Blame It On Fidel review
Children don’t like change. This is exemplified by Blame It on Fidel, the latest offering showing at the Institute of Contemporary Arts which tells the story of Anna (Nina Kervel), a young girl whose parents brutally uproot her life by deciding to become liberals in the 1970’s. Based on a novel by Domitilla Calamai, the film is a bleak foray into a childish mind punctuated with bright moments of humour, the camera following Anna’s every movement as she is introduced to a totally different way of life.
Anna, a natural capitalist, puts up a tough fight against the changes, despite being dragged to marches and bombarded with the meetings and rows which seem to accompany her new way of life. Nina Kervel’s portrayal of Anna was very well rounded, capturing the stubborn childishness of Anna’s earlier protests which evolve into more thoughtful arguments throughout the film.
There were some good ‘chuckle out loud’ moments, brought about by the childish viewpoint of the treatment of Communist militants in Spain and France in the 1970s. There is also a focus on women’s liberation, with Anna’s mother Marie (Julie Depardieu) speaking out about the pro-choice movement, which at the time was illegal in France. These issues, when tinted with the naivety of a child, take on a surreal quality which is bought into focus by the overheard rows between Anna’s parents over their various political standpoints. Blame It on Fidel manages to capture the political mood of the age with surprising accuracy despite its youthful narrator.
Visually, the film is eye-opening, with the clear contrast of Anna’s old and neutral conservative life and new, colourful flat with the walls painted red (a rather blatant proof of her parent’s Communist credentials), although I was left wondering whether it was totally necessary to have quite so many headshots of a frowning and thoughtful child. The style of filming was very focussed on the expression of each individual and I felt Kervel rose to the challenge of having such unwavering attention. The soundtrack was apt and complimented the mood of the film with long periods of silence interrupted by tinkling piano and strings.
Just over halfway through the film, Gavras seemed to get a bit carried away and overdid the artistic shots thus losing the pace of the story, although this did help develop Anna’s character to develop and made her eventual comprehension of the events surrounding her far more believable.
If you like foreign films, artistically focused shots or just a quiet sit in a dark corner, then you’ll love Blame It on Fidel. Overall, the atmosphere of the film was reflective and quite bleak, which I loved. In short, this coming-of-age story is, despite losing pace around the middle scenes, a good watch, with an honest portrayal of a vital part of becoming an adult: accepting change.
