'Fidel'

Review

Fidel

DVD [2002]

This was so obviously a tele-movie and I just had to keep giving it my full attention. A 3 hour movie about the rise of the revolution in Cuba under Fidel Castro and the involvement of other factions such as the Communist party, Soviets and the legendary Che Guevara.

I was particularly drawn to this film when I saw Gael Garcia Bernal was involved. He seems to be such an intense actor and I'm coming to appreciate the way he portrays raw characters full of conviction. It was also good to see a bit of the follow on from Motorcycle Diaries (although made in 2004) where we saw him develop his ideals and then they are acted out through the eyes of someone else. I loved it. I'm a sucker for progression.

The fight and speech scenes were a little disappointing, of course being a movie made for TV they skipped on the special effects and relied on stock footage to fill in the gaps. I did like the way it only tried to really dwell on Fidel's life and emphasis was only placed on various moments in time as to how it affected him rather than the nation or the communist/democratic world.

Worth a watch for a snippet into a piece of modern iconography.