Fidel: The Untold Story

    Fidel: The Untold Story
    2001

    Synopsis

    Documentary about Fidel Castro, covering 40 years of Cuban Revolution. Rare Fidel Castro footage: he appears swimming with a bodyguard, visiting his childhood home and school, playing with his friend Nelson Mandela, meeting kid Elián Gonzalez, and celebrating his birthday with the Buena Vista Social Club group.

    Your Movie Library

    Recommendations

    • 75

      Christian Science Monitor

      Bravo works too hard at extolling Castro -- The film's historical footage is compelling, though, and provides plenty to think about.
    • 63

      The Globe and Mail (Toronto)

      Estela Bravo's film Fidel, The Untold Story has the kitsch appeal of a farm implement on a restaurant wall, or an Andy Warhol Mao poster: Interesting, but not for its original purpose.
    • 60

      L.A. Weekly

      It's a refreshing change from the self-interest and paranoia that shape most American representations of Castro. At the same time, Bravo anticipates that such a view will drive some nuts.
    • 60

      Washington Post

      Castro remains the star of the show. You can't stop watching him.
    • 50

      Los Angeles Times

      Hitler had his Leni Riefenstahl, and now Castro has his Bravo...Bravo is no Riefenstahl when it comes to persuasive mythologizing.
    • 50

      New York Daily News

      It's a shame Bravo doesn't allow herself a broader perspective, because she's right to consider Castro one of the most important figures of the 20th century.
    • 50

      TV Guide Magazine

      The lack of opposing viewpoints soon grows tiresome -- the film feels more like a series of toasts at a testimonial dinner than a documentary.
    • 50

      Boston Globe

      Unabashed Fidel worship.