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Memories of Underdevelopment

1968 1h 30m Drama List
92% Tomatometer 26 Reviews 84% Popcornmeter 1,000+ Ratings
In the aftermath of the Bay of Pigs Invasion, Sergio (Sergio Corrieri), an affluent writer, chooses to stay behind in Cuba while his wife and family escape to neighboring Miami. Sergio is pessimistic about the revolution's promise to bring sweeping change to his country, and he squanders his days prowling the streets of Havana looking for female companionship. Trouble erupts when his fling with chaste Elena (Daysi Granados) nearly ruins him after her family accuses Sergio of rape.

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Memories of Underdevelopment

Critics Reviews

View All (26) Critics Reviews
Penelope Gilliatt New Yorker The film has the lightness of a bird coasting, and a humorous gravity that makes it a piece of work without burden, extending much charity to the stoic hero’s hidden. Jan 23, 2024 Full Review Don Allen Sight & Sound Brilliant [contrasts]. Mar 18, 2020 Full Review Bilge Ebiri Village Voice Alternating between immediacy and reflection, fantasy and honesty, lyricism and horror, Memories of Underdevelopment feels like it's being created before our very eyes. Jan 16, 2018 Full Review Alonso Díaz de la Vega El Universal With Memories of Underdevelopment [Director Tomás] Gutiérrez Alea built a perhaps definitive image of the 20th century revolutions. [Full review in Spanish] Mar 31, 2021 Full Review David Harris Spectrum Culture Memories of Underdevelopment is a film whose intent can only fully be understood by a Cuban audience in a time and a place that no longer exists. Jul 30, 2019 Full Review Alci Rengifo Riot Material Alea peppers the narrative with references to poverty in the world, the old U.S.-backed regime and its decadence, but isn't making a propaganda piece. Feb 13, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (81) audience reviews
Valquria G Incrível!!!!! 🤩🤩🤩 Rated 5 out of 5 stars 11/25/23 Full Review Audience Member A first watch of the film will make the questions and after the second one the film trascends every film edition and you'll have the answers. The voice-over, the nihilism of the main character and the ambiguity of the end build "The Taxi Driver of Cuban Cinema". 8/10 Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review William L A chronicle of an unusual revolution, one that was perhaps not as comprehensive, sweeping, and hotheaded as others, where a slower pace allowed many to simply leave rather than face violent retribution, and for those who remained to ponder ideology rather than survival. Rather than using simple characters to shift focus and significance to the greater social context alone, Alea introduces an in-depth character study and interlaces it with the revolutionary spirit around him as contrast; Corrieri's Sergio is at once somewhat ideologically aligned with the revolution (or so he claims), but is also a target of it as a well-to-do property owner. The film sees his intellectual and pseudo-intellectual tendencies clash against a jaded personality and moral ambiguity in an environment of change. Sergio is a character whose worldview gradually falls apart by social movements, but who rationalizes such change in a philosopical context that absolves himself of blame or responsibility, continuing to judge those around him while ignoring his own negative influences. The narration is considered exceedingly unreliable, intended to present a moment in history as it would be understood in the moment and recalled later; that is, subjectively. (4/5) Rated 4 out of 5 stars 07/28/21 Full Review marc r Plot (what little there is) takes a turn regarding the female character that feels dated. Still, here is a film liberated from aesthetic and political monotony. One of the era's most vivid snapshots of a time and place, but one that still seems in an act of discovery and anticipation. The tension has yet to ease, neither for Cuba's future or for ours. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review s r 1001 movies to see before you die. A thoughtful part documentary, part film showing life in Cuba after the Bay of Pigs. It's about individual freedom in a state run system. It was on YouTube. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review david l Memories of Underdevelopment is a movie that is very difficult to categorize as it's ambiguous in terms of its genre. I personally did not care for its French New Wave influences as those were undercooked, standard and not all that interesting to begin with. The film is at its best as a political documentary of sorts. It's a visually appealing time capsule/history lesson as it importantly explores the aftermath of Cuban Revolution. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Memories of Underdevelopment

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Movie Info

Synopsis In the aftermath of the Bay of Pigs Invasion, Sergio (Sergio Corrieri), an affluent writer, chooses to stay behind in Cuba while his wife and family escape to neighboring Miami. Sergio is pessimistic about the revolution's promise to bring sweeping change to his country, and he squanders his days prowling the streets of Havana looking for female companionship. Trouble erupts when his fling with chaste Elena (Daysi Granados) nearly ruins him after her family accuses Sergio of rape.
Director
Tomás Gutiérrez Alea
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Spanish
Release Date (Streaming)
Apr 24, 2019
Runtime
1h 30m
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