La Ultima Cena depicts a picture of slavery on a sugar cane plantation during the eighteenth century. The movie was centered on the Holy week, of the Christian faith, which is celebrated to commemorate the death and resurrection of the Jesus Christ. The count was a devote Christian and wanted to appear like a religious man and spread that amongst his slaves. During this week he decides to reenact the Last Supper scene from the Bible. He invites his slaves over for a meal filled with fine wine and food. This set up is to represent a divine scene from the bible of Christ and his disciples was quickly turned into a man showing his superiority over a group of men solely because of their skin tone.
In general the film was historically accurate of slavery in Cuba during this time. John Mraz states that slaves owners were worried about runaways and revolt. The fear of black rebellions was present during this time and this would give slave owners autonomy and power over their slaves. It was not uncommon for a slave to be heavily beaten and or killed for attempting to escape or seek justice. La Ultima Cena portrayed this image through Sebastian. Manuel, the overseer of the mill, saw Sebastian as a major threat to the mill. If one man was able to see past the lies of a false justice then he could infect other to believe the same and they would have an other Santo Domingo or Haiti on their hands.
For slave and land owning elites, in Latin America, it was important for them to retain completely control and autonomy over their slaves and plantations. This was very evident in the Brazil during the reframing of their constitution. The property owning elite like Barros, believed that the slaves were “harmful” members of society. The issue was not that these men and women were sold and bought as property but it was a matter of their origin. The Brazilian framers did not believe that people born in Africa could be beneficial to their society. It was the racial superiority factor that was festering throughout the world during this time. Citizenship and human rights were not given or recognized to people while complete autonomy and superiority were given to people strictly because of their skin tone.
The lies people believed and told to make slavery socially acceptable were evident in every society around the world. La Ultima Cena delivered this message at dinner table scene, where a slave told a story how a lie had put on the face of truth and people. This to me sums up what was going on during the world during this time. The fact that many African believed that was place in society and that they were nothing more than property and accepted what was done to them. This would also allow many slave owners, buyers, and sellers to justify their actions and belief. The lies that had become truths infected society during this time.
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