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Reviews
Memorias del subdesarrollo (1968)
Memoiras del subdesarrollo is a stunning look into post Revolutionary Cuba.
Memorias del subdesarrolo (memories of the underdeveloped) is a look into the life of a bourgeois young writer who decides to stay in his native Cuba following the Cuban revolution, and enters himself into a life of detachment, seclusion, and avoidance. Sergio (the writer) is juxtaposed with Elna (a young woman following the trends that are dictated to her) to show a clash in idealism, values, and moral that leads to dramatic court scene that ultimately puts in question the current state of Cuba opposed to the past. Alea's use of Sergio, Elena, Pablo (a petty bourgeois that flees to Miami), and the court shows Alea's insight into the great social change that followed the revolution. Through the course of the film you see the change in society that spurns it's, once, culturally elite to become detached from there surroundings and society, leaving only two options: flight, and seclusion. This film is a great look into a society, and a man trying to escape from it. .
Los olvidados (1950)
Bunel beautifuly blends a driving plot, with brilliant portrayals, and surrealistic dream sequences.
Bunel creates an examination into the lives surrounding one juvenile street gang in one of the harshest barrios of Mexico City. Bunel (who is the co-writer and director of Un Chien Andalou (1929) with Salvador Dali) shows you the harsh circumstances that the children have to live through to get by in Mexico City. Bunel beautifully blends a driving, fast paced plot, with brilliant portrayals, and surrealistic dream sequences (for background see Un Chien Andalou) to bring across the struggle within this Mexican street gang, as well as the struggle to escape the harsh system that surrounds them.
This film is also know by the name: The Young and The Damned.
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