The Padrone Giovanni (son of Alfredo Senior) began to describe the Italian farm laborers as nothing but Bolsheviks & dirty communists.  He began to tell his people that we need to look at these "Bolsheviks" in the same way the Catholic Church viewed the Saracens (Muslims) who invaded Jerusalem or like the Mongols under Genghis Khan who invaded all of Asia and parts of Europe over 1000 years ago.

He also stated that the Padrone class (landowners) needed to have just as severe a response as the Catholic Church did with the Saracen Muslims during the "Holy Crusades" and be determined to wipe them out.

Why do you think Giovanni felt it was best to paint this type of demeaning & foreign image of the Italian farm laborers - aka Peasants ?

What was his goal or objective? In other words what did Giovanni want his fellow Padrone landowners to think when they considered the peasant classes that began organizing & resisting?

What are the possible effects or consequences of his aggressive argument or perspective?

In the film 1900 we witness the emergence of organized violence being planned by the landowning Padrone class.  This turning point in the events taking place in Italy during the early 20th century is the emergence of fascism in Italy. 

What does this situation reveal about fascism & its starting point of using organized violence? What does this situation reveal about human behavior and societies?

In the film Vive ! Cuba we are taken into a local conflict between two Cuban families which stemmed from their beliefs about national loyalty, economics & social status.  The parents felt great disdain and anger towards each other.  One family thought socialist Cuba was honorable & good for all Cubans despite the sacrifices while the other family thought the system denied them their needs and wants and saw the communist socialist system as flawed pushing them to find a way out of Cuba.  

In the middle of the dispute were two children Malú & Jorgito who had their own ideas on where they wanted to be and how to act towards each other.   Eventually Malú & Jorgito separated themselves from the adults charged with caring and teaching them.  With their travels away from home we had a chance to see their behaviors towards each other.  We had a chance to witness their behaviors during times of ease & difficulty. 

What does this story teach us about human communities, socio-political systems or human behavior?  Explain why your ideas are important to understand.  How does it help us to see more clearly the way things happen in larger contexts (or personal contexts)?