Product Details

• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001AVCFHE

Product Description

Amazon.com
Lauded for its documentary approach yet also experimental in nature, Steven Soderbergh's Che spends over four hours chronicling different phases in the revolutionary career of Che Guevara (Benicio Del Toro). In Che: Part One, the successful Cuban campaign is covered, interspersed with glimpses of Guevara's camera-ready visit to New York in the Castro Revolution's aftermath. This section can't help but approximate the outline of a battle epic, despite Soderbergh's anti-romantic approach, and ends up being a stirring account of guerrilla action (it also has the bonus of Demian Bechir's uncanny impersonation of Fidel Castro). Che: Part Two jumps ahead to Che's grueling later experiences in Bolivia, where he traveled to aid the homegrown insurgents but found much less fertile ground than in Cuba. Here Guevara is--figuratively and visually--lost in the jungle, as Soderbergh reduces the characters and story to a series of factual sequences laid end-to-end. It's not Dr. Zhivago, that's for sure, although it does last longer. By spotlighting two specific sections of Che's life, Soderbergh sidesteps the less heroic aspects of his struggle, including the executions that followed the Cuban Revolution (omissions that brought criticism from anti-Castro Cubans). But the film's approach is so intentionally flat that such criticisms are almost not worth the trouble. And while Benicio Del Toro sinks into the role of the asthmatic jungle fighter with total commitment, his Guevara is an elusive protagonist, seen from a distance except for the scenes in which he's being turned into a celebrity during his NYC interlude. In short, Che is a very intriguing idea for a movie, and not a terribly engaging film. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ONE OF THE RARE FILMS THAT CAN ACTUALLY CHANGE YOUR LIFE, April 10, 2009

By	Paul D. Korman "pKor" (Middle Earth) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

"The true revolutionary is guided by strong feeling of love" - CHE
Wether you support him, his ideals or not, educate yourself on this side. You must know both sides before you can honestly say your public schooling brain washing is worn off and your giving an opinion of your own. This movie stays very close to both diarys Che wrote (which i reccomend reading) and is a moving and brilliant peice of art. 4 hours went by like an hour. Sure theres so many pats of his life uncovered but to fully follow this mans life would take another 6 hours! I wish if anything they would have given just some mention of his attempts to free the slavery in the Congo. TO that i say read "The African Diarys" by Che.

This movie willl move you. You will laugh you will draw tears and you will feel angry. It was beautifully portrayed by Bencio who stood by his morals in taking the role. Overall its cinimaticly a masterpeice and as Sean Penn said before the Oscars "Why im not bumping in to Steve or Benicio here tonight ill never know, the film was brilliant". Did Benjamin Button knock CHE off the nomination list? Probably but that dosnt matter to del Toro or Steve so watch the film please, its an important part of history.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Uneven But Noble Effort, May 2, 2009

By	R. L. Huff "An old reader" (Louisiana) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Soderbergh's effort is inspired but somewhat displaced. His approach - to focus on selected aspects of Che's guerrilla career, at the beginning and end thereof - has its merits. The time limits of filmmaking require one to get at the heart of one's subject quickly and not crowd too much into a film narrative. Yet Soderbergh has ironically done that by drawing his production out into four hours.

To be fair one should see this as two films, a "Che I" and "Che 2" as a sequel. The second, like most sequels, doesn't measure up to the first and turns into an endurance test on the part of the viewer - though this may be intended, to emphasize the futility and desperation that enclosed Che in Bolivia. Perhaps he even welcomed the end of this campaign, as one welcomes its end on screen.

A better complement to "I" would have devoted perhaps a half hour to Bolivia. Che was not the most outstanding of guerrilla warriors in Cuba or Latin America, and there were other aspects to Che's life besides combat. A look at his time as commander of La Cabana, overseeing the Revolutionary Tribunals; or pushing a hard line during the Missile Crisis; or portraying the origin of that iconic photograph, at the mass funeral of counter-revolutionary terrorist victims, would have more engaged the general viewer and done more justice to his legacy.

Still, Soderbergh has done a better job than mainstream Hollywood ever could have, had it even deigned to touch the subject. Only Soderbergh's own radical edge could do this project any justice at all, and that we must give him.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully Shot, But Not Without it's Share of Problems, April 9, 2009

By	billy - See all my reviews

Che is Steven Soderbergh's epically long movie about the revolutionary life of Che Guevara. Running a little over 4 hours, the movies are impressive looking, but really stretch attention spans towards the end of the film. The movies were set up as The Rise (The Argentine) and The Fall (The Guerilla). They were also shot differently. The Argentine I believe was all digital, with bright, almost over-saturated colors. It was also in 2.35:1, with a lot of low angle shots to make Che look more impressive, lots of deep focus photography, and some gorgeous wide shots of the mountains and jungle. It felt epic and grand, and the tone of the movie is much more positive. The action shots are mostly well staged and unadorned with heroics. There's also some nice faux documentary footage of Che in New York City. These scenes serve as a way for Che to explain his philosophies and ideas as the Cuban Revolution plays in the background. My only issue with these scenes is that they seem overly cinematic for supposed documentary footage, even if the documentary footage is staged. There's tons of cuts, close ups, and artistically set up shots of Che. It kind of ruined the documentary feel.

The Guerilla was in a 1.77:1 ratio, the colors were mostly muted, a handheld camera was used liberally, and there were less close ups overall. It made the Guerilla seem like a much colder, more chaotic experience, mirroring the lack of success Che had in Bolivia. It's also much more pessimistic, and it would be hard to understand what was going on without viewing the first part. It was extremely successful in portraying the malaise, desperation, and boredom of Guerilla warfare. I'd say 90% of the movie was focused on Che and the guerilla's trekking though the jungle, sick, hungry, wounded, or all of the above. They tired to convince the peasants to join them, but to no success. It's also a more "nuts and bolds" breakdown of Guerilla combat as opposed to the better rounded view of the Cuban Revolution we got in the Argentine. There's also a fair bit about the Bolivian response, backed by the US Government. It's fascinating from a historical perspective, but it was kind of tedious to watch.

Benico Del Toro does a great job as Che. They absolutely nailed the look of him, and Benico gives a pretty good low key performance. The Argentine has most of the character development and most of the political elements. Che is shown as a tough but ultimately charismatic man who deeply cares about his countrymen. I don't know a lot about Che, but the first half seemed fairly reverential. There's a lot of business about his love for his countrymen, his skills as a doctor, and his charismatic leadership abilities. The second movie balances it out a bit, because Che is seen as mostly ineffective, physically ill, and desperate. He remains committed to his ideals throughout the second film despite his struggles. Still, I've heard a lot about the executions ordered by Che, and they aren't given a lot of time in the movie, except for a short scene in the first film and some talk in his UN speech about them.

Another major drawback is the running time. At 4 hours +, you're definitely stretching the attention span of all but the most dedicated. Particularly the last film really strains the viewer, which was less entertaining, more deliberately paced, and distant than the first film. If you're not viewing the Road Show version, the second film would have a hard time standing on its own. Without the ideas and the characterizations of Che from the first movie, the second film wouldn't make much sense. Some of the films more opaque elements were lost on me. There are a lot of characters, and a lot of specific political ideas that kind of went over my head like Agrarian Reform. For a film this long, there is a ton of detail.

Che is a very ambitious, well shot, and mostly successful film. The first half is an entertaining and on the whole a better film, while the second has some issues, but is mostly successful as well.