Oliver Stone's Comandante

[Johann]

Anyone hear about the release date for this Stone documentary?

It's Oliver's personal meeting/interview with Fidel Castro. I heard about it a year ago, and there has been no info.... I'm really excited about it.

[oscar jubis]

HBO yanked it off the schedule following summary executions on April 3 and the recent torture and jailing of dissidents in Cuba. The Miami Herald reported that the network "ordered" Stone to conduct further inquiries. Stone is apparently busy filming Alexander The Great.

You've probably gleaned from other posts that I am a liberal. But I am baffled by the interest and sympathy this power-hungry tyrant receives worldwide. I figure surviving the wrath of Uncle Sam for so long to be the reason. Castro is an egomaniac old-fart and I have scant interest in watching Stone kiss his ass. If stevesteitz could see me now!

[Johann]

I have no interest in Cohiba-chomping Fidel. My interest lies with The Stone. Button-pusher extrordinaire, he just loves igniting controversy and he does it with so much flair that i can't help grinning like the cheshire cat..

[Johann]

My opinion of HBO has dropped since the James Gandolfini thing and now this news... HBO has got to stop posturing sometimes & bite the bullet. They'd gain more respect (and perhaps viewers).

[oscar jubis]

HBO will show a 57 minute version of "Comandante" titled Looking for Fidel on Wednesday April 14th at 8 p.m. (Eastern Time).

[Johann]

The CBC aired Comandante in it's entirety last month and I never knew it. I found out a week after the fact and it really pissed me off because I was home that night. They don't plan on showing it again.

And now HBO (which I don't get because we don't have a satellite) is showing it. Talk about rubbing salt in the wound....

[JustaFied]

Evidently "Comandante" was more sympathetic (or fawning) towards Castro, and HBO got cold feet and decided not to show it. They sent Stone back to Cuba to ask a few more questions, and "Looking for Fidel" is what we get now.

Review of it in yesterday's New York Times was not particularly positive. I don't have HBO, so I didn't catch the film last night.

[cinemabon]

Oscar, this is playing in your backyard, so I'm certain you have a better feel for this than the rest of us. I guess I am a moderate liberal, as I believe in basic human rights for everyone, etc. Castro is a bit of an enigma to most Americans. However, to the Miami community, they are far more familiar with the leopard and his spots. I dare say, his dark side is closer to something most of us would rather be rid of.

[oscar jubis]

Originally posted by cinemabon
Oscar, this is playing in your backyard

It's actually playing in my bedroom, cinemabon. My wife is Cuban-American. When you look into the eyes of exiles telling their horror stories, talking about indignities large and small, you know Castro as tyrant and despot is not a conservative illusion. The American and especially the European "Left" have historically drawn an idealized picture of Fidel in the face of reams of evidence of human rights violations of every stripe. Mr. Stone is one of these knee-jerk mythmakers. I am a liberal but I'm not desperate for revolutionary heroes.

On the other hand, I openly criticize those who fail to recognize Castro's success in dealing with institutional racism, inadequate health care and lack of educational opportunities. I also object to the contempt exiles often show towards Cubans there, and to displays of paranoia towards political adversaries here.

Another historical character we'll be discussing in the near future is "Che" Guevara. Soderbergh is shooting his version with Benicio Del Toro in the leading role.