Why you can trust 12DOVE
A 40th anniversary re-release for one of the classics of so-called Third World revolutionary cinema. Set in Havana in the early 1960s, between the Bays of Pigs invasion and the Cuban missile crisis, Memories Of Underdevelopment explores the experiences, feelings and fantasies of its womanizing 38-year-old protagonist, bourgeois would-be writer Sergio (Sergio Corrieri). Scornful of his wife, parents and friends who’ve already emigrated to the States, he nonetheless feels strangely detached from the ongoing revolution. If you’re expecting a stodge of Marxist propaganda, you’ll be pleasantly surprised: director Tomas Gutierrez Alea orchestrates a vibrant black-and-white collage of fictional sequences, still photos and documentary footage. Corrieri, meanwhile, memorably conveys the charming Sergio’s emotional and intellectual paralysis, a spectator swept away by history’s march.
NOVERDICT
The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine.
OBSBOT Tiny 2 Lite 4K review: "It’s clear that size doesn't matter"
Terraria creator and Palworld dev both had their eye on this city-builder and automation sim hybrid that's already tearing it up on Steam
Harry Potter TV show gets a wand-erful creative duo – including a director on The Last of Us and Succession