Perhaps the top cinematic output of Cuban filmmaking is this investigation of a man that doesn’t embrace the revolution. Wishing to remain apolitical, the handsome Sergio prefers to pursue attractive women, as well as illusions of his own superiority. Tomás Gutiérrez Alea’s account of life with Castro doesn’t shirk from an honest view of conditions in the embargoed island, between The Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Memories of Underdevelopment
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 943
1968 / B&W / 1:66 widescreen / 98 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Memorias de subdesarrollo / Street Date August 28, 2018 / 39.95
Starring: Sergio Corrieri, Daisy Granados, Eslinda Núñez, Omar Valdés’ René de la Cruz.
Cinematography: Ramón Suárez
Film Editor: Nelson Rodríguez
Original Music: Leo Brouwer
Written by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, Edmundo Desnoes, from his novel
Produced by Miguel Mendoza
Directed by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea
Welcome to the revolution. Top Cuban director Tomás Gutiérrez Alea’s feature...
Memories of Underdevelopment
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 943
1968 / B&W / 1:66 widescreen / 98 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Memorias de subdesarrollo / Street Date August 28, 2018 / 39.95
Starring: Sergio Corrieri, Daisy Granados, Eslinda Núñez, Omar Valdés’ René de la Cruz.
Cinematography: Ramón Suárez
Film Editor: Nelson Rodríguez
Original Music: Leo Brouwer
Written by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, Edmundo Desnoes, from his novel
Produced by Miguel Mendoza
Directed by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea
Welcome to the revolution. Top Cuban director Tomás Gutiérrez Alea’s feature...
- 8/14/2018
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
2018 likely will see more than the usual number of 50th-anniversary remembrances, given the tumult of 1968 in America and elsewhere around the globe. For Cuba, this is the golden anniversary of one of the nation's best-regarded films, Tomas Gutierrez Alea's Memories of Underdevelopment. Released Stateside in a fresh 4K restoration, the daring blend of personal and political looks back at the birth of the U.S./Cuba rift, foreshadowing conflicts that remain relevant while standing alone as a distinctive work of art.
Based on a novel by Edmundo Desnoes, the film follows Sergio (Sergio Corrieri, I Am Cuba), a member of...
Based on a novel by Edmundo Desnoes, the film follows Sergio (Sergio Corrieri, I Am Cuba), a member of...
- 1/12/2018
- by John DeFore
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
2018 is apparently the year of anniversaries and The Criterion Collection. While the film world prepares anxiously for Janus Films’ Ingmar Bergman centennial retrospective, the theatrical distribution label from which The Criterion Collection is an extension kicks off the year with a 50th anniversary restoration and theatrical run of the legendary Cuban masterpiece, Memories Of Underdevelopment.
Running for one week only at New York’s Film Forum from January 12-18, Memories is director Tomas Gutierrez Alea’s masterpiece, a profoundly moving look at life at a specific moment in the specific history of a specific nation.
Memories of Underdevelopment introduces viewers to life in post-revolution Cuba, through the eyes of Sergio. Played by Sergio Corrieri, Sergio is an intellectual whose family just fled the country in the wake of the Bay of Pigs, which sends his life into a spiral of introspection. Isolated from much of his world, he both reflects...
Running for one week only at New York’s Film Forum from January 12-18, Memories is director Tomas Gutierrez Alea’s masterpiece, a profoundly moving look at life at a specific moment in the specific history of a specific nation.
Memories of Underdevelopment introduces viewers to life in post-revolution Cuba, through the eyes of Sergio. Played by Sergio Corrieri, Sergio is an intellectual whose family just fled the country in the wake of the Bay of Pigs, which sends his life into a spiral of introspection. Isolated from much of his world, he both reflects...
- 1/12/2018
- by Joshua Brunsting
- CriterionCast
Memories of Underdevelopment
Directed by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea
Written by Edmundo Desnoes
1968, Cuba
A film directed by Tomas Gutierrez Alea in 1968, Memories of Underdevelopment looks at imperial influence in Cuba during the Cold War. Imperial influences referring to the United States and Russia as both countries believed that Cuba was vulnerable due to its status as a developing nation. Because of the United States’ close proximity, Alea emphasized their capitalistic impact through the character, Sergio, an upper class writer who never quite lived out his passion, as he struggles to define who he is, what he loves, and where he is placed within his own country amidst its Revolution. Because Alea filmed this during a time of political turmoil, he mixed low budget, documentary footage of the revolution with a fictional narrative in order to distract those who had the power to ban it. Which is typical for Cuban cinema during the 1960s.
