| Director: | Tomás Gutiérrez Alea |
|---|---|
| Production: | Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industrias Cinematográficos |
| Running Time: | 84’ |
| Language: | Spanish |
| Country: | Cuba |
| Year: | 1966 |
| Main Cast: | Salvador Wood, Silvia Planas, Manuel Estanillo |
| Screenplay: | G. Alfredo del Cueto, Tomás Gutiérrez Alea, Ramón F. Suárez |
| Cinematographer: | Ramón F. Suárez |
| Editor: | Mario González |
| Production Designer: | Luis Márquez
|
| Costume Designer: | Elba Pérez |
| Music: | Leo Brouwer |
| Sound: | Eugenio Vesa |
| Visual Effects: | Enrique Fong |
| Restoration: | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Archive), Cinemateca de Cuba |
Cinema
La muerte de un burócrata (Death of a Bureaucrat)
Venice Classics
Synopsis
A worker dies in an accident at his work and is buried with his union card, essential for the widow to receive a pension. To recover it, the family is forced to carry out a clandestine exhumation. The impediments of the bureaucracy make it impossible to bury the corpse again. The absurdity of the situation degenerates into violence.
Director’s Statement
It is, as the title suggests, a satire on bureaucracy and red tape, but also on a lot of other sad and mediocre things which we have to put up with at times. However, I have to say that I don’t have much faith in the efficacy of satire as a “driving force of history.” When making the film we thought: we are laughing at the bureaucrats, but then the bureaucrats will come and not only will the film make them laugh, but they will laugh at themselves.
Producers/Distributors
PRODUCTION 1: Luciano Castillo – Cinemateca de Cuba (Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industrias Cinematográficos)
Calle 23, n° 1155, entre 10 y 12, Vedado, Plaza de la Revolución
10400 - La Havana-4, Cuba
Tel. + 53-7838 2844
lcastillo@icaic.cu
PRODUCTION 2: Josef Lindner - Academy Film Archive
1313 Vine Street
90028 – Los Angeles, United States
Tel. 310-247-3016, ext 3319
jlindner@oscars.org
http://www.mywebsite.com
PRODUCTION WHEN THE FILM WAS MADE: Cinemateca de Cuba (Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industrias Cinematográficos)
WORLD SALES: José Ambrós
ICAIC International Film Distributor
Email: ambros@icaic.cu
Tel. (53) 72038226
PRESS OFFICE: Luciano Castillo (Cinemateca de Cuba)
Email: lcastillo@icaic.cu
Tel. (53) 78382844
