it is.  Red Zone Cuba is probably the most infamous film by Coleman Francis, a celebrated auteur of cinematic drivel. His films (all three of them) share certain elements: stoic, emotionally absent middle-aged men, a fondness for communal scenes of coffee-drinking and cigarette-smoking, and the violent deaths of central characters.  Red Zone Cuba is by far Francis' most improbable and ridiculous film. It follows three men who search for a lost treasure in a tungsten mine. Of course, mid-way through their search they decide to fly to Cuba and take part in the 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion. An invasion which, apparently, only utilized approximately seven American soldiers.  One of the film's prolonged sequences involves the three men as POW's trapped in a Cuban prison who watch as one-by-one the other prisoners are taken outside and executed by a three man firing squad.  Somehow, the three men escape from Cuba and return to the United States where they continue their search for tungsten treasure. And, of course, their little foray into Cuba is never mentioned again.  The film is long, drawn-out, and entirely pointless. Even the film's value as a "good bad" movie is diminished by its glacial pacing, nonsensical story, and robotic acting. But you know, come to think of it, the acting in Red Zone Cuba is exactly what Robert Bresson spent his entire career trying to coax out of his actors.  Wait...on second thought, even Bresson would probably flail his arms and screech for the actors in this film to emote.

As a side note, I just want to point out that I am mesmerized by the film poster provided above.  It's not enough that they had to fill 2/3 of it with a bland photo of three bored actors...they had to add facial profiles FROM THE SAME PICTURE in the lower 1/3.

2/10