Directed by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea
Written by Edmundo Desnoes
1968, Cuba
A film directed by Tomas Gutierrez Alea in 1968, Memories of Underdevelopment looks at imperial influence in Cuba during the Cold War. Imperial influences referring to the United States and Russia as both countries believed that Cuba was vulnerable due to its status as a developing nation. Because of the United States’ close proximity, Alea emphasized their capitalistic impact through the character, Sergio, an upper class writer who never quite lived out his passion, as he struggles to define who he is, what he loves, and where he is placed within his own country amidst its Revolution. Because Alea filmed this during a time of political turmoil, he mixed low budget, documentary footage of the revolution with a fictional narrative in order to distract those who had the power to ban it. Which is typical for Cuban cinema during the 1960s.
- 7/10/2014
- by Samantha Ladwig
- SoundOnSight
Something tells me I'll be indulging in the Nf section with a quota of at least three works. Dammit, I'm already breaking out in hives with the monstrous task ahead of me of covering the festival from top to bottom. - This year's New Frontier section, a collection of six works that bend the rules of cinema, and are generally neglected from the press includes Johan Grimonprez's Double Take (another picture that received its North American premiere at the Nouveau Cinema Festival in Montreal, making the Park City screening a U.S. premiere. Something tells me I'll be indulging in the Nf section with a quota of at least three works. Dammit, I'm already breaking out in hives with the monstrous task ahead of me of covering the festival from top to bottom. All My Friends Are Funeral Singers / USA (Director and screenwriter: Tim Rutili)&mdash...
- 12/13/2009
- IONCINEMA.com
On Wednesday the Sundance Film Festival unveiled the films competing in late January 2010. Yesterday they announced the rest of the line-up of independent films vying for attention for industry types and the curious public.
The entire list of 53 films is below, but here are a few that stood out to me from the premieres alone:
Mumblecore directors the Duplass Brothers, have a new, untitled movie starring an unusually high-profile cast compared to their usual improvisational crew. John C. Reilly, Marisa Tomei, Jonah Hill, and Catherine Keener. Reilly and Keener are actually in two films at the 2010 festival.
The Company Men, starring Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner, Maria Bello, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper, Rosemarie DeWitt about corporate downsizing.
Rodrigo Cortes’ Buried, starring Ryan Reynolds as a man buried alive in a coffin. I’ve read the script and its great. More on that as soon as I can.
The Runaways, the...
The entire list of 53 films is below, but here are a few that stood out to me from the premieres alone:
Mumblecore directors the Duplass Brothers, have a new, untitled movie starring an unusually high-profile cast compared to their usual improvisational crew. John C. Reilly, Marisa Tomei, Jonah Hill, and Catherine Keener. Reilly and Keener are actually in two films at the 2010 festival.
The Company Men, starring Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner, Maria Bello, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper, Rosemarie DeWitt about corporate downsizing.
Rodrigo Cortes’ Buried, starring Ryan Reynolds as a man buried alive in a coffin. I’ve read the script and its great. More on that as soon as I can.
The Runaways, the...
- 12/5/2009
- by Jeff Leins
- newsinfilm.com
We are 49 days out and counting down to Sundance 2010. Yesterday, we unveiled the list of competition films for the upcoming festival. Today, we have your list of out-of-competition films which include Premieres, Spotlight, New Frontier, and, my personal favorite, Park City at Midnight, which has featured past entries like Black Dynamite, The Descent, and Saw.
Check out next year’s lineup for the out-of-competition films:
Premieres
To showcase the diversity to contemporary independent cinema, the Sundance Film Festival Premieres section offers the latest work from American and international directors as well as world premieres of highly anticipated films. Presented by Entertainment Weekly.
