Fidel (film)
Encyclopedia
Fidel is the name of a mini-series by David Attwood
that describes the Cuba
n revolution and political career of Fidel Castro
. The total duration of the series is about 3 hours and 20 minutes, but the video-version is shorter.
After two hours the movie changes dramatically. The first two hours are about the six years before the fall of Batista
. The last hour is about the 40 years after that. Consequently the presentation of facts is very sketchy, many things are left out, and the order of events is not always correct. The mood changes as well – the beginning is suspiciously positive, but after the Revolutionaries take over, almost everything is put in a negative light. Castro is shown as still willing but also stupid, using illogical reasonings which are not consistent with someone who has a degree in Law. There are also several suggestions that Castro lost the trust of the people and lost contact with the people.
In the first two hours Castro regularly distances himself from Communism and Communists, but after the take-over, the film suggests that Castro had always aspired a Marxist-Leninist
State.
instead of Socialism
, which is the word used in Cuba (the goal may be Communism, but the method is Socialism). Also, the US is referred to as 'America' and the continent as 'the Americas', whereas the term 'America' is in Cuba reserved for the Continent (e.g., in one of the historical recordings that are shown, the crowd chants 'Cuba si, Yankee no', not 'Cuba yes, America no').
Also, the film depicts Huber Matos as a hero who was unjustly sentenced to prison because he was concerned with the Communist direction of the Cuba Revolution and that these statements were made privately. However, it is common knowledge that he made public anti-communist speeches in July 1959 in Camagüey, criticising the direction the revolution was taking. Furthermore, counterintelligence on the CIA concluded that Huber Matos was working in conjunction with persons such as Tony Varona, Carlos Prio, and Manuel Artime
with the plans for a counter-revolution organised by the Central Intelligence Agency
under Frank Sturgis
.
David Attwood
David Attwood is an English filmmaker.- Filmography :*1989 Killing Time*1990-1993 The Bill, 12 eps*1994 Saigon Baby*1995 The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders*1997 Shot Through the Heart...
that describes the Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n revolution and political career of Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
. The total duration of the series is about 3 hours and 20 minutes, but the video-version is shorter.
Plot
The film is almost documentary in its portrayal of facts. It claims to be based strongly on facts, apart from some adaptations like merging various characters into one.After two hours the movie changes dramatically. The first two hours are about the six years before the fall of Batista
Fulgencio Batista
Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar was the United States-aligned Cuban President, dictator and military leader who served as the leader of Cuba from 1933 to 1944 and from 1952 to 1959, before being overthrown as a result of the Cuban Revolution....
. The last hour is about the 40 years after that. Consequently the presentation of facts is very sketchy, many things are left out, and the order of events is not always correct. The mood changes as well – the beginning is suspiciously positive, but after the Revolutionaries take over, almost everything is put in a negative light. Castro is shown as still willing but also stupid, using illogical reasonings which are not consistent with someone who has a degree in Law. There are also several suggestions that Castro lost the trust of the people and lost contact with the people.
In the first two hours Castro regularly distances himself from Communism and Communists, but after the take-over, the film suggests that Castro had always aspired a Marxist-Leninist
Marxism-Leninism
Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology, officially based upon the theories of Marxism and Vladimir Lenin, that promotes the development and creation of a international communist society through the leadership of a vanguard party over a revolutionary socialist state that represents a dictatorship...
State.
Cast
- Víctor Huggo Martin as Fidel CastroFidel CastroFidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
- Honorato Magaloni as Aged Fidel Castro
- Gael García BernalGael García BernalGael García Bernal is a Mexican film actor and director.-Early life:García Bernal was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, the son of Patricia Bernal, an actress and former model, and José Ángel García, an actor and director. His stepfather is Sergio Yazbek, whom his mother married when García Bernal was...
as Che GuevaraChe GuevaraErnesto "Che" Guevara , commonly known as el Che or simply Che, was an Argentine Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, intellectual, guerrilla leader, diplomat and military theorist... - Patricia VelásquezPatricia VelásquezPatricia Carola Velásquez Semprún is a Venezuelan actress and fashion model. She is often considered to be the first Latin supermodel.-Early life:...
