MFDB

Storyline

Relations between the USA and Cuba are anything but normal. While the Americans maintain a military base and even a prison – principally for Al- Qaeda prisoners – in this Caribbean state, the US government prohibits any kind of “economic activity” with Cuba. Here, just a few nautical miles away from Miami, is where President Bush’s “axis of evil” begins. Castro’s success in driving out General Batista in 1959; the Bay of Pigs disaster of 1961 when the US-marines attempted to bring down Castro; the Sovi et atomic missiles that Khrushchev wanted to station in Cuba in 1962 – the list of humiliations, failures and conflicts is long. Nevertheless, there’s barely a citizen of the USA apart from an influential lobby of Cubans living in exile – who can still remember the details of these events. More than enough reason then, for Oliver Stone to devote a film to the legendary Maximo Lider, the Comandante, who is today either admired, hated or simply seen as the leader of a Caribbean regime that is on its last legs economically. No prior arrangements were made about what should or should not be discussed and so,Castro responds to each and every question posed by Stone. During the course of this filmed conversation, Castro talks for the first time in detail about his relationship to Che Guevara, Kennedy and Nixon, but he also talks about certain aspects of his private life, such as his role as a father, husband and lover.“Friendly, yet tenacious and dogged in pursuing various lines of questioning, Stone and Fidel conduct an often illuminating tête-àtête, elucidating how it is that Cuba has existed at the border of the world’s greatest superpower as its most persistent antagonist for more than four decades.” (Geoffrey Gilmore).

Festivals & Academy awards and others

Berlin International Film Festival 2003
Panorama