Memories of Underdevelopment

1968 [SPANISH]

Action / Drama

8
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 83% · 26 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 83% · 1K ratings
IMDb Rating 7.6/10 10 5287 5.3K

cuba

Plot summary

In the aftermath of the Bay of Pigs incident, Sergio chooses to stay behind in Cuba while his wife and family escape to neighboring Miami. Alone in a brave new world, Sergio observes the constant threat of foreign invasion while chasing young women all over Havana. He finally meets Elena, a young girl he seeks to mould into the image of his ex-wife, but at what cost to himself?

Director

Tomás Gutiérrez Alea Photo
Tomás Gutiérrez Alea

Top cast

Tomás Gutiérrez Alea Photo
Tomás Gutiérrez Alea as Self
Sergio Corrieri Photo
Sergio Corrieri as Sergio Carmona Mendoyo
Daisy Granados Photo
Daisy Granados as Elena
Yolanda Farr Photo
Yolanda Farr
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
904.12 MB
1204*720
Spanish 2.0
NR
Subtitles es  
24 fps
1 hr 38 min
Seeds 4
1.64 GB
1792*1072
Spanish 2.0
NR
Subtitles es  
24 fps
1 hr 38 min
Seeds 22

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by christopher-underwood 7 / 10

The fact that I enjoyed this a lot whilst disliking much within the film is odd

The fact that I enjoyed this a lot whilst disliking much within the film is odd. It is a compelling tale set at the beginning of the 60s as tensions between the US and Cuba increase and are complicated by an opportunist USSR and the cinematography is daringly wondrous making even the seeming mundane something of beauty. On the other hand our narrator and main guy played by Sergio Corrieri is hard to feel much empathy for as he spurns the US and the chance to flee there with his wife and friends but also the Cubans he is left behind with. The dialogue seems clumsy and this could well be the translation but inevitably much is made of the issue of 'underdevelopment' which our hero uses to explain why he cannot relate to the Cuban population. His elitist stand seems to be that because they are so 'underdeveloped' he cannot really relate to them. Nevertheless the film bulges with historic detail and local colour and significance so that even the film's seeming main thrust cannot spoil our pleasure.
Reviewed by runamokprods 8 / 10

Pyschologicaly and visually complex, if emotionally cool

A complex film both politically and psychologically. A bourgeois man decides to stay in post- revolutionary Cuba, even when his wife and family leave. He's detached and alienated from the revolution around him, from women, but also from his shallow, old materialistic existence. The film uses lots of brave, experimental and sophisticated visual techniques (sudden cuts to still photos, super long lens shots, hand-held shots, intercutting news footage with staged), but almost all of it works towards making a fascinating whole. My only problem is that -- for me - - the experience is almost totally an intellectual one. I had very little emotional response during most of the film, although the last section, with the Cuban Missile Crisis looming has some real power.Note that most critics I respect see this as a flat out masterpiece, so I could have missed something, and would be willing to give it a second look.
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