Jenna Campbell

History 344- Race and Ethnicity in Latin America

Dr. Enrique Cotelo
November 10, 2016
"The Last Supper" La Ultima Cena 1976- Extra Credit

The film "The Last Supper" or La Ultima Cena shows the importance of racial and ethnic

ties on plantations. It highlights the allegiances that factions within each ethnic division

had(14:20) This movie also serves the purpose of demonstrating the use of religion to suppress

the anger and violence among the slave populations. La Ultima Cena skillfully brings to focus

the fact that most plantation owners did not have the savior of the slaves soul in mind, they

merely wanted a way to control the slaves further and to guilt them into subservience (55:59)

This film shows ethnic divisions in various ways. In the role of supervisor there are both

Spanish and French overseers. During the film their disagreements are evident, but their

"whiteness" ultimately calls them to align together (1:24:40). The slaves were African, but this

did not necessarily mean they saw each other as equal. This is because some slaves were given

priority and higher standing, this is shown early in the film when the count gives preferential

treatment to his personal slave Edmundo (14:25) Also, the slaves feel the need to announce their

backgrounds, in a way trying to dignify themselves and command respect. The slaves that are

allowed to come to the count's table then believe themselves to be above work and the other

slaves (1:23:12)

The role religion played in this film was immense. At the beginning of the movie, the

plantation owner disregards the importance of the slaves attending church, and he brushes off the

priests insistence of attending mass because, he is more focused on economic production than

spiritual, which made religious indoctrination difficult (5:53) However, after the count sees

religion as a way of controlling the slaves, his view begins to change. He attempts to modify the
slaves beliefs by positioning himself as Christ (22:16) By washing and kissing the feet of the

slaves, he hopes to persuade them to follow the biblical teachings of obedience to your master.

The count's views varied from the plantation priest however, because the priest from the

beginning reiterated the importance of the slaves attending church (25:15). After the count forced

the slaves to work on Good Friday, one of Christianity's most sacred days, the priest was livid.

The priest was willing to sacrifice a days work for the importance of paying respect to Christ's

sacrifice, while the count and Don Manuel were not (1:23:15)

An argument could be made that this film depicted both the historical viewpoint of

slavery and the view outlined by Stuart Schwartz. It represents the historical viewpoint of slavery

because it highlights disconnect between the slaves and their master (16:45) It represents the

historical viewpoint of slavery because it shows the harsh depiction of how slaves who rebelled

were treated. It also shows how the slave master were only kind when they were expecting

something in return from the slaves (13:30) This is evidenced through the situation in which the

count stages an entire recreation of The Last Supper just to subdue the slaves and generate more

work from them, but then quickly turns away from his promises leading to revolt (1:31:09). The

viewpoint of Schwartz is equally present. This is because, Schwartz outlines how the slaves in

Saint Dominique were not requesting outright freedom, rather they simply wanted to have some

sense of autonomy (1:26:30). Their requests were things like days off, which is actually what the

count offers them at the supper. This overjoyed the slaves, and they seemed to be less rebellious

and suspicious of the count upon him making this promise (1:10:38) Another way Schwartz

ideas were depicted was through the conversations the count had at the supper table. The slaves

tried to command respect from the count while at the table (31:00). This reinforced Schwartz's

presumption that slaves wanted respect from their master (31:00).

 Religion did have its shortcomings in the plantation system. It could not sit slaves and

masters at the same table, because despite biblical preaching on respecting your master, it hard

to give respect without receiving it in return, which often led to uprising(1:30:23) In this sense

slave rebellions were inevitable, because it is nearly impossible to comply with torture and

hardship. This is especially true in the situation in this film, because the slaves could have easily

caught wind of the uprising and success of the Saint Dominique revolt (25:30). The slaves had

also been betrayed in this film pushing them towards the edge of an uprising.

In conclusion, this film highlights the importance of religion in the plantation systems.

Often the harshness of slave life is described, but not as often are the ways masters subdued their

hostility discussed (44:39). It also shows how even if each faction of an ethnicity thinks itself

superior to another, that they will eventually come to each others aid because of that racial

bond(1:24:39).