In A Successful Man, the roots of the Cuban revolution are explored through the lives of two brothers on different sides of the power struggle. The film has a grand scope, covering 30 years of a family’s history as well as the country’s changes. It benefits from its grand settings and sweeping camera work, but lags in its attention to convincing character development.

In Cecilia, the focus turns to interracial love in the upper class, as the title character longs for acceptance by a white man in spite of her mixed blood. Of all the films, Cecilia seems to have the best character development and most accomplished plot, probably because it concerns itself primarily with matters of the heart instead of the surrounding political climate. As the attractive title character, Daisy Granados provides a heartbreaking turn as a lovelorn lass fighting an uphill battle against an ingrained caste system.

The final film, Amada, also has a love affair at its heart, but cast against the larger backdrop of World War I. Amada is trapped in a loveless marriage and finds solace with her cousin, leading to a Shakespearean tragedy of overwrought proportions. The film never makes us care about Amada, so her melodramatic longing for her paramour comes off as cheap romance novel pap rather than engaging cinema.

All of the movies have been restored for this collection, with crisp and clean pictures throughout. Each disc has limited bonus material, usually a basic photo gallery and director's filmography as well as a brief feature on some aspect of Cuban cinema such as its actresses and current crop of filmmakers. The set could benefit from more in-depth background material as this is clearly an introductory experience for many viewers. Also, the subtitles are positioned beneath the frame in all of the films, meaning that viewers hoping to fully utilize their new widescreens will have to learn Spanish fast or resign themselves to less than optimal viewing settings. Aside from those minor quibbles, the set is an extremely welcome addition to US DVD shelves and will hopefully lead to further exploration of the ignored movie archives of Cuba. For more information, visit First Run Features.