Main Cast: Victor Huggo Martin, Gael García Bernal, Patricia Velasquez, Maurice Compte, Margarita d'Francisco
Release Year: 2002
Run Time: 240 minutes
Plot
Filmed in Mexico and the Dominican Republic, this massive biography of Cuban leader Fidel Castro begins in the 1950s, when the title character, then a young and hungry lawyer, bristles at the iniquities and corruption of the Batista political regime. Inspired by the words by left-wing radio commentor Eddie Chibas (Hector Elizondo), Fidel becomes active in a revolutionary movement aimed at toppling Fulgencio Batista (Tony Plana). In 1959, Castro and his followers stage a spectacularly successful coup, one that is staunchly supported by thousands of idealists and Cuban expatriates in the United States. Unfortunately, to paraphrase cartoonist Bill Mauldin, no sooner has Fidel come down from the hills like Robin Hood than he begins behaving like the Sheriff of Nottingham, killing scores of his political enemies in round-the-clock executions, routinely snatching away the basic human rights that he had promised his followers, and embracing Communism with a fervent passion. Although the film does not shy away from showing the darker side of Castro, it is essentially sympathetic to its subject, balancing the Cuban dictator's political outrages with his many acts of benevolence, and attempting to provide "motivation" for what seem to be appalling contradictions. Victor Huggo Martin and Honorato Magaloni are cast respectively as the younger and older Castro, with Maurice Compte as his brother Raul and Gael Garcia Bernal as the ill-fated Che Guevara.Fidel was originally telecast in two parts over the Showtime cable network on January 27 and 28, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Enrique Arce - Rafael; Jose Maria Yazpik - Camilo Cienfuegos; Manuel Sevilla - Abel Santamaria; Alejandra Gollas - Haydee Santamaria; Ernesto Godoy - Huber Matos; Guillermo Diaz - Universo Sanchez; Tony Plana - Gen. Batista; Hector Elizondo - Dr. Eduardo Chibas; Honorato Magaloni - Old Fidel Castro; Cecilia Suarez - Celia Sanchez; Melvin Rodriguez - Calixto Morales; Bobby Plasencia - Faustino Perez; Reynaldo Christian - Guillermo Garcia
Credit
Claudia Becker - Casting, Molly Lopata - Casting, Guy Hibbert - Co-producer, Mayes C. Rubeo - Costume Designer, David Attwood - Director, Milton Moses Ginsberg - Editor, David V. Picker - Executive Producer, John Altman - Composer (Music Score), Brigitte Broch - Production Designer, Checco Varese - Cinematographer, Jose Ludlow - Producer, Kevin Cooper - Producer, Stephen Tolkin - Screenwriter, Georgie Anne Geyer - Book Author, Robert E. Quirk - Book Author
Fidel is the name of a mini-series by David Attwood that describes the Cuban revolution and political career of Fidel Castro.
The total duration of the series is about 3 hours and 20 minutes, but the video-version is shorter.
The film is almost documentary in its portrayal of facts. It claims to be based strongly on facts, apart from some adaptations like merging various characters into one.
After two hours the movie changes dramatically. The first two hours are about the six years before the fall of Batista. The last hour is about the 40 years after that. Consequently the presentation of facts is very sketchy, many things are left out, and the order of events is not always correct. The mood changes as well – the beginning is suspiciously positive, but after the Revolutionaries take over, almost everything is put in a negative light. Castro is shown as still willing but also stupid, using illogical reasonings which are not consistent with someone who has a degree in Law. There are also several suggestions that Castro lost the trust of the people and lost contact with the people.
In the first two hours Castro regularly distances himself from Communism and Communists, but after the take-over, the film suggests that Castro had always aspired a Marxist-Leninist State.
Being a US film, it uses US terminology, such as use of the word Communism instead of Socialism, which is the word used in Cuba (the goal may be Communism, but the method is Socialism). Also, the US is referred to as 'America' and the continent as 'the Americas', whereas the term 'America' is in Cuba reserved for the Continent (eg, in one of the historical recordings that are shown, the crowd chants 'Cuba si, Yankee no', not 'Cuba yes, America no').
Despite the attempt to stay true to the facts, there are some inaccuracies:
The warning that the US were to invade Cuba came before the Bay of Pigs Invasion, not after it, and it was about that invasion, not the Cuban Missile Crisis, which came later.
The trial of General Ochoa did not coincide with the 1980 Mariel boatlift but took place nine years later.
Almost no Blacks are shown, even though they constitute about half of the Cuban population.
Some events are dramatised, such as the conversation Castro had with the US ambassador, which never took place.
Also, the film depicts Huber Matos as a hero who was unjustly sentenced to prison because he was concerned with the Communist direction of the Cuba Revolution and that these statements were made privately. However, it is common knowledge that he made public anti-communist speeches in July 1959 in Camagüey, criticising the direction the revolution was taking. Furthermore, counterintelligence on the CIA concluded that Huber Matos was working in conjunction with persons such as Tony Varona, Carlos Prio, and Manuel Artime with the plans for a counter-revolution organised by the Central Intelligence Agency under Frank Sturgis.
