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VIDEO RELEASE
Jul 23, 2003 (DVD)
Jul 22, 2003 (VHS)
CAST & CREW
Fidel Castro, Alice Walker, Harry Belafonte
Directed by Estela Bravo
more...
SYNOPSIS
This biographical documentary takes a rousing, invigorating, emotional look at one of the most complex and endearing figures of 20th Century global politics, Cuban leader Fidel Castro. more...
MPAA RATING
Not Rated
RUNTIME
1 hour, 31 minutes
RELEASE DATES
Theatrical: Oct 18, 2002
RELEASE COMPANY
First Run Features
GENRE
Education/General Interest, History, Documentary, Political
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SUBMIT/EDIT ARTICLE
SUBMIT USER REVIEW
FORUM
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 "Any film that doesn't even in passing mention political prisoners, poverty and the boat loads of people who try to escape the country is less a documentary and more propaganda by way of a valentine sealed with a kiss."
-- Glenn Whipp, LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS
 "An overview portrait more impressionistic than anything else, hardly psychologically plumbing... Still, leftist politics aside, the film undeniably works on a human level."
-- Brent Simon, ENTERTAINMENT TODAY
"An exhilarating experience."
-- Nigam Nuggehalli, CULTUREVULTURE.NET
"It's a refreshing change from the self-interest and paranoia that shape most American representations of Castro."
-- Paul Malcolm, L.A. WEEKLY
"Bravo reveals the true intent of her film by carefully selecting interview subjects who will construct a portrait of Castro so predominantly charitable it can only be seen as propaganda."
-- Jules Brenner, FILMCRITIC.COM
No review available.
-- Philip Martin, ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
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ROTTEN 56%
Avg. Rating: 5.4/10 |
"Purely propaganda, a work of unabashed hero worship, it is nonetheless -- and likely inadvertently -- a timely and invaluable implicit reminder of the role that U.S. foreign policy has played in the rise of Castro."
-- Kevin Thomas, LOS ANGELES TIMES
"Ninety minutes of Viva Castro! can be as tiresome as 9 seconds of Jesse Helms' anti- Castro rhetoric, which are included"
-- Jan Stuart, NEWSDAY
"This is an exercise not in biography but in hero worship."
-- A.O. Scott, NEW YORK TIMES
"Sacrifices the value of its wealth of archival foot-age with its less-than-objective stance."
-- Frank Scheck, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
"Makes an aborbing if arguable case for the man's greatness."
-- Geoff Pevere, TORONTO STAR
"Audiences will find no mention of political prisoners or persecutions that might paint the Castro regime in less than saintly tones."
-- Janice Page, BOSTON GLOBE
"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."
-- Liam Lacey, GLOBE AND MAIL
"Although Estela Bravo's documentary is cloyingly hagiographic in its portrait of Cuban leader Fidel Castro, it's still a guilty pleasure to watch."
-- Desson Howe, WASHINGTON POST
"We get an image of Big Papa spanning history, rather than suspending it."
-- Jon Dolan, VILLAGE VOICE
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* Who are the Approved Tomatometer Critics?
* Mouse over a tomato icon for a publication's original rating. Original rating not available for every publication.
* In fairness to critics whose last name begins with a letter at the end of the alphabet, certain pages are sorted in reverse order, z-a.
* Certain "Fidel" article data provided by the Movie Review Query Engine.
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