French director Julie Gavras neatly side-steps the cliches of 70s radicalism with her terrific debut.
Comment
10/19/07
Blame it on Fidel (2006)
93
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:43
Fresh:40
Rotten:3
Average Rating:7.4/10
Consensus: Blame it on Fidel is a charming comedy of manners, class, and politics, elevated by a remarkable performance from lead child actor Nina Kervel.
Theatrical Release:19-10-2007
Synopsis: How do our experiences shape us, and how is political consciousness formed? Blame It on Fidel uses a light, charming touch to shed light on these questions. At the film's epicenter is whip-smart... [More]
Starring: Julie Depardieu, Stefano Accorsi, Nina Kervel, Benjamin Feuillet
Director: Julie Gavras
Reviews for Blame it on Fidel
Top CriticA little gem with a wonderful performance from little Nina Kervel.
10/19/07
Top CriticGavras is an experienced maker of documentaries, but this assured, intelligent film marks an auspicious beginning to her career in fictional features.
10/19/07
What makes this film a real gem is Kervel's brilliant performance, personifying this stage of growing up with a perfect balance of bratishness, bright intellect, humour and innocence. She's a revelation.
10/19/07
Top CriticIlluminating, witty and touching, Blame it on Fidel is a gem just awaiting discovery.
10/19/07
The comedy always feels enriching rather than demeaning.
10/19/07
A smart, amusing take on some serious issues that's fortunate in its excellent young leading lady and its ability to laugh at its own political excesses.
10/19/07
Top CriticA wry and observant film with plenty of understated humour.
10/19/07
A smashing, funny and politically sophisticated feature debut from Julie (daughter of Costa) Gavras.
10/19/07
Top CriticCleaving to a child’s-eye-view of a time of significant social change, documentarist-turned-feature director Julie Gavras elicits excellence from Kervel as the stubborn schoolgirl struggling to deal with the lack of certainties in her new lifestyle.
10/19/07
A deft, original, entertaining and thoughtful look at that moment when we realise the world’s just that bit more complicated than we thought.
10/19/07
Top CriticGavras's style is already as assured as her father's, and her ability to balance the audience's understanding of grown-up beliefs with that of a rapidly maturing girl is deft.
07/31/07
A wrenching, funny and wise little picture, with a diva-like junior star at its center.
08/02/07
Gavras does not impose a political viewpoint upon her material, but respects the convictions of her various characters.
10/18/07
A remarkably assured and elegant debut, Blame It on Fidel is the kind of smart, sophisticated and fiercely humanistic film that all movies should aspire to be, but seldom do.
09/14/07
Top CriticFrom solemn little Kervel, Gavras has drawn one of the great child performances on film.
08/03/07
It offers a coming-of-age tale told unflaggingly from the point of view of a pouting, humorless and unsympathetic nine-year-old.
01/17/08
Politics -- hardly a movie audience's immediate choice when it comes to entertainment -- becomes a deeply engaging subject in Blame It on Fidel thanks to a 9-year-old charmer who steals our hearts.
09/27/07
Kervel-Bey gives Anna an appealing combination of bewilderment and a determination to fight back, and, besides the humor of Anna’s cultural clash, the film shows her growth in beginning to understand her parents and her new world.
08/03/07
Gavras' film captures both the time period and the queasy inconsistencies of childhood. And in Kervel, Gavras has found a real gem.
09/14/07
Latest News for Blame it on Fidel
November 19, 2007:
Strange, bearded house guests shake up a peeved little girl's life, infusing it with political imagination and wonder. 
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August 02, 2007:
Bourne Is Certified Fresh; Hot Rod Hits the Skids; Bratz is Grade-Z; El Cantante Hits A Flat Note
This week at the movies, we got amnesiac spies (The Bourne Ultimatum, starring Matt Damon and Julia Stiles), loser daredevils (Hot Rod, with Andy Samberg and Isla Fisher), salsa... More...
July 24, 2007:
Radiates a touching clarity that movies about children have much to learn from. Namely, the formative intelligence of a child making sense out of an often confounding adult world, and the courage and necessity of their elders to just listen.
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January 28, 2007:
Sundance Reviews: "Padre Nuestro," "Blame It On Fidel," and "Waitress" All Superb
Short reviews for three of the better films we saw at Sundance (the strongly acted Spanish language thriller "Padre Nuestro," French 1970s-set kid drama "Blame it... More...
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