Looking for Fidel

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08/04/2013 An alright doc by Oliver Stone. See more 10/10/2011 Where does it all turn? We expect Stone to be slightly more empathetic, perhaps even sympathetic, of the great long standing Cuban dictator throughout the duration of this film. Yet for almost 1 hour, it seems Stone has never had a more hard-edged, vigilante journalistic mindset in his filmmaking career. So what's he buttering us up for? Surely we're not to sit through an Oliver Stone film and bash a singe individual for a whole hour, especially if he's a communist, especially if he was one of the few innocents in JFK, are we? Close, but methodically, and through precise editing, Stone changes the pace of his film at just about 1 hr in when Castro reveals a fact that does not seem to be of denial, or hidden shame, or obvious psychoticism. Rather, Castro finally makes a point we can all agree with: when has the US ever taken anything besides pure surrender as an answer from another nation? Correct you are Castro, the US is a nation of bullies. Castro made a lot of mistakes, but the lasting impression we're left with is that it's the United States' fault. Very intelligent people will be able to find meticulous answers to the contrary of Mr. Castro, but I think Stone is right to feed us a ton of mistakes and then point the finger at the most powerful and ideologically disorganized nation on Earth. That's just my opinion. As for filmmaking itself, don't blink and don't leave the room without pausing unless you're an American/Cuban crisis expert. See more 10/07/2011 A Fascinating piece by Stone about the Cuban leader, although only released this year, the interviews were from 2003, and Castro has stepped aside in many matters since then. It's always amazed me how much energy the USA spends on ripping into Fidel when there have always been horrible totalitarian regimes all over the world, but luckily they were always willing to cooperate for the right price. Anyone who argues that Cuba isn't better off now than it was under Bautista pre-Revolution is kidding themselves. Fidel comes across as an extremely intelligent man, which is no surprise. The discussion of the execution of political dissidents for hijacking is discussed, and Stone really pushes him on it, which he defends vehementally, given the violent nature of the hijackings and the political climate of the time (post 9-11 heightened terror worries, hair-trigger emotions, etc.). All in all, an essential piece for anyone with some interest in the subject matter. Highly recommended. See more 04/24/2011 An intriguing search for the truth about Cuba's infamous Fidel Castro by director Oliver Stone, who was granted unprecedented access not only to Castro himself, but to political prisoners and dissidents as well. Castro proves himself a lucid and intelligent man in this surprisingly balanced, if brief, portrait of one of the world's most controversial figures. See more 10/11/2010 Very insightful and technically brilliant follow-up to Stone's 2003 documentary "Comandante". See more 04/04/2009 Entrevista de Olver Stone en donde se puede compartir el punto de vista de Fidel. Le creo y qué. See more Read all reviews

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