| It’s no secret that Fidel Castro is Cuba’s first and last link to socialism. For some time now, the United States government has been waiting for Castro to die, in the hopes that the Caribbean island nation he leads will once again be America’s playground.
As we’re reminded in the documentary Fidel: The Untold Story, U.S. government policy with respect to Cuba has been less than tolerant since Castro rose to power in 1959, after a violent two-and-a-half year guerilla revolution to overthrow American-backed dictator Juan-Maria Batista.
What exactly is "untold" in this story is hard to say, though. Perhaps this film presents new information for the majority of Americans – who have been largely denied reliable information about Castro and Cuba in the past 40 years – but for Canadians with even a passing knowledge of history, little of what’s here is likely to come as a surprise.
Granted, it’s interesting to hear ex-Central Intelligence Agency staff admit to the CIA’s attempts to assassinate Castro, but this film is primarily a whitewash of its subject, with testimonials from singer Harry Belafonte, novelist Alice Walker and other famous celebrities.
The whole story ought to include a critical analysis of Castro’s own intolerance toward "anti-revolutionary" ideas. Castro has interpreted the term broadly in various purges throughout the years. For example, in 1980, more than 100,000 homosexuals, artists and other "undesirables" were exiled to the United States (an event depicted in Reinaldo Arenas’s book Before Night Falls, and in Julian Schnabel’s film adaptation of the same name). Castro’s record is far from spotless.
There is also little attention given to the idea that many Cuban ex-pats believe Castro’s fiercely stubborn attachment to socialist principles has contributed to Cuba’s economic decline in the days since the dissolution of the Eastern Bloc.
There is also little attention given to the idea that many Cuban ex-pats believe Castro's fiercely stubborn attachment to socialist principles has contributed to Cuba's economic decline. After the Americans imposed an embargo on Cuban goods in 1962, the sympathetic Soviets picked up the slack, importing the majority of Cuban exports – but since the dissolution of the Eastern Bloc, Cuba's economy has been crippled.
Instead, we hear primarily of Castro’s association with fellow revolutionary Che Guevara, his friendship with Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez and his impassioned leadership of the Cuban people, the vast majority of whom seem to love him despite his failings. Castro is indeed an inspiring figure, but this documentary celebrates that fact for 90 minutes at the expense of editorial fairness. Fidel: The Untold Story is an excellent propaganda film, but as the complete picture of the man and the leader, it leaves much to be desired. |
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