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By RENE RODRIGUEZ. Rrodriguez@herald.com. Posted on Wed,
Oct. 23, 2002 in The Miami
Herald.
Is Miami ready for a documentary about Fidel Castro that presents the Cuban
leader as ''a socialist survivor in a capitalist world''? As ''a symbol of
resistance and social justice?'' As a selfless champion of his people, noble
humanitarian and all-around good guy?
Seymour Wishman, president of First Run Features, which is distributing
Estela Bravo's 2000 film, Fidel, doesn't think so. The movie, which opened in
New York last Friday and is scheduled to expand to other states next month, has
no South Florida engagement set, even though it's hard to think of another U.S.
city that would be more interested in the subject matter.
''We haven't made a decision about any theaters there,'' Wishman said. "It's
a film that deserves to be seen, and I think there are people [in Miami] who
would be eager to see it. But we don't want to antagonize any of the communities
down there. I don't want to exploit the sensationalism that would come of it.''
AVOIDING TROUBLE
In other words, Wishman doesn't want any trouble, and he's not sure how
Miami's Cuban community would react to a hagiography of their most reviled
enemy.
His concerns are understandable. Fidel is a work of pure propaganda -- a
fawning, hysterical valentine to a dictator, disguised as a piece of journalism.
Right from the opening credits -- the title Fidel flashing across the screen in
giant, titanium-steel letters, a la The Terminator -- the film sets Castro up as
a David figure with the courage and resourcefulness to fend off Goliaths like
Batista, apartheid, American corporations and the U.S. government.
Relying heavily on archival footage and photographs, much of which will be
new to the casual viewer, Fidel traces Castro's life from childhood through the
Cuban Revolution, from the Cuban Missile Crisis to his 1995 U.S. visit for the
United Nations' 50th anniversary.
In between, there are interviews with celebrities. Singer Harry Belafonte
talks of the corruption and racism that ran rampant in pre-Castro Cuba. Author
Gabriel Garcia Marquez says Castro is such a genius, he routinely sends the
Cuban leader his manuscripts for editing before he turns them in to his
publisher.
And author Alice Walker, who expresses a deep admiration for Castro, says "The
thing that surprises me about Fidel is that he can't dance. I don't understand
that. And he can't sing, either! Good thing he has all those other good
qualities.''
Ahem.
Left unmentioned are Castro's long history of human rights violations, the
jailing and torture of political dissidents, the oppression of free speech, the
economic hardships endured by Cubans, the treatment of those who would dare
express a differing view.
According to Fidel, the Mariel boatlift never happened. According to Fidel,
Castro is as beloved by Cubans as Saddam Hussein is by Iraqis.
EXODUS MINIMIZED
And the exodus of Cubans who have fled the island by plane or by raft since
the 1960s is dismissed in one brief shot, which shows some men pushing off on an
inflatable raft as a voice-over informs us that ''some'' Cubans chose to leave
after the collapse of the Soviet Union worsened Cuba's economy.
The only hint of criticism allowed in the film comes courtesy of 60 Minutes'
Mike Wallace, who surprises Castro during a meet-and-greet by asking him ''What
happened to democracy and free elections?'' Through an interpreter, Castro
replies, ''We discovered other formulas of democracy, and we discovered it was
better than the Americans'.'' Then the film cuts away to more shots of Castro
posing for photos with Nelson Mandela, Jack Nicholson and Ted Turner.
The constant lack of balance, perspective or even simple truth renders Fidel
worthless as a portrait of one of the key historical figures of the 20th
century. The New York Times panned the film last week, calling it ''bad cinema
and bad history.'' The Hollywood Reporter said the movie ''sacrifices the value
of its wealth of archival footage with its less-than-objective stance.'' The New
York Daily News wrote that Fidel "glosses over the troubles Cuba has
experienced under Castro's highly restrictive reign, placing all blame on
America while portraying the smaller country as a socialist paradise.''
And yet, Fidel still has considerable intellectual value as a glimpse into
Castro's propaganda apparatus -- for example, in its portrayal of Miami's Cuban
exiles as right-wing lunatics who have seized control of South Florida's news
media.
''Everything Bravo puts in her film has to be approved by Fidel,'' said
Alejandro Rios, director of the Cuban Cinema Series at Miami-Dade Community
College. "You are dealing with an artist who is at the service of a
dictator. We have to consider that Fidel Castro's propaganda has been highly
efficient. It is a machine that began operating in January 1959 and has worked
better than every obstacle he's faced.
'The Cubans in Miami ask themselves daily, 'Why is it that so much of the
world does not understand us and still sympathizes with Castro?' '' "I
think this documentary helps answer that question.''
At the 1999 Miami Film Festival, when Nat Chediak presented The Planet of
the Children, the German-com missioned documentary that took a dry, ironic and
quietly critical look at Cuba's school system, only one audience member heckled
his choice of programming. Chediak says that viewer ''missed the irony of the
film altogether'' and that Fidel ought to be shown in South Florida.
''I don't think Fidel would be out of place in any film series in town,
particularly because of the audience here,'' Chediak said. "Every film is
made to be seen. The only thing a film needs is the right audience and the right
forum. It's all a matter of context.''
Fidel is the latest entry in an ongoing cinematic discourse on Castro.
Earlier this year, Showtime aired its own miniseries on the dictator. Due in
theaters next year is Looking for Fidel, Oliver Stone's own documentary on
Castro, which, considering Stone's track record, is bound to stir up much more
intelligent discussion than Bravo's obvious, transparent film.
It's that same insulting simplicity, however, that makes Fidel required
viewing for anyone with a passing interest in Cuban politics. Although he has
his reservations, Wishman does not rule out booking Fidel in Miami in the coming
weeks. I hope he decides to take the chance. Is Fidel infuriating? Absolutely.
But approached with the proper frame of mind, it is also fascinating. | 
