Memories of Underdevelopment (1968) Memorias del subdesarrollo
Memories of Underdevelopment (1968)
BRRip | MKV | 640x480 | x264 @ 749 Kbps | 98 min | 631 Mb
Audio: Español MP3 @ 128 Kbps | Subs: English (embedded in MKV)
Genre: Art-house, Drama
BRRip | MKV | 640x480 | x264 @ 749 Kbps | 98 min | 631 Mb
Audio: Español MP3 @ 128 Kbps | Subs: English (embedded in MKV)
Genre: Art-house, Drama
Director: Tomás Gutiérrez Alea
Writers: Edmundo Desnoes (novel), Edmundo Desnoes (screenplay)
Stars: Sergio Corrieri, Daisy Granados, Eslinda Núñez
Sergio (Sergio Corrieri), through his life following the departure of his wife, parents and friends in the wake of the Bay of Pigs incident. Alone in a brave new world, Sergio observes the constant threat of foreign invasion while chasing young women all over Havana before finally meeting Elena (Daisy Granados), a young virgin girl he seeks to mould into the image of his ex-wife, but at what cost to himself?
Sergio, a bourgeois intellectual living off of (seemingly tenuous) rental income as a property holder, decides to stay in Cuba. The conflict set up between his intellectual convictions and the reality of Cuban life in the wake of the revolution makes up the central problem of the film. The film presents a year in the life of the protagonist, a year culminating in the missile crises of 1962. What makes the film is the candid nature of it's reflections on the role of the intellectual in political life - certainly THE hot topic during the summer of 1968. The film is also a stylistic tour de force, welding together neorealistic drama, newsreel footage, montages of life in contemporary Havana as seen from Sergio's flat (through a telescope), and some filmed Shavian-styled debates amid the action. Far from being a typical propaganda piece, the films treatment of the future of the revolution was very open ended, candid, and thoughtful. It's a film that emerges from the debates about the future and which stages it's own participation in that debate. The film features two significant cameos: Edmundo Desnoes - the author of the novel on which the film is based, and Gutierez Alea himself. Both cameos occur in diegetic reflections about art: a debate about literature in the case of Desnoes, and a talk with a young director in the case of Alea. This film is almost impossible to find in the US thanks to the Cuban expatriate zealot nonsense. It's worth seeking out. It's one of the best Cuban films ever and one of the greatest films of the new wave era.
(click to enlarge)
Memories of Underdevelopment (1968) Memorias del subdesarrollo
More in My Blog