Death of a Bureaucrat
A Cuban nephew wages an increasingly surreal battle with officialdom to recover a union card buried with his uncle.
Overview
A young man battles bureaucracy in a hilarious quest to reclaim his uncle's union card from the grave.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- irreverent
- macabre
- surreal
- classic cinema night
- political satire marathon
What critics said
Critics broadly celebrate the film as a sharply inventive Cuban social satire that combines black humor and surrealism with affectionate echoes of classic comedy cinema.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The widow’s pension claim depends on recovering a union card buried with her dead husband, forcing the nephew into escalating conflict with officials.
The central comic problem involves disinterring and reburying an uncle to retrieve a document, turning mourning and burial into farcical machinery.
The film comments on contemporary Cuban society and the demand that socialist bureaucrats apply equal treatment even to the dead.
The opening credits explicitly cite Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, Buñuel, and other cinematic influences echoed throughout the comedy.
Films like Death of a Bureaucrat, and why
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
Shared black humor, surreal bureaucratic absurdity, and satirical treatment of social institutions.
Modern Times
Shared silent-comedy physicality, escalating mishaps, and social satire rooted in institutional frustration.
The Trouble with Harry
Shared macabre comic premise, deadpan absurdity, and echoes of Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy traditions.
Memories of Underdevelopment
Shared Cuban social satire, surreal humor, and critique of ideological institutions.
Movie Details
- Director
- Tomás Gutiérrez Alea
- Release Date
- 1966-07-24
- Runtime
- 84 min
- Rating
- 7.4 / 10 (52)
Cast
- Salvador Wood
- Silvia Planas
- Manuel Estanillo
- Omar Alfonso
- Gaspar De Santelices
- Elsa Montero
- Luis Romay
- Carlos Ruiz de la Tejera
- Richard Suarez
- Alicia Bustamante
Common questions
- What is Death of a Bureaucrat about?
- A Cuban nephew wages an increasingly surreal battle with officialdom to recover a union card buried with his uncle.
- What is Death of a Bureaucrat like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Death of a Bureaucrat as brisk, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as layered.
- Is Death of a Bureaucrat violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Death of a Bureaucrat as mild.
- What did critics think of Death of a Bureaucrat?
- Critics broadly celebrate the film as a sharply inventive Cuban social satire that combines black humor and surrealism with affectionate echoes of classic comedy cinema.
- Which films are like Death of a Bureaucrat?
- Films with a similar feel include The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie, Modern Times, The Trouble with Harry, and Memories of Underdevelopment.
- How long is Death of a Bureaucrat?
- Death of a Bureaucrat runs 84 minutes.
