"America Undercover" Looking for Fidel (2004)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Oliver Stone

Writer:

Oliver Stone (narration)

TV Series:

"America Undercover" (1993)

Original Air Date:

14 April 2004

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

Oliver Stone's second documentary on/interview with Fidel Castro specifically addresses his country's recent crackdown on Cuban dissidents; namely, the execution of three men who hijacked a ferry to the United States. |

Cast

Jimmy Carter	...	Himself (archive footage)
James Cason	...	Himself (archive footage)
Fidel Castro	...	Himself
Ernesto 'Che' Guevara	...	Himself (archive footage)
Miriam Laeba	...	Herself
Claudia Marquez Linares	...	Herself
Osvaldo Payá	...	Himself
Blanca Reyes	...	Herself
Vladimiro Roca	...	Himself
Filipe Perez Roque	...	Himself (archive footage)
Elizardo Sanchez	...	Himself
Oliver Stone	...	Himself
Juanita Vera	...	Herself (Castro's Interpreter)

Runtime:

USA:57 min | Argentina:57 min (Mar del Plata Film Festival) | 54 min (TV)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Certification:

Sweden:Btl | Argentina:13 | Spain:T

Filming Locations:

Cuba

Company:

HBO Documentary

Trivia:

This documentary is featured on the Bonus DVD disc included in the Ultimate Oliver Stone Collection, released in 2004.

Movie Connections:

Follows Comandante (2003)

Distracting

I found this documentary interesting, but it could have been SO much better. The main problem was the style in which it was taped. Even simple exchanges between Oliver Stone and Fidel Castro were taped with four or five cameras, two of which were hand held and none of which ever stopped moving -- panning back and forth, zooming in and out -- in a sort of MTV-documentary style. It was horribly distracting. Another problem was Stone, who spent much of the time sifting through reams of notes in an attempt to seem prepared. A very amateurish way of interviewing someone. Overall, this documentary is more flash than substance, like most of Stone's movies.