Orlando Jimenez Leal Movies
- 1993
This documentary explores the mechanisms of Castro's control over everyday life in Cuba via the medium of an important show-trial which took place in 1989. The victim of the trial was a revered hero of the revolution who had the effrontery to gather with other similarly influential people and express some discontent with the progress of the regime. He was secretly being recorded, and not long after that, he and the others present were accused of drug trafficking, and was swiftly convicted in a short, public trial. At that trial, every one of the accused calmly confessed to all the charges and expressed their repentance for "betraying the Fatherland and the Revolution," thereby undoubtedly winning some concessions for their families. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1984
Improper Conduct was written and directed by famed Spanish cinematographer Nestor Alemandros. With uncompromising clarity, Alemandros lays bare the cruelties and despotism of Cuba's Castro regime. The director interviews several Cuban expatriates, including writers, filmmakers and political prisoners who once supported Castro in his struggle to oust the corrupt dictator Batista and then turned against him as he fully revealed his communist beliefs who relate in disturbing detail their treatment for alleged "crimes against the state"--such as homosexuality. Even long-time Castro apologists will be hard put to deny the truths set forth in this harrowing 112-minute documentary. Nestor Alemandros later compiled the interviews heard in Improper Conduct into an illustrated book. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Filmed in the US but acted in Spanish, El Super is a warmhearted spin on the plight of Cuban exiles in old, cold New York. The coldness is not only figurative but literal: the refugees arrive in the Big Apple in the dead of winter, and hole up in a barely heated basement apartment. "El Super" is lonely building superintendent Reymundo Hidalgo-Gato. Himself a Cuban expatriate of ten years' standing, Hidalgo-Gato feels totally out of place in New York, yet he has very little in common with his newly arrived countrymen. Hidalgo-Gato's appealing star turn is matched by the sprightly performance of leading lady Elizabeth Pena. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Raymundo Hidalgo-Gato, Zully Montero, (more)
- 1979
The life and times of Spanish superstar Julio Iglesias are dramatized in this semi-autobiographical outing that stars the great crooner himself. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
