I had the opportunity to view Comandante at the San Francisco Film Festival earlier this month. Directed by Oliver Stone, it is an amazing and incredibly intimate portrait of Fidel Castro that portrays him as a revolutionary, a dictator, and a beloved leader. Castro definitely let his guard down for this film and had a "whatever happens, happens" attitude regarding the filming. Although the rules for the shooting stated that Castro or Stone could call "cut" at any time, neither of them used this privilege throughout the filming.
It was very interesting to hear Castro's views of the United States and his explanation of what was happening behind the scenes during the Bay of Pigs invasion and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Castro portrays Cuba as a country that was caught between two superpowers, the Soviet Union and the United States. A country that has always done things its own way--Castro's way.
Castro also expresses sadness towards the American people because of the actions of its government, citing the secret creation of the CIA. He refers to the years that the world knew of the Agency's existence while the American people were in the dark about both the Agency and its practices in the global stage. Castro is also critical of the United States' quick invocation of "National Security" and its use of these "sacred words" to instill its will onto the rest of the world and declare wars or conflict.
Stone does a great job of mixing documentary news footage from the past five decades with the present to make his own commentary about the dictator. He even shows Castro and his revolutionary forces executing opposing factions near a mass grave. However, it is clear that this is a biopic view of Castro's life that focuses more on his successes than his mistakes.
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