Average Rating: 5.6/10
Reviews Counted: 20
Fresh: 12 | Rotten: 8
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 5.6/10
Critic Reviews: 9
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 4
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 1,681
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
Oct 18, 2002 Wide
Jul 22, 2003
First Run Features
All Critics (20) | Top Critics (9) | Fresh (12) | Rotten (8)
Purely propaganda, a work of unabashed hero worship, it is nonetheless -- and likely inadvertently -- a timely and invaluable implicit reminder of the role that U.S. foreign policy has played in the rise of Castro.
Makes an aborbing if arguable case for the man's greatness.
Has the kitsch appeal of a farm implement on a restaurant wall, or an Andy Warhol Mao poster: Interesting, but not for its original purpose.
Audiences will find no mention of political prisoners or persecutions that might paint the Castro regime in less than saintly tones.
Although Estela Bravo's documentary is cloyingly hagiographic in its portrait of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, it's still a guilty pleasure to watch.
Sacrifices the value of its wealth of archival foot-age with its less-than-objective stance.
Offers a completely one-sided view of Castro and his life and career.
A landmark work that should have viewers across the world reaching for history books to learn not only politically expedient accounts of Fidel's life, but also the real deal.
Bravo reveals the true intent of her film by carefully selecting interview subjects who will construct a portrait of Castro so predominantly charitable it can only be seen as propaganda.
An overview portrait more impressionistic than anything else, hardly psychologically plumbing... Still, leftist politics aside, the film undeniably works on a human level.
Any film that doesn't even in passing mention political prisoners, poverty and the boat loads of people who try to escape the country is less a documentary and more propaganda by way of a valentine sealed with a kiss.
It's a refreshing change from the self-interest and paranoia that shape most American representations of Castro.
Full of detail about the man and his country, and is well worth seeing.
An exhilarating experience.
The lack of opposing viewpoints soon grows tiresome -- the film feels more like a series of toasts at a testimonial dinner than a documentary.
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