July 4, 2013

Cuban Movies

In preparation for my visit to Cuba last year, I watched a lot of great movies. Here’s some favorites in the great and growing tradition of post-revolutionary Cuban filmmaking. A few of these titles may be available online, but the best source is likely the public library (DC’s  has most of them). The list includes only narrative drama and comedy (no documentary).  It does not include films made in Cuba by international filmmakers (e.g., Agnès Varda’s 1963 Salut les Cubains, Mikhail Kalatozov’s 1964 Soy Cuba, or  Carol Reed’s 1959 Our Man in Havana … I guess that's  a separate list in the making) or any of the bizarre collection of US-made films about Cuba (e.g., John Houston’s 1949 We Were Strangers.) Director credits are in parens.

Retrato de Teresa (1979) (Pastor Vega)
Guantanamera (1995)  (Tomás Gutiérrez AleaJuan Carlos Tabío)
Barrio Cuba (2005)  (Humberto Solás)
Hasta cierto punto (1983) (Tomás Gutiérrez Alea)
Hurricanes (2003) (Entre ciclones) (Enrique Colina)
Strawberry and Chocolate (1994) (Tomás Gutiérrez AleaJuan Carlos Tabío)
¡Vampiros en La Habana! (1985) (Juan Padrón)
Honey for Oshun (2001) (Humberto Solás)
Memories of Underdevelopment (1968) (Tomás Gutiérrez Alea)
La muerte de un burócrata (1966)  (Tomás Gutiérrez Alea)
Las doce sillas (The Twelve Chairs) (1962) (Tomás Gutiérrez Alea)
Hello Hemingway (1990)  (Fernando Perez)
The Adventures of Juan Quin Quin (1967) (Julio García Espinosa)

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