Memories of Underdevelopment (1968) - August 28, 2018

[Scottie]

Memories of Underdevelopment (1968)

This film by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea is the most widely renowned work in the history of Cuban cinema. After his wife and family flee in the wake of the Bay of Pigs invasion, the bourgeois intellectual Sergio (Sergio Corrieri) passes his days wandering Havana in idle reflection, his amorous entanglements and political ambivalence gradually giving way to a mounting sense of alienation. With this adaptation of an innovative novel by Edmundo Desnoes, Gutiérrez Alea developed a cinematic style as radical as the times he was chronicling, creating a collage of vivid impressions through the use of experimental editing techniques, archival material, and spontaneously shot street scenes. Intimate and densely layered, Memories of Underdevelopment provides a biting indictment of its protagonist’s disengagement and an extraordinary glimpse of life in postrevolutionary Cuba.

• New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
  
• New interviews with film critics B. Ruby Rich and José Antonio Évora
  
• New interview with novelist and screenwriter Edmundo Desnoes
  
• Titón: From Havana to “Guantanamera,” a 2008 feature-length documentary on director Tomás Gutiérrez Alea’s life and career
  
• Segment from a 1989 audio interview with Gutiérrez Alea
  
• Segments from 2017 interviews with actor Daisy Granados and editor Nelson Rodríguez from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Visual History Collection archives
  
• Trailer
  
• New English subtitle translation
  
• PLUS: An essay by author Joshua Jelly-Schapiro

[Kakihara]

Wow. Such a great movie. I hope Criterion starts releasing more great films from Latin America but this is a great start. I'm tempted to wait until a sale but this is Day 1 worthy for me.

[BobbyMcGee]

Originally Posted by Kakihara

Wow. Such a great movie. I hope Criterion starts releasing more great films from Latin America but this is a great start. I'm tempted to wait until a sale but this is Day 1 worthy for me.

Totally agree! I absolutely love this film as well and would also love to see them release more films from Latin America.

I already own the Mr. Bongo Films U.K. Blu-ray of this film but this is an easy double-dip for the extras alone.

Personally, I would love to see Glauber Rocha's Black God, White Devil (1964) added to the Criterion Collection. In 2015, the Brazilian Film Critics Association named it number 2 on their top 100 Brazilian films: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abracc...razilian_films

[javi92]

Undoubtedly Day 1. Great announcement. Strong lineup from Criterion this month.

[exzachary]

I haven't seen this. Is it pro-Castro or does it not take sides?

[Kakihara]

Originally Posted by BobbyMcGee

Totally agree! I absolutely love this film as well and would also love to see them release more films from Latin America.

I already own the Mr. Bongo Films U.K. Blu-ray of this film but this is an easy double-dip for the extras alone.

Personally, I would love to see Glauber Rocha's Black God, White Devil (1964) added to the Criterion Collection. In 2015, the Brazilian Film Critics Association named it number 2 on their top 100 Brazilian films: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abracc...razilian_films

Black God, White Devil is an amazing film! Great choice! Definitely worthy of a Criterion release.

[Kakihara]

Originally Posted by exzachary

I haven't seen this. Is it pro-Castro or does it not take sides?

The Director had Castro's blessing but the movie does critique some aspects of the situation (ambivalent is the more appropriate term) so to just brush it off as a "Pro-Castro" movie isn't really fair, IMO. It's definitely not propaganda.

[Kakihara]

Originally Posted by yarulbcool

It's a pretty sophisticated movie, politically (as anything with the Cuban government's approval would be as they're not some blood-sucking evil illiterates as US propaganda likes to portray them).

If you're unfamiliar with revolutionary movements of the second half of the 20th century and don't have any knowledge of the Cuban Revolution, it's easy for this film to come off as a right-wing and anti-revolution film. In reality, however, the film is more about the role of the intellectual versus the proletariat in a rapidly changing society.

Overall, the film is very well made and very interesting. Although I have some critiques of it (I wrote up a comment on reddit if anyone's interested), it'll definitely find its way into my collection.

Interesting. I haven't heard anything about it being right wing. If anything, I've only heard it's far left. I love the film and wrote a paper on it so I'm all over this masterpiece.

[Kakihara]

Svet's review is up and I must say I disagree with his take that the movie is mostly condemning the revolution. It actually condemns idealism and the notion of a perfect regime. It also never implies that Havana was a once great city as it details what was wrong with the Batista regime before Castro took over. Other than that, why 4 stars and not 5, Svet? What was it about the movie that you felt was lacking?

[BobbyMcGee]

Originally Posted by Kakihara

Svet's review is up and I must say I disagree with his take that the movie is mostly condemning the revolution. It actually condemns idealism and the notion of a perfect regime. It also never implies that Havana was a once great city as it details what was wrong with the Batista regime before Castro took over. Other than that, why 4 stars and not 5, Svet? What was it about the movie that you felt was lacking?

Agreed.

While the reviewer is entitled to his opinion, it does the film a disservice to simplify it as an indictment of the Cuban revolution.

The film is far more nuanced in its portrayal of the complexities of the Cuban revolution, Latin America's history of underdevelopment, and Sergio's examination of his bourgeois detachment towards all of it.

Truly a special film and highly deserving of its place in the Criterion Collection.

[Kakihara]

Originally Posted by BobbyMcGee

Agreed.

While the reviewer is entitled to his opinion, it does the film a disservice to simplify it as an indictment of the Cuban revolution.

The film is far more nuanced in its portrayal of the complexities of the Cuban revolution, Latin America's history of underdevelopment, and Sergio's examination of his bourgeois detachment towards all of it.

Truly a special film and highly deserving of its place in the Criterion Collection.

Exactly. It pro's and con's both sides of the spectrum. It's a masterpiece in my opinion and proud to have it in my collection. I hope Criterion releases more Latin American films.