Screening Cuba: Film Criticism as Political Performance during the Cold War

5. Memories of Underdevelopment

Chapter 5 Memories of Underdevelopment Memorias del Subdesarrollo (Memories of Underdevelopment, 1968), directed by Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, develops in Havana in 1961, at a time when the nation was undergoing profound changes and just before the Missile Crisis. Sergio, an educated, middle-class, thirty-something white man has seen his family and friends leave Cuba. Left behind, almost alone (except for his friend Pablo, who continuously criticizes the social changes the revolution is bringing), Sergio walks through the city observing with melancholic interest and, at times, with disdain the altering force of the new order. Through inner monologues, the viewer learns of Sergio’s feelings of superiority. Rooted in a strong sense of class, racial, and gender privilege, he observes ordinary Cubans who are, to him, vulgar, underdeveloped, unattractive, irrational beings . These opinions affect his subjectivity and engender a strong sense of alienation. As the observer, he is in a position of negatively defining a Cuba that he cannot yet leave. Sergio becomes involved with a very young woman, Elena, whose social extraction he finds unappealing, but who is otherwise attractive. He seduces her and seems committed to “develop” her intellect. He takes her to Ernest Hemingway’s house, to museums, to bookstores, to bed. All of this, he feels, is to no avail. When things go sour, Elena’s family confronts Sergio and reports her rape to the authorities. Though the ruling is in Sergio’s favor, his feelings of alienation increase. In the final scene, he is alone in his luxury condominium, looking at Havana getting ready for a possible U.S. invasion during the Missile Crisis. As a counterpoint to the fictional narration, the narrative weaves in nonfictional footage of historical and/or symbolic importance, creating a dialectic 108 P E R F O R M I N G F I L M C R I T I C I S M / M E M O R I E S between objective reality and Sergio’s subjectivity. The film shows Marilyn Monroe, U.S. soldiers at Guantanamo Bay, blacks beaten by soldiers, Fidel Castro’s speeches, and the trial of individuals who had participated in the Bay of Pigs invasion, all of these interspersed with the morose observations of the fictional character. Memories in Cuba Memories was Alea’s fourth feature film. As one of the founders of ICAIC, Alea occupied a privileged position in the field of cultural production and in the world of film. He was part of the editorial team of Cine Cubano, and took part in the direction of ICAIC and in the training of new generations of filmmakers , including Sara Gómez, Sergio Giral, and Juan Carlos Tabío (Paranagua 1996, 77–89). He directed the first feature fictional film of the revolution in 1960 (Histories of the Revolution [Historias de la Revolución]) and consistently produced some of the best films in Cuba well into the 1990s (Downing 1987, 279–301). Alea’s institutional identity within ICAIC provided a strong context for the reception of Memories. Though Memories is today considered one of the most important Cuban films, the film went relatively unnoticed upon its release. One must remember that its release came only months after Che Guevara’s death in October 1967 in the jungles of Bolivia. This tragic event brought a grim, overzealous mood to the Cuban political landscape that infused most public culture with new revolutionary vigor. Most journals and magazines, including Casa, Bohemia, and Cine Cubano, published special issues about Guevara, exulting his actions, words, ideas, and influences on Cuban politics and culture. 1968 was named the “Year of the Guerrilla Fighter” (“Año del Guerrillero Heróico”). In this cultural and political environment, the image of Guevara was transformed from influential figure to exemplar, and in many of these articles and biographies Guevara was defined not only as the ideologue that championed the idea of the New Man but as its embodiment. Given this patriotic mood, it is hardly surprising to find that critics received a film about a timid, self-centered individual with calculated apathy. Memories opened in Havana on August 17, 1968, in six theaters dedicated to new releases. Despite Alea’s standing in ICAIC, and despite having received several international prizes, Granma did not review it. The journal Unión, the official cultural organ of UNEAC, also distanced itself from the film when it 109 published, the same year...