as Mirta - Cecilia SuárezCecilia SuárezCecilia Suárez is an Ariel Award and Emmy International nominated Mexican actress who has played roles in a number of mostly Spanish language films and television series since 1997.-Career:...
as Celia SanchezCelia SánchezCelia Sánchez Manduley was a participant of the Cuban Revolution and a close friend, and rumored lover of Fidel Castro.... - Maurice Compte as Raul CastroRaúl CastroRaúl Modesto Castro Ruz is a Cuban politician and revolutionary who has been President of the Council of State of Cuba and the President of the Council of Ministers of Cuba since 2008; he previously exercised presidential powers in an acting capacity from 2006 to 2008...
- Margarita Rosa de FranciscoMargarita Rosa de FranciscoMargarita Rosa de Francisco Baquero also known as La Mencha is a Colombian telenovela, movie actress, singer and TV presenter.-Personal life:...
as Naty Revuelta - Enrique Arce as Rafael
- José María Yazpik as Camilo CienfuegosCamilo CienfuegosCamilo Cienfuegos Gorriarán was a Cuban revolutionary born in Lawton, Havana. Raised in an anarchist family that had left Spain before the Spanish Civil War, he became a key figure of the Cuban Revolution, along with Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, Juan Almeida Bosque, and Raúl Castro.-Political...
- Manuel Sevilla as Abel SantamariaAbel SantamaríaAbel Santamaria Cuadrado was an important leader in the Cuban Revolutionary movement....
- Alejandra Gollas as Haydeé Santamaría
- Ernesto Godoy as Huber MatosHuber MatosHuber Matos Benítez was a Cuban revolutionary who assisted Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and members of the 26th of July Movement in successfully overthrowing the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista as part of the Cuban Revolution....
- Guillermo Díaz as Universo Sanchez
- Tony PlanaTony PlanaTony Plana is a Cuban-American actor and director. He is well known for playing Betty Suarez's father, Ignacio Suarez, on the ABC show Ugly Betty.-Personal life:...
as Gen. Fulgencio BatistaFulgencio BatistaFulgencio Batista y Zaldívar was the United States-aligned Cuban President, dictator and military leader who served as the leader of Cuba from 1933 to 1944 and from 1952 to 1959, before being overthrown as a result of the Cuban Revolution.... - Mel Rodriguez as Calixto Morales
- Bobby Plasencia as Faustino Perez
- Ismael 'East' CarloIsmael 'East' CarloIsmael 'East' Carlo is a Puerto Rican actor, sometimes credited as East Carlo, Ismael East Carlo or Ismael Carlo.-Life and career:Carlo was born in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, and raised in Spanish Harlem, New York....
as Eduardo ChibasEduardo ChibásEduardo René Chibás Ribas was a Cuban politician who used radio to broadcast his political views to the public. He primarily denounced corruption and gangsterism rampant during the governments of Ramón Grau and Carlos Prío which preceded the Batista era... - Ken JenkinsKen JenkinsKen Jenkins is an American actor, best known for his role as Dr. Bob Kelso, the Chief of Medicine on the American comedy Scrubs....
as Herbert MatthewsHerbert MatthewsHerbert Lionel Matthews was a reporter and editorialist for the New York Times who grew to notoriety after revealing that Fidel Castro was still alive and living in the Sierra Maestra mountains, though Batista had claimed publicly that he was killed during the 26th of July Movement's... - Adrián MakalaAdrián MakalaAdrián Makala , birth name Adrian Berthram McCalla Rivera, also known as "Makala", is a Mexican actor born in Mexico City. He has appeared in the telenovela Mar de Amor on Televisa and the TV series "Los Simuladores" for Sony Entertainment Television...
as Juan Almeida - Pedro Mira as Ramiro Valdes
- Juan Ignacio Aranda as Alberto BayoAlberto BayoAlberto Bayo y Giroud was a Cuban military leader of the defeated left-wing Loyalists in the Spanish Civil War. He was also a poet and essayist.He was born in Cuba and studied in the United States and Spain...
