Fidel | AccessAtlanta

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Fidel

Fidel Castro is the focus of this documentary.

FILM FACTS

A documentary about Fidel Castro.
Director: Estela Bravo
Rating: Not rated
Genre: Documentary

Discuss this film | Official movie site

See showtimes (Not rated) 91 minutes

Grade: C

Verdict: Documentary as hero worship.

By ELEANOR RINGEL GILLESPIE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Less a documentary than a testimonial, "Fidel's" strong suit is a wealth of carefully culled archival footage and a director, Estela Bravo, with access to the great man himself. Or despicable despot, depending on your point of view.

Bravo clearly takes the great-man route. Among those dropping by for a friendly chat or offering an on-camera tribute are Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Harry Belafonte, Jack Nicholson, Alice Walker, Muhammad Ali and, of course, Ted Turner. Even Nikita Khrushchev, communism's most prominent ogre in the '50s and early '60s, has a good word. "I don't know if Fidel is a communist," he's quoted as saying. "What I do know is I'm a Fidelist."

The movie is full of such happy moments. We see a beardless Castro as a young lawyer standing up to the injustices inflicted by the dictator Fulgencio Batista. Then, there he is in iconic army fatigues, with the beard and an emerging belly. We hear the story of how a dove flew onto his shoulder during one of his first speeches -- which sounds impossible, but there's the footage to back it up. He travels to Harlem, where he can barely make it through the enthusiastic crowds. There are even home movies of him playing with his son and a puppy.

While there's mention of seminal events in U.S.-Cuban relations such as the Bay of Pigs, Bravo's decidedly rose-colored filter colors everything that's presented. Castro comes off as a benevolent uncle who, nonetheless, shouldn't be crossed. Even an extremely pro-Castro film, as this one is, should have something more going on. Bravo never comments on Fidel's shrewd image-shaping -- how the fatigues are replaced by a double-breasted suit in the '90s or the way the glasses he wore as a lawyer disappeared when he became a revolutionary. And doesn't the filmmaker see any irony in the fact that a lot of Castro's early colleagues speak about him from their homes . . . in Miami?

The one-sidedness is unfortunate. Not only does it dodge tension that would have made the film more interesting, but the fascinating footage and interviews Bravo has gathered lose some power within this Disney-ized context.

The one thing "Fidel" does well is give us a few behind-the-scene glimpses into the life of a man who's remained in power for more than 40 years. Nehrus and Nixons come and go, but our man in Havana is still here. Besides, this is probably your only chance to see the 70-ish Castro in a bathing suit, jumping waves.