Movie Review: Shoot Down

The filmmaker claims that she made the film as objective as she could, but the perspective seems to be inevitably tinged with the pride and sentiment of Cuban nostalgia. This bias is evident in the film’s critical view of Clinton’s decisions (one clip from an interview accuses Clinton of being a “wuss” for not doing anything). The perspective is also tilted to a negative view of modern communist Cuba. While I believe that it rightfully should be thought of negatively, the fact is that it is a biased view nonetheless.

The overall style used to examine the issues was very neat and organized.  An example of such is the fact that the film can be easily outlined into three parts, which all move chronologically (instead of “saving the best for last,” like a director aiming for a more dramatic piece would).  The first part is the introduction to Brothers to the Rescue, including background on the setting, members, and origins of the organization. After discussing President Clinton’s decision to deny Cuban immigrants asylum in the US unless they could prove they immigrated out of a genuine fear of persecution (rather than for economic reasons), the film shifts into the second part, which explains how the purpose of Brothers to the Rescue changed now that spotting immigrants at sea did more harm than good.  The third part begins after the climactic re-enactment of the shoot down. This last portion serves as a conclusion, mostly focusing on why it happened and what was done (or not done) about it.  The use of audio clips was also essential to how the story was told. From the very first scene, the audience is introduced to the story through varied visuals layered over audio clips from the news, presidential statements, etc. The most important scene in the film itself is a re-enactment whose ingenuity rests on the fact that real audio clips from both the Cuban and American radios in the planes are layered over the re-enacted footage.

I believe the conclusion made by the film was a statement about our government’s contradictive relationship with Cuba. Although it claims that Cuba is an enemy, it constantly turns a blind eye to its injustices (such as shooting down our civilian planes) and even went so far as to defend Castro when the victim’s families went to court by offering to pay them through American taxpayer’s funds instead of taking money from the Cuban economy (even though their trial exposed Cuban as a terrorist country). Certain clues even imply that the government had the chance to help Brothers to the Rescue, but chose not to because the organization was damaging their relations with Cuba.  The conclusion also suggests that Cuba may not be the only country we’re having an affair with….

Overall, I was pleased with Shoot Down. However, I am not sure about its relevance to audiences worldwide. I found it interesting and relevant, but only because I myself am Cuban.  Thus, I cannot say if someone from another country would find this as relevant as I do.