Fidel (2002 film)

{{Infobox television

| image = Fidel FilmPoster.jpeg

| image_size =

| image_alt =

| caption = DVD cover

| genre = Biographical drama

| based_on = {{Plainlist|

{{based on|Guerilla Prince|Georgie Anne Geyer}}
{{based on|Fidel Castro|Robert E. Quirk}}

}}

| screenplay = Stephen Tolkin

| director = David Attwood

| starring = {{Plainlist|

}}

| music = John Altman

| country = United States

| language = English

| executive_producer = David V. Picker

| producer = {{Plainlist|

Kevin Cooper
Jose Ludlow

}}

| editor = Milton Moses Ginsberg

| cinematography = Checco Varese

| runtime = 200 minutes (2 parts)

| company = {{Plainlist|

}}

| budget =

| network = Showtime

| first_aired = {{start date|2002|01|27}}

| last_aired = {{end date|2002|01|28}}

}}

Fidel, titled onscreen as ¡Fidel!, is a 2002 American biographical drama television film directed by David Attwood about the Cuban Revolution and political career of Fidel Castro, played by Víctor Huggo Martin. Gael García Bernal, Patricia Velásquez, Cecilia Suárez, Manuel Sevilla, and Maurice Compte also star. The screenplay by Stephen Tolkin is based on two biographies of Castro: Guerilla Prince: The Untold Story of Fidel Castro (1991) by Georgie Anne Geyer, and Fidel Castro (1993) by Robert E. Quirk. The film aired on Showtime in two parts, on January 27 and 28, 2002. The total duration of the film is 200 minutes, but the video version is shorter. García Bernal would reprise his role as Che Guevara in the 2004 feature film The Motorcycle Diaries.

Background

The film is almost documentary in its portrayal of facts. It claims to be based strongly on facts, apart from some adaptations like merging various characters into one.

After two hours, the film changes dramatically: the first two hours are centered on the six years before the fall of Batista's dictatorship. The last hour is about the takeover of the country and the subsequent 40 years of the Cuban Revolution.

In the first two hours of story, Castro regularly distances himself from Communism and Communists, but after the Bay of Pigs invasion, the film suggests that Castro had always aspired to create a Marxist-Leninist State.

Plot

Cast

{{castlist|

Víctor Huggo Martin as Fidel Castro
Honorato Magaloni as aged Fidel Castro
Gael García Bernal as Che Guevara
Patricia Velásquez as Mirta Díaz-Balart
Cecilia Suárez as Celia Sánchez
Manuel Sevilla as Abel Santamaría
Maurice Compte as Raúl Castro
Margarita Rosa de Francisco as Naty Revuelta
Enrique Arce as Rafael
José María Yazpik as Camilo Cienfuegos
Alejandra Gollas as Haydée Santamaría
Ernesto Godoy as Huber Matos
Guillermo Díaz as Universo Sánchez
Tony Plana as Gen. Fulgencio Batista
Mel Rodriguez as Calixto Morales
Bobby Plasencia as Faustino Pérez
Ismael 'East' Carlo as Eduardo Chibás
Ken Jenkins as Herbert Matthews
Adrián Makala as Juan Almeida
Pedro Mira as Ramiro Valdés
Juan Ignacio Aranda as Alberto Bayo
Roger Cudney as Ambassador Butler
Diego Luna as Renato Guitart
Carmen Zapata as old woman
George Lopez as Chucho Osorio

}}

Production

Filming took place in Mexico and the Dominican Republic.{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2002/tv/reviews/fidel-2-1200551752/|title=Fidel|last=Oxman|first=Steven|work=Variety|date=January 23, 2002|access-date=September 12, 2024}}