Blame it on Fidel!

While the title of Julie Gavras' feature may suggest bad feelings towards a certain Cuban dictator, the focus here is actually on a French-based Spanish family in the early 1970s. The life of nine-year-old Anna (a wonderfully unaffected Nina Kervel) is turned upside down when her parents, Fernando (Stefano Accorsi) and Marie (Julie Depardieu), abruptly decide to embrace radical politics. Fernando, a lawyer whose family had ties to Franco's Spanish government, campaigns on behalf of exiled Chilean activists, while Marie, a writer, lobbies for abortion rights. Unfortunately, Fernando is not in step with Marie's feminism, leading to familial strains (as does Fernando's sudden embrace of casual nudism, which catches unsuspecting visitors unawares). But for Anna, all of the political upheaval is wrecking her life: she is pulled from her Catholic school, forced to endure a parade of nannies who are fired when their politics clash with the new views of her parents, and told not to watch Mickey Mouse because of the cartoon character's fascist undertones. Even more baffling to Anna is the fact that her younger brother accepts the domestic transformation with nary a blink. Gavras, daughter of celebrated filmmaker Costa-Gavras, effectively creates a distinctive blend of political satire and sensitive melodrama. Highly recommended. (P. Hall)