Episode 732: Death of a Bureaucrat (1966)

The Projection Booth Podcast

The Projection Booth

Film Reviews, Film Interviews, Film History, Tv & Film

4.8 • 686 Ratings

🗓️ 5 March 2025

⏱️ 74 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Mike kicks off a fresh month of Patreon picks alongside Cullen Gallagher and Rob St. Mary to unpack the satirical brilliance of Tomás Gutiérrez Alea's 1966 gem, Death of a Bureaucrat. When a revered Cuban sculptor invents a revolutionary bust-making machine only to meet his untimely demise at its mechanical hands, bureaucratic absurdity kicks into high gear. Buried proudly with his labor card, the sculptor inadvertently sparks a Kafkaesque quest as his widow and nephew wrestle hilariously with red tape, relentless officials, and ridiculous obstacles—all in pursuit of the one document standing between them and survival. Special thanks to Patreon supporter John Redford for this sharp, comedic dive into the madness of bureaucracy.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hold your ears, folks.
0:06.8	It's showtime.
0:08.6	People pay good money to see this movie.
0:10.9	When they go out to a theater, they want cold sodas, hot popcorn, and no monsters in the projection booth.
0:17.3	Everyone pretend podcasting isn't boring.
0:20.0	Shut it off.
0:25.7	Turn it off.
0:31.5	A lot.
0:36.4	A single word that One only
0:40.8	that resumed
0:42.0	all the dignity and the force
0:43.6	and the caliber exelsso of this man
0:45.5	whose disappearance premature
0:47.1	for his glory
0:48.2	here we're only.
0:50.0	Proletarious,
0:50.7	always could bea in the first line of combat
0:52.9	against all the forces oppressors. For this, not could be the more first line of combat contra all the forces of oppressors.
0:55.0	For that could be the more menager than he
0:57.0	accorded by his companions of the Consolidate
0:59.0	an assembly of Lama,
1:00.0	that was enterrared with her carnet-laboral,
	...

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