Che

( 4 )

Overview

Nearly 40 years after Che Guevara's execution in Bolivia, director Steven Soderbergh retraces the life of the iconic Cuban revolutionary in this nearly four-and-a-half-hour saga. Part 1 begins on November 26, 1956, as Fidel Castro Demián Bichir sails into Cuban waters with 80 rebels in tow. Among those rebels is Argentine doctor Ernesto "Che" Guevara Benicio Del Toro, a man who shares Castro's dream of overthrowing corrupt dictator Fulgencio Batista. As the struggle gets under way, Guevara proves an indispensable...
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Blu-ray (Wide Screen / Subtitled)
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Overview

Nearly 40 years after Che Guevara's execution in Bolivia, director Steven Soderbergh retraces the life of the iconic Cuban revolutionary in this nearly four-and-a-half-hour saga. Part 1 begins on November 26, 1956, as Fidel Castro Demián Bichir sails into Cuban waters with 80 rebels in tow. Among those rebels is Argentine doctor Ernesto "Che" Guevara Benicio Del Toro, a man who shares Castro's dream of overthrowing corrupt dictator Fulgencio Batista. As the struggle gets under way, Guevara proves an indispensable part of the revolution due to his firm grasp on the concepts of guerilla warfare. Guevara is heartily embraced by both his comrades and the Cuban people, and quickly rises through the ranks to become first a commander, and ultimately a revolutionary hero. Part 2 of the saga begins with Guevara at the absolute peak of his fame and power. Disappearing suddenly, Guevara subsequently resurfaces in Bolivia to organize a modest group of Cuban comrades and Bolivian recruits in preparation for the Latin American Revolution. But while the Bolivian campaign would ultimately fail, the tenacity, sacrifice, and idealism displayed by Guevara during this period would make him a symbol of heroism to followers around the world. Part 1 and Part 2 were screened together as Che at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, and also received a limited theatrical release under that same title in U.S. theaters later that same year.
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Editorial Reviews

All Movie Guide - Perry Seibert
The mythic persona of revolutionary leader Che Guevara, whose legend has only grown in the decades since his death in the Bolivian jungle, makes tackling a biopic about the man all that much more daunting. To some he's a heroic martyr of the political left, to some he's a terrorist, and to some he's little more than a T-shirt logo. Steven Soderbergh sidesteps almost all of these problems in his nearly four-and-a-half-hour movie Che by focusing on what Che experienced, rather than concentrating on the politics. The first half of the film follows Guevara as he helps lead Fidel Castro's Cuban Revolution. After an opening scene where Castro recruits the Argentinean doctor, the movie places us in the jungle alongside a small band of guerrillas that steadily grows into the army that conquers Cuban leader Fulgencio Batista's military. Soderbergh shoots their various attacks in a fly-on-the-wall cinéma vérité style that gives the audience a genuine immediacy -- a sense of both place and danger. We get an understanding of how these soldiers do what they do, and, miraculously, Soderbergh never bores us by trying to explain battlefield strategy. He keeps us aware of the forethought and planning that Castro puts into each of their missions, and because we trust Che, we never worry that the characters don't know what they're doing. As the revolutionaries make their way to Havana, Soderbergh intercuts their exploits with flash-forwards to Che's 1964 trip to New York, including his address to the United Nations, and the grainy black-and-white cinematography used in these sequences lends them a documentary feel that contrasts with the lush, colorful jungle settings. While in the Big Apple, Che sits down for an extensive interview with a reporter, and Soderbergh uses Che's answers to her questions as a soundtrack during some of the battle sequences. While this should distance a viewer from the action, it actually has the opposite effect: these are the only times we feel we're inside Che's head, as Soderbergh avoids almost any mention of Che's personal life. This blending of the cerebral technique with visceral content makes the first half of Che a compelling and unique experience. However, with the second half of the movie, Soderbergh shifts gears. After a brief opening sequence with Che entering Bolivia in disguise, the movie never leaves the jungle. There are no voice-overs or flash-forwards to give us any relief from the growing dread that mounts as the Bolivian Revolution fails in every way that the Cuban campaign succeeded. This is cinéma vérité in the extreme -- we are trapped right alongside Che, forever sensing that the end could come at any moment, but never abandoning the fight. It's a thoroughly exhausting feeling to experience for over two hours. Separated from the movie's first half, this is by no means a conventionally entertaining movie, but it's a remarkable piece of filmmaking. If the movie has a major flaw, it might just be that the second half is so insistently unvaried that the audience may start to ask the kinds of questions -- like why would Che leave his wife and kids to go to Bolivia -- that Soderbergh has no interest in answering. However, even with that fault, the first half of the movie succeeds so grandly that Che's eventual demise still hits us with the power of classic tragedy. In fact, Benicio Del Toro deserves just as much credit as Soderbergh for making us feel the enormity of Che's personality. Because his dialogue never reveals his personal feelings, Del Toro must express Che's inner life almost solely through his physicality -- and, remarkably, he does. From Che's long, confident strides as he approaches the podium at the United Nations to his delicate care in lighting a cigar, Del Toro inhabits this often taciturn leader, and keeps us involved by imbuing even the smallest gestures with significance. At nearly four and a half hours, Che plays at a resoundingly uncommercial length, and while it could have been shaped into an easier to digest three hours, it seems clear that Soderbergh has no interest in satisfying the typical audience's expectations in this regard. He wants the audience to feel Che's desperation and pride more than he wants to conform to the traditions of Hollywood filmmaking. And, for those able to meet the movie on its own terms, Che ranks as one of the most ambitious biopics in recent memory.
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Product Details

