“Waiting
for Fidel” a 1974 documentary by Michael Ruppo is at first a glance about different
political cultures, a country in the grasp of a new government and a
documentary crew’s elusive chance to gain an interview with Fidel Castro. The
crew consisting of Former Premier Joseph Smallwood, T.V and Radio owner Geoff
Stirling and director Michael Ruppo representing three opposing viewpoints
which were succinctly summed up in this New York Times review: “.His trip to
Cuba is taken in the company of two antagonists. One is Joseph Smallwood, a
former Premier of Nova Scotia, and a lifelong Socialist with a bubbling
enthusiasm for the new Cuba. The other is Geoffrey Stirling, a self-made
millionaire who is financing the trip and who wields a fierce suspicion of what
he is seeing[1].”
However as the film progresses it becomes apparent the interview isn’t the only
thing they are failing to grasp. By examining the directing style, camera work,
editing and sound in a selection of specific scenes, this essay will prove how
the Canadians crew’s unapologetic and unwavering view point of Cuban life
completely clouds their opinion and understanding of these people; in the end,
the waiting becomes not for Fidel but for understanding in the complex backdrop
of the cold war.
