200 Words
Is Tomas Gutierrez Alea's "Memories of Underdevelopment" a film that
uses conventional or radical forms of filmmaking? Does his form
achieve politicizing effects? Why or why not? Give specific examples
of scenes in the film that demonstrate either conventional or radical
form and how this scene(s) relates to the overall narrative and its
political or apolitical standpoint.
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Tomas Gutierrez Alea’s “Memories of Underdevelopment” is film that fragments the pieces of the main character’s memory (Sergio) in Cuba during the revolution. Sergio reflects on his past and his issues with abandonment while living in this time of social change. Alea used radical forms of film making in order to express the emotions of this character and his struggle through social changes. This radical form is characterized by the use of fragmented cutting that represent Sergio’s memories. It also uses documentary footage to show the political and social turmoil the character was living in at the time. The dialogue itself is also fragmented and inconsistent they reflect the character’s inner thoughts. This radical form in film making has a politicizing effect since it makes the viewer more aware of the situation that the character is living in and it expresses the anxieties of not only the character but of the society he is part of. For example the final scene where Sergio is pacing his room, and walking outside while a whole missile crisis is going on outside his walls. Alea cuts between Sergio’s actions and the actions of soldiers, tanks, revolutionaries etc. This demonstrates that Sergio is simply one man part of this greater picture or story. It makes the viewer more aware of the turmoil and it expresses the notion that many are like Sergio, characters in a greater social construct of a story.
ReplyDeleteName: Hillary Palmer
ReplyDeleteIn Tomas Gutierrez Alea’s 1968 movie Memories of Underdevelopment we see the main character Sergio have to separate from his parents as well as his own wife during the time period of the Cuban Missile Crisis. In the movie we see that Alea has used radical forms of filmmaking to show the audience exactly the kind of obstacles and problems that an everyday man has to go through in a specific time such as this in our society. We can also see that in these radical forms that are used in this movie show the viewers the certain emotions that Sergio was feeling in this film. We can see documentary film in the movie that was used at that particular time and tells the viewer what life was like for the people then. Since Alea used all these radical forms we can see that he has achieved a politicizing effect because we can see that Sergio has shown that he is very worried about the world around him, but we can also see this in people around him at that time period were just as worried as he was. This is like when we see Sergio pacing about in his room. We can see the worry in the shot and then we cut to see the outside world where there is fighting and such, which leads us to believe that the people out there are just as if not more worried than Sergio himself.
Tomas Gutierrez Alea’s “Memories of Underdevelopment” is a highly politicized film that makes use of very radical techniques that were very innovative for this time period in film. Alea accentuates the feelings of disenfranchisement during the Cuban exodus, an event that the film is concurrent with. The film showcases footage and dialogue that was not taken by Alea. Sergio seems to be a social commentator as well, narrating the misfortunes of Cuba over footage of the Cuban Army marching prisoners away. Sergio’s voice is taken over by audio of what seems to be a murder trial. All the while the footage playing revolves around weapons of torture, human skulls and bones, and a very significant shot of Cuban Army officials laughing whilst crowded around a 50-caliber machine gun. A very grim look at the Alea’s narrative loosely goes back and forth from storyline to documentary. The entire film is meant to capture the bleak atmosphere of the Cuban exodus and missile crisis from the point of view of the patriotic Sergio. Yet, his perspective seems just as dislocated as does the Cuban public, a very great sense of misery and curiosity looms throughout this entire film. Cuba’s lack of developmental identity is quite evident.
ReplyDeleteShanthal Caba
ReplyDeleteTomas Gutierrez Alea's 1968 film "Memories of Underdevelopment" makes use of many radical techniques to achieve a very highly politicizing effect. It is set during the settling of the Cuban Revolution, when a lot of Cubans fled to United States to escape the regime, among them are Sergio's(the protagonist) parents and wife, Laura. Through the use of cuts flashbacks and narration we can perceive what Sergio is going through emotionally: nostalgia, relief, loneliness, amusement, uncertainty, all which lead him to develop an existential crisis; questioning his place on the actual world and reflecting on the person he used to be before the revolution. The feelings of anxiety and misery of the general cuban population are showed through this film by integrating documentary footage of the ravages of the revolution and the ongoing cold war as well as radio news “diegetically” introduced in the film. Sergio does not identify either in favor or against the revolution, but his patriotism is evident as he does not wishes to leave the country; his major concern is how can a country become developed, he’s disappointment in the cuban people leads him to believe that they will never become a first world country. The scene were he is pacing inside the apartment while the missile crisis is developing at the same time is the best example of Gutierrez Alea’s use of radical from to express the anxiety and uncertainty Cuba felt, as well as the establishing shots of the city at the beginning that showed the actual state of poverty of the city of Havana.