- Year: 1962
- Country: Cuba
- Director: Tomás Gutiérrez Alea
- Starring: Enrique Santisteban, Reynaldo Miravalles, René Sánchez
An aristocratic lady on her deathbed confesses both to a priest and to her nephew that she could not bear giving up all of her wealth to socialist revolutionaries in post-revolution Cuba, and hid jewels in one of twelve identical chairs that were hers. The chairs have since been nationalized and are in the possession of various people. Separately, and unbeknownst to each other, the priest and nephew set out to find the chairs to locate the jewels. This is the first film by Alea that I’ve seen. It’s an entertaining satire on capitalism and greed, with some funny moments and a particularly great ending. What I enjoyed about it more was that, in a way, it worked as a time capsule having been released only 3 years after the Cuban revolution and provides insight into how people were acting and thinking following Castro’s takeover. Later remade in 1970 by Mel Brooks, it appears this Cuban original has not been seen much outside of its homeland: imdb.com counts just over 200 votes on this one. Worth seeing if you can find it.
Cinema Del Peppel 