Fidel with Victor Huggo Martin: DVD Cover

    Fidel Director: David Attwood Cast: Victor Huggo Martin, Gael García Bernal, Patricia Velasquez, Maurice Compte

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    • DVD Release Date: 05/21/2002
    • Rating: Not Rated
    • Sales Rank: 12,107

    Viewer Rating: (2 ratings)

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    • Overview
    • Editorial Reviews
    • Scenes
    • Customer Reviews
    • Cast & Crew
    • Full Product Details

    Features

    Full-screen version; 2.0 Dolby Digital audio; Digitally mastered; Scene selections; Interactive menus; Production notes and cast biographies; John F. Kennedy's speech on the Cuban Missile Crisis

    Full Product Details

    Scene Index

    Side #1 --
    1. Opening Credits [6:30]
    2. Picture of Disrespect [10:33]
    3. "Corrupt to the Bone" [7:38]
    4. A "Running" Candidate [6:13]
    5. Creating Enemies [6:20]
    6. Sacrifice [5:13]
    7. The Only Direction [3:40]
    8. The Revolution Begins Now [8:16]
    9. Santiago Attack [5:45]
    10. Sentenced [5:17]
    11. A Mistake to Keep Alive [5:05]
    12. My Revolution First! [6:20]
    13. Discipline [5:57]
    14. Where Are We Heading? [4:43]
    15. Let's Move [5:54]
    16. Watch and Wait [6:02]
    17. We Need a Victory [4:09]
    18. That's the Way! [3:12]
    19. Send for a Journalist [7:12]
    20. So You Are Celia Sanchez [3:46]
    21. Master of Sierra Maestra [3:08]
    22. The Voice of Fidel Castro [3:03]
    23. Triumph of the Revolution [4:47]
    24. Viva Fidel! [6:07]
    25. Tell Me What You Want [3:13]
    26. A True People's Democracy [6:04]
    27. Responsibility for Justice [4:04]
    28. Betrayal [9:01]
    29. No Place for Different Opinions [6:34]
    30. Cuba Won't Be Told [7:11]
    31. A Socialist Cuba [4:55]
    32. First Mine... Now Yours [4:12]
    33. Need More Sacrifice [7:53]
    34. Your Dreams Are Not Cuba's [6:23]
    35. Is This Democracy? [6:59]
    36. End Credits [3:42]

    Scene Index

    Editorial Reviews

    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

    Customer Reviews

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    • Ratings: 2Reviews: 2

    Fidelby Anonymous

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    November 11, 2006: Being that this was a TV mini-series through the production of Showtime it was pretty good. To me the first two hours of this movie was great. There are some very strong performances all round, and the activities are well researched and offer a fairly objective view of events. Obviously, many events are skirted over in order to fit the running time, but what is shown is a fairly accurate portrayal of history. The violence in particular is extremely well done, offering a very realistic portrayal of gunfire and its consequences, instead of some needlessly flashy OTT action. The problem comes towards the 2nd half of the movie as Castro (played by Victor Huggo Martin) takes power of Cuba. Suddenly, the timeline lurches drastically to try and mention important events. The films low budget shows itself up as the film spans years and events with little or no regard to objective film making. The movie is about Fidel, however, over the second half we suddenly cut to a very badly filmed sequence showing the death of Che Guevara (played by Gael García Bernal). Whilst certainly an important part of Fidel's life, the narrative shift from Fidel to Che seems clunky and out of place with the rest of the film. As a fan of Gael Garcia Bernal, I was especially interested in his character. However, I was left especially disappointed by Che's one-dimensional portrayal. The desire to portray Fidel in a bad light, sacrifices the characterizations of the first half of the movie, and instead offers a clumsily scripted/filmed series of events designed to show Fidel in a bad light. The film should've ended when he took power. As it is, the final hour and a half ruin an otherwise great movie. Grand Ideals and Theory Run Amok That pretty much sums up nearly every Communist revolution from Lenin to Fidel. This film showed that Fidel was living in the communist dream world, where everything would be alright as long as people sacrificed "For the Revolution!" What happened was crop shortages, political prisons getting filled with people who became just as oppressed under Castro as they had under Batista. This movie showed the simple truth. As long as men are men, Communism can never work.

    Fidelby Anonymous

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    July 12, 2003: Then that happened, then that happened, then that happened…. Anyone with a passable knowledge of Castro and the Cuban Revolution will realize that “Fidel” is little more than a dramatic chronicle of the most familiar episodes of Castro’s life. The film is nearly a cliché. Add that the film is a three hours plus long and the acting is mediocre at best, the resulting sense of chore viewers experience is predictable. Yet with all the time the movie allots itself (and sentences the viewer to), time, in places, is oddly prioritized. The Cuban missile crisis was a blip in history apparently. Oh, there’s more. There is the dissonance in film’s perspective about Castro himself. The film doesn’t suggest that Castro is a multifaceted, complicated character. Rather, the film takes a sudden and unpredictable shift in its point of view. Actually, the shift resembles a conversion. Castro goes from a visionary and precocious revolutionary leader to—presto!—the failed tyrant we know from the news and White House press briefings. I’m sure the conversion saved the film from the charge of pro-Castro propaganda that is all too familiar when anything the least bit laudatory about Castro or post-revolutionary Cuba is depicted. But, then, that’s how propaganda works here.