Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Thought-provoking "coming-of-age" movie, January 12, 2003
Although the emphasis is on Marita Lorenz and Fidel Castro, their ill-fated affair, and the implementation of "la revolución", this movie is a well-written example of interwoven sub-plots of "event" and "character study". The script-writer has artfully woven together the historical backdrop of Cuba from the very early days of Castro's revolution, U.S. involvement on the island (reflective also of CIA activities in other parts of Latin America), glimpses into the various American anti-Castro activities, the tragic naïvité of a teenager rather uninstructed by both of her professionally very busy parents in the art of sound judgment, the dangers of lacking one's own cohesive belief system, the ease of falling prey to the cult of personality, and the painful process of coming of age in a harsh and complex world.Marita's journey begins as a naïve 19-year-old idealistic dreamer. When she meets Fidel Castro, she has never thought through the concepts of rule of law, peaceful transitions of government, economic justice as opposed to systematized revenge, or true reform versus manipulative takeover in pursuit of totalitarian self-interest. She _wants to_ believe his promises of loosening the grip of terror "when Cuba is fixed..." but becomes gradually disillusioned with the capricious arrests and brutal removals of residents from their Havana homes on no grounds other than rumored suspicion of anti-Castro sentiments. Her inner struggle between her attraction to him, her hopeful wish that in time conditions might indeed improve on the island she has come to love, her own initially immature understanding of freedom and allegiance to one's country, and her painful growth toward coming to understand the components of true liberty are skilfully interwoven and portrayed with sensitivity. Her inner journey is paced slowly enough to take the viewer into the mind of a young, hopeful, romantic idealist who gradually comes to see through the hypocrisy of endless promises -- her journey also provides a symbolic walk through the gradual disillusionment throughout the island with those same promises that never come to fruition. Filmed in part in beautiful Old Havana and interspersed with hauntingly lyrical Cuban music -- even someone unfamiliar with Cuba would be touched by the beauty of the place and perhaps gain a sense of why (despite the tragic results of the revolution) Marita had such a lasting affection for the island, her Cuba Linda...
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4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Based on a true story., April 10, 2000
The movie begins with the caption "Based on a true story". However, it is very difficult to figure out which parts are true and which parts are fiction. Here is a brief synopsis of this movie. The movie takes place in post revolution Cuba, at a time when Americans are allowed to enter Havana, the Casinos are fully operational, and the Cuban army is infiltrated with a few CIA agents. Anwar is the 19 years old daughter of a divorced couple,lives with her father who is the captain of a Cruise ship. Her mother is a CIA agent. The cruise ship comes to Cuba, and Castro wants to visit the ship because he's never seen anyhting so big. The daughter of the captain allows them to visit the ship once Castro(Mantegna) and his entourage disarm themselves. Within a few hours they fall in love and kiss on the deck. Anwar returns back to the US, and one day when she is home alone Castro's advisor stops by and tells her that there is a private jet waiting for her. She takes off and flies to Cuba to be with Castro, eventually she gets pregnant, and during the last few days of her pregnancy she faints and wakes up in the US and "unpregnant" accompanied by her mother and FBI agents. FBI an CIA agents convice her that Castro had the pregnancy terminated, and killed the unborn baby. With vengeance in her heart, she joins a boot camp to receive training as a killer. She flies to Cuba with intentions of posioning Castro. However, the poison pills melts in her make-up bag, Castro understands what she is trying to do, and gives her his side arm, and calls her "My Little Assasin". But she is unable to kill him and returns back to the US, where she gets a slap on her face for not being able to complete the mission. Eventually she finds out that her son is alive and is a medical student in Cuba. She buys a Levis Jean and goes to Cuba to see Castro and her son. The movie portrays US government as the evil empire and Castro as the good guy. I guess you have to watch it on your own to find out which parts of this story are based on truth. Good Luck, your sentence will be about 90 minutes.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
which part is fiction ?, June 17, 2001
By A Customer
what the movie portrays is shadow function of the US Govt. The best scene in the movie is when Castro offers his own gun to his 'little assassin'. In the end, can't resist the temptation to know further, whether her son is really alive and became a doctor.
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