Memories of Underdevelopment (1968)

A Cuban man cycles through his repressed opinions and memories as the threat of foreign invasion intensifies and the rest of his family retreats to Miami.

Director:

Tomás Gutiérrez Alea

Writers:

Edmundo Desnoes (novel), Edmundo Desnoes (screenplay)

Stars:

Sergio Corrieri, Daisy Granados, Eslinda Núñez

2 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Sergio Corrieri	...	Sergio Carmona Mendoyo
Daisy Granados	...	Elena
Eslinda Núñez	...	Noemi
Omar Valdés	...	Pablo
René de la Cruz	...	Elena's brother
Yolanda Farr
Ofelia González
Jose Gil Abad
Daniel Jordan
Luis López
Rafael Sosa
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Eduardo Casado Revuelta
René Depestre	...	Himself / Panelist
Edmundo Desnoes	...	Himself
Pello el Afrokán

Storyline

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?

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Plot Keywords:

cuba | cuban missile crisis | new latin american cinema | fidel castro | havana cuba | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Mr Bongo Films Official site [Japan]

Country:

Cuba

Language:

Spanish English

Release Date:

17 May 1973 (USA)

Also Known As:

Memories of Underdevelopment

Filming Locations:

Havana, Cuba

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,244, 14 January 2018

Gross USA:

$29,647

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$33,103

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cuban State Film, Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industrias Cinematográficos (ICAIC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min 90 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.

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Quotes

Sergio Carmona Mendoyo: One thing about people that upsets me is their inability to sustain something without collapsing. Take Elena: she was totally inconsistent. Didn't relate things. That's a symptom of underdevelopment: the inability to relate things, to gain experience, develop. It's difficult here because women are conditioned by sentiments and culture. A soft environment. People waste talents on inconsistent adaptations. They always need someone to think for them.

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Connections

Followed by Memorias del desarrollo (2010)

User Reviews

One of the greatest films ever made

This isn't just a film of historical value; far from it. It is one of the greatest films ever made by anyone. The balance of elements that went into this venture came out magnificently poetic and real. The semi-documentary style is deeply influenced by 'Hiroshima Mon Amor' and other New Wave classics, but the sensibility is Alea's own and distinctly 'Latin American Intellectual.' There are very few films that can make me cry, this is one of them. Not because of the story, but simply because of the way it is made, the beautifully subtle way it is expressed. The leading character's central tragedy of not being able to reconcile his own deep feeling for his people with his intellectual standards because of their 'underdevelopment' and subsequent alienated existence or more precisely their inability to transcend their alienation to reach a more fulfilled state is one of the most touching and relevant themes I've ever seen in a film. It is more relevant more today, 30 years later than it was then, everywhere, not just in the island of Cuba with its mere 7 million inhabitants. A great performance by Sergio Corrieri (I Am Cuba) provides the required erotic undertone and comedic rhythms to convey the true feel of an intellectual 'playboy' existence in early '60s Cuba. The effect of this film is visceral and must be seen to be appreciated, words can hardly describe it. Suffice it to say that it uses all the resources of cinema and then some, but subtly and with maximum poetic control, and is a thousand times more valuable than most of the pretentious art films of today. If only one tenth of one percent of the audience that will see a piece of garbage like 'Mission Impossible 2' (which I sat and puked through I regret to say, because of all the hype about the 'action sequences' of John Woo, to kill a couple of hours which I'll never again be able to recover) this summer could somehow miraculously be forced to watch and understand this film and see its parallels within their own society of computerized complacent banality, the intellectual level of this country would shoot up overnight.