Blame It on Fidel/La faute a Fidel

GROWING up as the daughter of Constantin Costa-Gavras, the noted left-wing film-maker, Julie Gavras probably sat through her fair share of radical lectures.

With that in mind, one might not be surprised to learn that Blame It on Fidel - the story of a child's troubled engagement with her parents' political militancy - goes in for some satirical sniping at the self- righteousness of the urban socialist. The protagonist's father forbids the young child to read Walt Disney comics because "Mickey Mouse is a fascist". A special surprise outing involves a trip to a women's group. And so forth.

However, despite these digs, Blame It on Fidel ultimately argues in favour of political engagement and against bourgeois complacency. It is a touching, amusing, balanced

piece of work that (in, admittedly, a grim time for Gallic imports) emerges as the best French film released here this year.

The picture follows young Anna as she fails to cope with her middle-class parents' decision to move into a smaller apartment and devote their time to the

fight for abortion rights and the campaign to get Salvador Allende elected president of Chile. This

is Paris in 1970 and Anna's dad, a Spaniard whose family supported Franco, still feels remorse (we suspect) for failing to stand up and be counted in the mini- revolution two years earlier.

Unsurprisingly, Anna does not much enjoy the peasant food she is suddenly forced to eat, and she rather resents being forbidden to attend religious education at her Catholic school. But, as the story progresses, she manages to see past her parents' occasional insensitivity and starts to develop her own political antennae.

Blame It on Fidel is beautifully shot in autumnal shades and does a fine job of allowing every opinion an airing - the family's maid lost everything to the

Cuban communists; Anna's parents are benign Gaulists - without resorting to narrative contrivance. The picture may, however, be best remembered for launching the career of Nina Kervel. The young actor's subtle, funny performance as Anna suggests she may be with us for some time to come.