La muerte de un burócrata (1966)

Director:

Tomás Gutiérrez Alea

Writers:

Alfredo L. Del Cueto (writer)
Tomás Gutiérrez Alea (story)

Release Date:

24 July 1966 (Cuba)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

A young man attempts to fight the system in an entertaining account of bureaucracy amok and the tyranny of red tape.

Plot Keywords:

Red Tape | Bureaucracy | Dream Sequence | Exhumation | Grave

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Salvador Wood	...	Nephew
Silvia Planas	...	Aunt
Manuel Estanillo	...	Bureaucrat
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Omar Alfonso	...	Cojimar
Tania Alvarado
Pedro Pablo Astorga
Alicia Bustamante
Gaspar De Santelices	...	Nephew's boss
Rafael Díaz
Roberto Gacio
Carlos Gargallo
Elsa Montero	...	Sabor
Rolando de los Reyes
Fausto Rodríguez
Luis Romay	...	El Zorro
Carlos Ruiz de la Tejera	...	Psychiatrist
Rafael Sosa
Richard Suarez	...	Tarafa
Rolando Vidal
Laura Zarrabeitia

Also Known As:

Death of a Bureaucrat

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

Cuba

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Finland:S | France:U | Spain:13 | Sweden:7 | USA:Unrated

Company:

Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industrias Cinematográficos (ICAIC)

A very good movie with lots of imagination to spare

For a movie that was released 40 years ago, this one has aged particularly well.

I think I'm not exaggerating by saying that this movie represents something of a precursor of the Monty Python movies, alas, not so irreverent. But the way it deals with the topic, and the imaginative gags and inter-cuts that it has, can only remind you of those English geniuses.

But is also many things. A little of Three Stooges here. Even a little Chaplin there...

How you can make something funny out of the situation of a family (the main character and his aunt) that cannot get his relative buried, and have to keep him home until the red tape is overpowered, without losing sight of the human touch and their despair?. You'd need a very skillful director to juggle all that successfully.

I Haven't seen or heard of a Latin American movie like this one. It must be considered a milestone in Latin American cinema (and certainly, in world cinema). Regretfully, not the style, or the genius of the director Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, seem to have had dedicated followers. I'm afraid that has something to do with the Cuban origin, not because of Cuban backlash, but because of lack of interest or attention over Cuban art during the 60's. Latin America has produced a lot of movies, but most of them are dead serious. When somebody comes with the idea of a comedy, it is very light, unfunny and clichéd, nothing to tell the world about, with very few exceptions.

That's why I was surprised by LA MUERTE DE UN BURÓCRATA and I highly recommend it, if you can find it somehow.