Blame it on Fidel!

Very rarely do filmmakers make accurate movies about children, let alone a child trying to understand the constantly changing world around them. Usually, the films have children in them but are never as powerful as they might have intended to be because it is much harder to do what they are trying to do: have a story told through the child's eyes.

Blame it on Fidel! manages to accomplish which so many have been unable to do while also conquering heated political material. This film is the story of a privileged young girl in 1970s France whose life changes completely as her parents become increasingly more politically active and involved in socialism.

This movie works so well because of some truly strong performances, especially from the film's protagonist, and great choices made by the film's writer and director, Julie Gavas. The main character of the film, Anna, brilliantly played by Nina Kervel-Bey, tries to understand all of the changes occurring in her life as well as managing the frustration which these changes create. The confusion of the character is so well handled as she tries to balance her parents telling her to think for herself while also telling her what to believe. There is a great moment in the film when Anna is told about the importance of not being a sheep and being an independent thinker while her parents teach her the importance of group solidarity and Anna has to figure out the fine line between the two.

The choice to only show the film from Anna's perspective is a very good and thoughtful one as the audience doesn't jump ahead of her and it more accurately describes the incomplete pictures of the world we get as children and how we deal with it.

Parent Watchability: This is a really good movie to watch with parents as I think everyone can relate to the main character's struggle for understanding adult concepts that adults don't quite understand themselves. The younger folk might get bored or the film might fly over their heads.

Categories of Note:
Story
Direction
Acting

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