Fidel (TV Movie 1971)
54KFidel: Directed by Saul Landau, Nina Serrano. FIDEL provides a unique view of Cuba’s controversial and most polarizing leader. In 1968, Castro took filmmaker and activist Saul Landau on a weeklong jeep ride through the eastern mountains. There, he plays baseball with a group of peasants, visits his pre-school and trades jokes with a 98-year old man. Fidel also listens to the people’s concerns about food distribution, bad roads and transportation. Landau captures Cuba’s revolutionary chief early in the morning in his tent. The camera zooms in on his dirty and delicate fingernails holding his trademark cigar while he tells a story of SÃmon Bolivar and offers tactical advice to guerrilla warriors throughout the Third World.The film contains rare and fascinating archive footage of the Bay of Pigs invasion and scenes of Che Guevara alongside interviews with political prisoners. Spectacular photography and editing with hot Cuban music provide the cinematic aesthetics that give this film beautiful form to accompany its exciting content.
“Some documentary, some propaganda, still interesting to watch.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI saw a 2007 revisited version of this. It includes a short interview with the director at the end.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBasically a US documentary crew is invited to Cuba to shoot footage of Fidel Castro. Most of the footage is of a trip into the countryside Castro takes and interacts with the citizens. There is a little history of the Revolution given but I wouldnu0026#39;t say this is a hard hitting doc. The hardest questions asked are by the citizenry of their day to day living. Bad roads and shortages of every kind are the big questions.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eCastro discusses the revolution, his ideas, and his goals. One of his goals is a u0026quot;Social Democracyu0026quot; where everyone can take part in politics. One citizen who speaks to the crew says the problem is there is no democracy at all. In the interview with the director added in 2007 he states after 40 years Cuba is still not a u0026quot;Social Democracy.u0026quot; I found it interesting to watch and given the circumstances it does give some insights to Fidel.”
