Steven Soderbergh’s 2008 film Che, is a biopic based on some of the stories in the life of revolutionist Ernesto "Che" Guevera. Shot almost entirely in a cinéma vérité style, this film succeeds in capturing our attention through its documentary style approach to pulling apart of the story of a legend. The film is split into two sections, Part One: The Argentine, and Part Two: Guerilla.
Che Part One: The Argentine documents rather haphazardly the story of Che Guevara’s part played in the Cuban Revolution. The film opens in Havana, where Che (Benicio del Toro)is being interviewed by Lisa Howard (Julia Ormond) on reform in Latin America. The film then moves through many various and conflicting settings, including a meeting with Fidel Castro in Mexico City, an address to the United Nations General Assembly and some astonishingly beautiful scenes of the combat trek in and around Cuba.
Che Part Two: Guerilla, also spends a lot of time taking us on a journey through the jungle, this time in Bolivia. Part two is a retrospective look into the policy and impact of Che’s contributions differing significantly from those in part one of the film. Due to the differential outcomes of the two military campaigns, Steven Soderbergh represents these differences by presenting us with new characters, changing the narrative structure, using different types of camerawork and essentially keeping the visual look of the two films distinct from one another.
Benicio Del Toro successfully sells the idea of Che as the revolutionary war hero. However Soderbergh has been criticised widely for leaving out Che’s darker side, that is, the executions and punishments of war criminals. A decision, says Soderbergh that intended to centre the film on guerilla warfare, instead of around brutality. On the other hand, surely somewhere within this four hour long biopic, he could have at least mentioned Che’s misdemeanours. Instead, we are left sceptical and unable to trust the other messages portrayed in this supposed documentary style film.
Although this story is a fascinating and beautiful journey, it is quite difficult to follow the almost hollow character development and loose plot sequences. Not only does the film fail to include historically important aspects of Che Guevara’s home life, it also does not attempt to give us some hint of character development of the majority of its key characters. Instead, the film rides primarily on the more than capable shoulders of Benicio Del Toro without which this interesting film would have remained in the dusty section of your university library.
Wearers of Che tshirts and military enthusiasts alike will revel in this cinematic representation of a revolutionist and attempt to debate the content of the films to its very core. However, those who expect to see an all encompassing, thorough biography of Che will be utterly disappointed by the films structural inability to incorporate the complete story of Ernesto “Che” Guevara. None the less, even with the frustrating plot and ambiguities, I found Che to be a breathtaking and beautifully shot film that was both refreshingly unconventional, well acted and well directed by Steven Soderbergh.
Starring Benicio del Toro (Traffic, Sin City, Snatch), Benjamin Bratt (Traffic, Trucker, Thumbsucker), Franka Potente (The Elementary Particles, The Bourne Supremacy, Romulus My Father), and Catalina Sandino Moreno (Maria Full of Grace, Love in the Time of Cholera).
Directed by Steven Soderbergh (Michael Clayton, Good Night and Good Luck, The Good German).
Screenwriter: Peter Buchman and Benjamin A. van der Veen
Producer: Laura Bickford and Benicio del Toro
Music: Alberto Iglesias
Cinematographer: Peter Andrews
Country of Origin: Spain and France
Language: Spanish
Running Time: 268 min
Rating: MA
Release Date: October 1st (Australia)