  • Release Date: 1/19/2010
  • UPC: 715515049610
  • Original Release: 2008

    • Rating:

  • Source: Criterion
  • Region Code: A
  • Presentation: Wide Screen / Subtitled
  • Time: 4:31:00
  • Format: Blu-ray
  • Sales rank: 25,192

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits
Benicio Del Toro Ernesto "Che" Guevara
Demián Bichir Fidel Castro
Santiago Cabrera Camillo Cienfuegos
Jorge Perugorría Joaquin
Edgar Ramirez Ciro Redondo
Victor Rasuk Rogelio Acevedo
Armando Riesco Benigno
Catalina Sandino Moreno Aleida Guevara
Rodrigo Santoro Raul Castro
Unax Ugalde Little Cowboy
Yul Vázquez Alejandro Ramirez
Carlos Bardem Moises Guevara
Joaquim de Almeida Barrientos
Eduard Fernández Ciro Algaranaz
Marc-André Grondin Regis Debray
Óscar Jaenada Dario
Kahlil Mendez Urbano
Matt Damon Guest
Jordi Mollà Capt. Vargas
Ruben Ochandiano Rolando
Julia Ormond Lisa Howard
Gastón Pauls Ciros Bustos
Lou Diamond Phillips Mario Monje
Franka Potente Tania
Mark Umbers Roth
Antonio Peredo
Othello Rensoli
Vladimir Cruz
Cristian Mercado
Elvira Mínguez Celia Sanchez
Technical Credits
Steven Soderbergh Director, Producer, Screenwriter
Jon Lee Anderson Consultant/advisor
Peter Andrews Cinematographer
Belen Atienza Executive Producer
Alvaro Augustin Executive Producer
Pilar Benito Associate Producer
Aitor Berenguer Sound/Sound Designer
Antonio Betancourt Sound/Sound Designer
Laura Bickford Producer
Larry Blake Sound Editor
Frederic W. Brost Executive Producer
Peter Buchman Screenwriter
Brahim Chioua Executive Producer
Bina Daigeler Costumes/Costume Designer
Benicio Del Toro Producer, Screenwriter
Philip Elway Executive Producer
Antxon Gomez Production Designer, Set Decoration/Design
Gabriel Gutierrez Sound/Sound Designer
Alberto Iglesias Score Composer
Greg Jacobs Executive Producer
Alvaro Longoria Executive Producer
Vincent Maraval Executive Producer
Clara Notari Art Director
Silvana Paternostro Associate Producer
Bill Pohlad Producer
Andreas Schmid Executive Producer
Benjamin A. VanDerVeen Screenwriter
Mary Vernieu Casting
Pablo Zumarraga Editor
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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 5
( 4 )
Rating Distribution

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(4)

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Sort by: Showing all of 4 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted November 15, 2010

    sizzling!!

    The film showcases a successful revolution and a failed one in Bolivia

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Posted October 1, 2010

    Finally!

    If you have not read Jon Lee Anderson's biography of the Argentine doctor you may want to do so before viewing this biopic. One with little knowledge of the path Ernesto Guevara's life took after the "Motorcycle Diaries" may find this film hard to follow. With that said, this is a must see film. Steven Soderbergh and Benecio Del Toro team up to bring Che to life on the big screen. Benecio Del Toro accepted the well deserved Best Actor award for his role as Che at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Finally, the film comes out on DVD and Blu-ray!

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted January 19, 2010

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted November 9, 2009

    No text was provided for this review.

Sort by: Showing all of 4 Customer Reviews