Memories of Underdevelopment definitely has some intriguing ideas on its mind, but failed to get them to cohere or engage me. Chiefly, the film is concerned with the political struggles of Cuba at the time, as it was caught in the middle of the Cold War as it itself tried to develop its economy. The stylistic choices made by Alea are really interesting, as it uses real news footage of political events, and even the personal events of Sergio's life are narrated and feel put together for audience viewing in a documentary-like style. It obviously adds to a sense of realism in the film, but I didn't find Sergio to be a particularly interesting or empathetic character. He considers himself an intellectual and cares about Cuba as he's always following politics and thinking about things in terms of what Cubans are like, but he himself is mostly apolitical. His relationship with Elena is what we spend much of the movie on, but she seems to be more of a plaything to him than someone he actually cares about. Perhaps it's simply a film meant to chronicle the complexity and challenges of living in Cuba during this tumultuous time, but if that were the goal Sergio doesn't seem like an ideal vehicle for that. Curious to consider the ideas of the film further, but at first watch it didn't grab me.