Abel / Mexico, USA (Director: Diego Luna; Screenwriters: Diego Luna and Agusto Mendoza)–A peculiar young boy, blurring reality and fantasy, assumes the responsibilities of a family man in his father’s absence. Cast: Jose Maria Yazpik, Karina Gidi, Carlos Aragon, Christopher Ruiz-Esparza, Gerardo Ruiz-Esparza. World Premiere
Cane Toads:...
Check out next year’s lineup for the out-of-competition films:
Premieres
To showcase the diversity to contemporary independent cinema, the Sundance Film Festival Premieres section offers the latest work from American and international directors as well as world premieres of highly anticipated films. Presented by Entertainment Weekly.
Abel / Mexico, USA (Director: Diego Luna; Screenwriters: Diego Luna and Agusto Mendoza)–A peculiar young boy, blurring reality and fantasy, assumes the responsibilities of a family man in his father’s absence. Cast: Jose Maria Yazpik, Karina Gidi, Carlos Aragon, Christopher Ruiz-Esparza, Gerardo Ruiz-Esparza. World Premiere
Cane Toads:...
- 12/4/2009
- by Kirk
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Yesterday we got the list for the films playing in competition at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and today we get the rest of the films that will be featured and there are quite a few that make 2010 look much stronger based on pedigree alone than I have seen in quite some time. Variety has a big write-up detailing the categories and more on the festival right here, but I am just going to offer up the titles and let you sort it all out.
The titles already in the RopeofSilicon database are linked.
Premieres
All films are from the United States unless otherwise noted Abel (Mexico-u.S.), the directorial debut of actor Diego Luna, written by Luna and Agusto Mendoza, about a peculiar young boy who, as he blurs reality and fantasy, takes over the responsibilities of a family man in his father's absence. With Jose Maria Yazpik, Karina Gidi,...
The titles already in the RopeofSilicon database are linked.
Premieres
All films are from the United States unless otherwise noted Abel (Mexico-u.S.), the directorial debut of actor Diego Luna, written by Luna and Agusto Mendoza, about a peculiar young boy who, as he blurs reality and fantasy, takes over the responsibilities of a family man in his father's absence. With Jose Maria Yazpik, Karina Gidi,...
- 12/3/2009
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
In addition to the competition titles which were announced yesterday, Sundance has announced the remainder of their line-up and it includes some titles we’re already familiar with along with a huge number of premieres.
Also on the docket are two new series: Next which showcases low/no budget films and Spotlight which highlights films which festival programmers deem worthy of extra love including Enter the Void (review) and Lourdes (the trailer for which I really liked).
I’m particularly excited to see some of the titles in the New Frontier program but overall, the line-up is an impressive one but the Kristen Stewart fan in me is excited to see her turn as Joan Jett in The Runaways and I think it’s fair to say we’re all dying to see Vincenzo Natali’s hotly anticipated Splice (trailer).
In the Midnight section, Adam Green's Frozen is sounding mighty find,...
Also on the docket are two new series: Next which showcases low/no budget films and Spotlight which highlights films which festival programmers deem worthy of extra love including Enter the Void (review) and Lourdes (the trailer for which I really liked).
I’m particularly excited to see some of the titles in the New Frontier program but overall, the line-up is an impressive one but the Kristen Stewart fan in me is excited to see her turn as Joan Jett in The Runaways and I think it’s fair to say we’re all dying to see Vincenzo Natali’s hotly anticipated Splice (trailer).
In the Midnight section, Adam Green's Frozen is sounding mighty find,...
- 12/3/2009
- QuietEarth.us
Sundance released their slate for 2010. It includes:43 documentaries on the Middle East12 films about friends who 'discover' something33 movies about people you've never heard about1 comedyHopefully the lineup this year is strong but it doesn't look that way compared to last year. Last year we had Push (Precious), that Lil Wayne documentary that never went anywhere, Mystery Team which might make my top ten, Moon, Mike Tyson documentary, Cold Souls. Just so much last January that was excellent. I hope I don't go out therer and freeze my tail off just to see...I don't know, a documentary about a former Pakistani prime minister or something silly like that.Here's the lineup so far: Premieres To showcase the diversity to contemporary independent cinema, the Sundance Film Festival Premieres section offers the latest work from American and international directors as well as world premieres of highly anticipated films. Presented by Entertainment Weekly.
- 12/3/2009
- LRMonline.com
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