Mauvaise conduite (1984)

An examination of Cuba's "moral purges" that began in 1964 with UMAP camps for those suspected of or found guilty of "improper conduct." Key moments brought outside attention to these ... See full summary »

Directors:

Néstor Almendros, Orlando Jiménez Leal

Writer:

Néstor Almendros

Stars:

Lorenzo Monreal, Jorge Lago, Julio Medina

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Lorenzo Monreal	...	Himself
Jorge Lago	...	Himself
Julio Medina	...	Himself
César Bermudez	...	Himself
José Mario	...	Himself
Rafael De Palet	...	Himself
Jorge Ronet	...	Himself
Héctor Aldao	...	Himself
Jaime Bellachasse	...	Himself
Mireya Robles
Luís Lazo	...	Himself
Caracol
Reynaldo Arenas	...	Himself
Abreu Abreu
Gilberto Rujiz	...	Himself

Storyline

An examination of Cuba's "moral purges" that began in 1964 with UMAP camps for those suspected of or found guilty of "improper conduct." Key moments brought outside attention to these policies: the defection of ballet dancers in Paris in 1966, a 48-hour period in 1980 when more than 11,000 Cubans sought asylum in Havana's Peruvian embassy, and the brief detention of writer Virgilio Piñera. Interviews with exiles take up most of the film as they tell their stories and ponder the Castro government's arrest and detention of persons with effeminate mannerisms: what the state calls "extravagant behavior." In essence, the film exposes the Cuban state's homophobic, petit bourgeois nature.

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Plot Keywords:

cuba | homosexual history | gay | homosexuality | persecution | 

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Genres:

Documentary

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Details

Country:

France

Language:

Spanish French English

Release Date:

21 March 1984 (France)

Also Known As:

Bad Conduct

Company Credits

Production Co:

France 2 (FR2), Les Films du Losange

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Goofs

The word 'paranoia' is misspelled wrong in one of the many subtitles.

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Quotes

Herberto Padilla: Sartre once said to us: "In Cuba, there are no Jews but there are homosexuals". Those in power always find some element of society that antagonizes them. Furthermore, homosexuals - this is my own unscientific opinion - are people who always question the world they live in. They are by nature active, they're never sad. On the other hand, heterosexuals tend to be melancholic, they get over-attached to things, say, a landscape, an old shoe
[laughs]
Herberto Padilla: , right? I don't know why but they can't really ...

User Reviews

Interesting, politically important, but flawed documentary

Strong, if heavy handed documentary about Castro's horrific mistreatment of gay Cubans.

Always interesting, but somehow not as powerful as it might be. Maybe because it's too sure of it's own POV. There's no pretense of balance or questioning of the claims made by victims. While I have no doubt of their honesty, it doesn't feel like the film is interested in doing more than proving it's point with talking heads recounting stories..

Also, its focus seems to drift at times, into more generic, general Castro bashing, which is less effective, and starts to undermine the power of the specific arguments being made here.