The story revolves around protagonist Sergio Corrieri, who observes life in post-revolutionary Cuba, where reality eventually clashes with his middle class upbringing and intellectual worldview. It is a very self conscious movie, a one exceptionally aware of its surrounding, but in a subjectiv mannor, if that makes any sense at all. Memories of Underdevelopment holds a certain political and philosophical depth, it is both critical of what was happening, that is the Cuban revolution, and what was to caused it.
One of the greatest tragedies of humankind is the fact that we are so bound to our countries and that thinking - and the fact that we can't make the best of that without sacrificing something of ourselves. The answer to the sacrifice is rarely "all of ourselves" because we are too selfish and arrogant. As much as this film is a character study and study of an era and study of a country, it is a study of nothing - the most problematic aspect of modern living.
One of the greatest tragedies of humankind is the fact that we are so bound to our countries and that thinking - and the fact that we can't make the best of that without sacrificing something of ourselves. The answer to the sacrifice is rarely "all of ourselves" because we are too selfish and arrogant. As much as this film is a character study and study of an era and study of a country, it is a study of nothing - the most problematic aspect of modern living.
- V. Lepistö on letterboxd