Memories of Underdevelopment

The Cuban film, Memories of Underdevelopment, has a strong political presence, for its social issues very evident and blunt. Although, it escapes from being a propaganda film or from having a heavy-handed political statement very gracefully, for its statement has more a social tone than a political one. “The only possible way to attain objectivity is through well intentioned subjectivity,” says the Peruvian writer Alfredo Bryce Echenique, and this film is a latent proof of that. It makes a criticism from a loving, amiable point of view, a criticism not only of the revolution, but of mankind and ignorance. It shows both sides of the story from the perspective of a true artist that believed in the revolution, but soon realized that it was just another futile human enterprise, and for that reason, it was to bring human strength and weakness upon itself. It criticizes one, but at the same time all, undeveloped countries, peoples conformism and ignorance. This film has a deep exploration of the main character’s state of mind, which is also very present in its original text, Inconsolable Memories, written by Edmundo Desnoes. This is very interesting from a cinematographic point of view, given that when we watch the movie, it is almost as if we were experiencing everything from Sergio’s perspective, the main character. He is a man who wont leave all that he despises so much for the precise reason that if one hates is because one loves. Like the valsesillo criollo says, “Odiame por piedad yo te lo pido, odiame sin medida ni clemencia, odio quiero mas que indiferencia, porque tan solo se odia lo querido.” As he stays in his Havana apartment and he is trying to cope with the present situation of the country, there is a similar battle going on within his mind and the movie does a great job of translating that from the book to the screen.