Oliver Stone film on Hugo Chávez flops with Venezuelans

"In trying to demonstrate the wave of [political] change, it glosses over profound differences between moderate countries like Brazil and Ecuador, Nicaragua, Bolivia and Venezuela," says Professor Ellner.

And while portraying Fox News and other US media as slanted and one-sided, the film itself falls prey to this trap. Stone asks no critical questions of Chávez regarding Venezuela's rising crime and inflation, shortages of electricity and food, or his orders to close Venezuela's opposition news outlets.

The New York Times calls it a "provocative, if shallow" film that offers a "brief, sketchy history" of South America, avoiding sensitive subjects such as Amnesty International's report on Venezuela's widespread human rights abuses. A review in the Huffington Post says "it's unfathomable that the same filmmaker who made 'Platoon' could rub elbows with the tyrant Hugo Chávez but miss the responsibility to turn the camera on the poor and oppressed of Venezuela."

Some Latin America media outlets, as well, have come out critically against the documentary. Argentina's Buenos Aires Herald calls it "more akin to propaganda than illustration." Alfredo Michelena, in Venezuela's analitica.com, an online magazine, wrote: "Stone accepted the bias of his work arguing that since Chávez has been demonized, he would sanctify him."

Preaching to the choir

The state-run La Previsora is the last theater in Caracas still playing the film, charging a government-subsidized ticket of three bolivars, or 70 cents. At a recent screening, none of the attendants identified themselves as Chávez opponents. For those who did attend, the film preached to the choir.

"I liked everything about the movie," Hungria Angarita, 76, says after a recent screening attended by fewer than 10 people. "It sends Venezuelans a very good message so we don’t forget what happened."

José Martinez, a college student who considers himself politically independent, says he appreciated Stone's critique of the US-based International Monetary Fund's actions in Venezuela. The film claims that former Venezuelan President Carlos Andres Perez pocketed $17 million in the early '90s while ordering the violent repression of protests against his IMF policies, such as the liberalizing of oil prices.

Former President Perez also enacted cuts in social welfare, which several moviegoers recalled as "humiliating." Chávez, meanwhile, has created social programs to support the poor as well as defended the nation's dignity, says Ms. Angarita.

"Chávez was the only president to stand up to the US," she says, referring to the leader's famous 2006 UN speech where he called former US president George W. Bush "the devil."

Related:

• Chávez touts new gas cartel, walks red carpet with Oliver Stone
• Hugo Chávez sees support fade, even in Venezuela strongholds
• All Venezuela news coverage

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