Cuban and Soviet officials initially rejected Mikhail Kalatozov’s 1964 film I Am Cuba . The objections centered on its “excessive naiveté and an insufficiently revolutionary spirit,” per Film at Lincoln Center.

Kalatozov had already won the Palme d’Or for The Cranes Are Flying . Soviet poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko co-wrote the script for I Am Cuba , and Sergei Urusevsky handled the cinematography.

Yet it went largely disregarded and almost unknown for nearly 30 years.

Today, it holds a perfect 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes from 40 critic reviews. Audiences nearly agree, with a 91% Popcornmeter from more than 2,500 ratings.

The site also ranks it No. 135 among its 300 Best Movies of All Time .

“Visually absorbing and formally audacious,” the site’s critics’ consensus read.…