Blame It On Fidel
| 21 Aug 2007
La Faute à Fidel is a hugely accomplished first feature by Julie Gavras, the daughter of feted left-wing filmmaker Costa-Gavras, which tells the story of a young girl whose rich parents suddenly become political activists in 1970s Paris. It’s a highly intelligent, witty and charming film, which sensitively probes young Anna’s (Nina Kervel) feelings of resentment and indignation, without ever simply blaming her parents for putting their politics before the wishes of their children. Kervel puts in a fantastic performance, showing great maturity in her portrayal of Anna’s emotional and intellectual journey towards a grudging acceptance of her parents’ views and lifestyle.
Gavras keeps the camera low and mostly close-up, giving an effective child’s-eye view of the events, but also letting us in on the complex adult arguments and conversations about politics, which Anna is privy too but cannot fully comprehend. The film is most laudable in its serious treatment of children as intelligent people, whose imperfect understanding can nevertheless be closer to the bone than the adults would care to admit. When Anna asks “If Allende wins the election, does that mean that Franco loses?” she unintentionally hits on the perceived global nature of the Communist struggle and also, uncomfortably, on her father’s reasons for joining the movement in the first place (his guilt at his radical brother’s death in Franco’s Spain). Blame it on Fidel is a fresh and original addition to the current spate of films that revisit the Left in late 20th Century Europe.
Gavras keeps the camera low and mostly close-up, giving an effective child’s-eye view of the events, but also letting us in on the complex adult arguments and conversations about politics, which Anna is privy too but cannot fully comprehend. The film is most laudable in its serious treatment of children as intelligent people, whose imperfect understanding can nevertheless be closer to the bone than the adults would care to admit. When Anna asks “If Allende wins the election, does that mean that Franco loses?” she unintentionally hits on the perceived global nature of the Communist struggle and also, uncomfortably, on her father’s reasons for joining the movement in the first place (his guilt at his radical brother’s death in Franco’s Spain). Blame it on Fidel is a fresh and original addition to the current spate of films that revisit the Left in late 20th Century Europe.