Stories of the Revolution

Three stories set during the Cuban Revolutionary War of the late 1950s. In 'El Herido'/'The Wounded' (set in 1957) the arrival of a wounded revolutionary at his home brings an uncommitted man face to face with the reality of the Batista regime. 'Rebeldes'/'Rebels' is set in the Sierra Maestra in 1958 with rebels in the jungle refusing to leave a wounded and dying comrade despite enemy forces closing in on them. In the third and final part, 'Santa Clara', set at the end of 1958 Molotov cocktails help turn the tide in a furious battle in the dying days of the Batista regime. Made in 1960 this was the first feature film drama produced by the ICAIC in Cuba following the revolution, and was written by Jose Hernandez, Humberto Arenal and Tomas Gutierrez Alea. It was also the first fiction feature film directed by Gutierrez Alea, who improved a lot as a director in the 1960s with films like 'Death of a Bureaucrat' and 'Memories of Underdevelopment'. Not bad, but uninspired.