Terminology
Being a US film, it uses US terminology, such as use of the word CommunismCommunism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
instead of Socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
, which is the word used in Cuba (the goal may be Communism, but the method is Socialism). Also, the US is referred to as 'America' and the continent as 'the Americas', whereas the term 'America' is in Cuba reserved for the Continent (e.g., in one of the historical recordings that are shown, the crowd chants 'Cuba si, Yankee no', not 'Cuba yes, America no').
Historical inaccuracies
Despite the attempt to stay true to the facts, there are some inaccuracies:- The warning that the US were to invade Cuba came before the Bay of Pigs InvasionBay of Pigs InvasionThe Bay of Pigs Invasion was an unsuccessful action by a CIA-trained force of Cuban exiles to invade southern Cuba, with support and encouragement from the US government, in an attempt to overthrow the Cuban government of Fidel Castro. The invasion was launched in April 1961, less than three months...
, not after it, and it was about that invasion, not the Cuban Missile CrisisCuban Missile CrisisThe Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...
, which came later. - The trial of General Ochoa did not coincide with the 1980 Mariel boatliftMariel boatliftThe Mariel boatlift was a mass emigration of Cubans who departed from Cuba's Mariel Harbor for the United States between April 15 and October 31, 1980....
but took place nine years later. - Some events are dramatised, such as the conversation Castro had with the US ambassador, which never took place.
Also, the film depicts Huber Matos as a hero who was unjustly sentenced to prison because he was concerned with the Communist direction of the Cuba Revolution and that these statements were made privately. However, it is common knowledge that he made public anti-communist speeches in July 1959 in Camagüey, criticising the direction the revolution was taking. Furthermore, counterintelligence on the CIA concluded that Huber Matos was working in conjunction with persons such as Tony Varona, Carlos Prio, and Manuel Artime
Manuel Artime
Manuel Francisco Artime Buesa, M.D. was a Cuban-American who former took part to the rebel army of Fidel Castro, later was the political leader of Brigade 2506 land forces in the abortive Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in April 1961.-Biography:Manuel Artime was the nephew of popular Cuban poet José...
with the plans for a counter-revolution organised by the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
under Frank Sturgis
Frank Sturgis
Frank Anthony Sturgis , born Frank Angelo Fiorini, was one of the Watergate burglars.-Early Life and Military Service:...
.
Historical Characters
Along with Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and Fulgencio Batista, over a dozen other historical characters are featured, including:- Celia SanchezCelia SánchezCelia Sánchez Manduley was a participant of the Cuban Revolution and a close friend, and rumored lover of Fidel Castro....
- Camilo CienfuegosCamilo CienfuegosCamilo Cienfuegos Gorriarán was a Cuban revolutionary born in Lawton, Havana. Raised in an anarchist family that had left Spain before the Spanish Civil War, he became a key figure of the Cuban Revolution, along with Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, Juan Almeida Bosque, and Raúl Castro.-Political...
- Eduardo ChibasEduardo ChibásEduardo René Chibás Ribas was a Cuban politician who used radio to broadcast his political views to the public. He primarily denounced corruption and gangsterism rampant during the governments of Ramón Grau and Carlos Prío which preceded the Batista era...
- Raúl CastroRaúl CastroRaúl Modesto Castro Ruz is a Cuban politician and revolutionary who has been President of the Council of State of Cuba and the President of the Council of Ministers of Cuba since 2008; he previously exercised presidential powers in an acting capacity from 2006 to 2008...
- Huber MatosHuber MatosHuber Matos Benítez was a Cuban revolutionary who assisted Fidel Castro, Che Guevara and members of the 26th of July Movement in successfully overthrowing the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista as part of the Cuban Revolution....
- Herbert MatthewsHerbert MatthewsHerbert Lionel Matthews was a reporter and editorialist for the New York Times who grew to notoriety after revealing that Fidel Castro was still alive and living in the Sierra Maestra mountains, though Batista had claimed publicly that he was killed during the 26th of July Movement's...
- Abel SantamariaAbel SantamaríaAbel Santamaria Cuadrado was an important leader in the Cuban Revolutionary movement....
and his sister Haydee Santamaria.