Death of a Bureaucrat (1966)

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

Director:

Tomás Gutiérrez Alea

Writers:

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

Stars:

Salvador Wood, Silvia Planas, Manuel Estanillo

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

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

Storyline

A Cuban worker dies accidentally and is buried together with his union card. It soon turns out that the widow will absolutely need the card for claiming her pension. Young nephew starts his hilarious fight against the authorities in order to disinter and rebury his uncle and retrieve the precious document.

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Plot Keywords:

slapstick comedy | red tape | bureaucracy | new latin american cinema | social satire | 

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Taglines:

Pick Up Your Permit to Laugh at the Box Office!

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

Unrated

User Reviews

A surprisingly critical and hilarious vision of Havana in '66

When lent this film by a Spanish professor, my expectations were not high -- I had no idea this film from the early years of revolutionary Cuba was by Gutierrez Alea, Tinton, the director of Strawberries and Chocalate. Now, having seen the film, I wonder how it is that such a wonderful, imaginative work is not better known. For a good laugh, this can hardly be beat.

"Death of a Bureaucrat"(Muerte de un burocrata) is the story of a body that just can't get in the ground, and the frustrations suffered by the deceased's family in trying to address this situation. With the themes of bureaucratic rigidity, death, burial and the challenges of (then) modern-day Cuban life, we see linkages to Tinton's last work, "Guantanamera". The director has played with a range of techniques borrowed from some of the greats -- we find Bunuel's dream sequences, Chaplin's battles with the machine, and Keaton's daring-do. Hopefully, with the success of Tinton's final works, some of his earlier works will come into vogue.

Details

Country:

Cuba

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

24 July 1966 (Cuba)

Also Known As:

Death of a Bureaucrat

Box Office

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$3,323

Company Credits

Production Co:

Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industrias Cinematográficos (ICAIC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1