Customer Reviews

El Che - Investigating a Legend

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Trust me, this documentary is worth the price and then some. For those who don't know much about Che Guevara, it's perfect, an engaging and thorough synopsis of his entire career, with a pretty good explanation of the background of his political theories. For those who think they already know the man's complete life story (like me, at least before I watched "El Che"), it's packed full of interesting facts that aren't usually included in condensed tellings of his biography. Examples: Certain difficulties he faced during his various official terms in Cuba; some additional reasons that the Bolivian mission was doomed from the start; insight into his relationship with Fidel, which is still under debate by historians. This film contains extensive (and I mean EXTENSIVE) firsthand film footage of absolutely everything it covers, plus the added bonus of interviews with Fidel. It only strenghtened my admiration for Che and my belief that the world lost a genius and a true revolutionary idealist when he died. My only wish is that the narrator have been a bit less melodramatic and drippy at certain points, as Che's life is enough of a saga in and of itself. But it's really a small price to pay. Definitely watch this one!

This is the film version of French biographer/diplomat Pierre Kalfon's book "Che -- Ernesto Guevara, a Legend of the Century" (as yet unavailable in English, though Amazon sells the French & Spanish versions.) Made by Canal +, it is certainly the best thing available in video on the subject for English-speaking audiences. Beginning with the famous Carlos Puebla "Hasta Siempre, Commandante" song, it covers his military/political life with reasonable thoroughness and restraint, giving a strong, clear-eyed picture of the public man while still managing to remain sympathetic overall. It has quite a bit of good footage of Che as well as interviews with various friends and associates (esp. the then recently defected Col. Dariel Alarcon Ramirez, aka "Benigno", who served with Che in the Sierra Maestra all the way through to the bitter end in Bolivia), though Che's US TV interviews and his memorable appearance on "Face the Nation" are missing. But at the very least, this film has the guts to point its finger at Castro as Che's ultimate betrayer, something Jon Lee Anderson, in his massive and massively footnoted bio, couldn't bring himself to. However, the tone here comes off a bit stodgy and superficial with very little info or insight into Che as a human personality. Also, as one earlier reviewer put it, the BBC-ish narration is indeed a little "corny" (though said reviewer should be made aware that when the narrator compares Che to "Rambo", he is not referring to the movie super commando but to the French poet Arthur Rimbaud, famous for his wandering.) Overall this is by no means the definitive last word on Che, such a documentary film has yet to be made. But take it all around it rates a very solid 4 stars.

This DVD contains a fairly detailed account (for a film) of the life of Che Guevara, it follows him from his Argentine birthplace to his eventual death in Bolivia. It also contains many interviews from people who either knew Che personally or had even fought against him. In once instance there is even an old interview with a CIA agent in Bolivia as they are tracking down Che. If you want to learn about Che Guevara but for some reason do not have the time, or do not want to put forth the effort, to read his biography, then this DVD is the perfect alternative. The film is also great if you have already read one of his biographies and are looking for an audio/visual companion.

In addition to Che's biography, the viewer is also treated to a short film about a man who takes a similar Motorcycle trip as Che did. He follows the exact same path and tries to see what Che saw. Of course much of what Che saw on his trip was missing at the time of the filming, but the viewer can get an idea of what the Argentina/Chile portion of the trip was like for him.

Very informative, if sometimes simplistic, documentary charting Che's political life. Lots of home movies courtesy of Che's father,excellent news footage from the revolution and rare video/audio footage of some of Che's speaches. Lacks an indepth look at the Congo campaign but makes up for it in the film's overall quality. The personal look at Che is a little one dimensional but as a video introduction to this icon of the sixties the film works well.

This film has rare footage of Ernesto as a child, and later views of him with his parents after the taking of Havana. The interviews with his compadres and some of the Bolivian officials involved in his capture are insightful. There are a lot of views of the treatment of his remains after his execution. There are a few confusing aspects, such as when they showed a recent interview with his daughter Hildita. This film was released in 1998, but I believe Hildita died in 1995. They must have done that segment of the picture in 1995, but they do not say so. Overall, it was a very enjoyable film. The shots of Che's speeches are great, especially the one in which he is speaking fluent French. I highly recommend the film.

That is not to say that there couldn't be better documentaries
made about the "heroic guerrilla." But compared with the video from the Biography network this one is better. I am not thoroughly satisified witht this video but I like it. I think it is the best video of Che that I can presently find.

This documentary is a great overview of Che Guevara's life. It might be a little repetitive for someone who already knows alot about Guevara, but it does show you Guevara himself speaking. I definately recommend this documentary.

Like most student radical wannabes, I went through a Che Guevara stage. Initially I started wearing Che Guevara T-shirts just because it got approval from all the right sort of people, and also managed to upset all the people I wanted to upset. However as a history nerd and bookworm, it wasn't too long before I had spent a couple nights in the library reading up on everything Che related.

There's a lot to admire about Che Guevara. However the fact that he presided over firing squads is always a bit troubling. The documentary mentions this briefly and (because this was originally a French film) compares Che's revolutionary zeal to Saint Just.

The more I thought about it, the comparison seems apt on many levels. Perhaps Che Guevara was the Saint Just of the 20th Century. Both were renowned for their good looks and eloquence. Both were famous for being the right hand man of someone else. Both were absolutely convinced of the justice of the justice of their actions and both left a violent legacy which is somewhat at odds with their humanitarian rhetoric. Both were captured, executed, and after their death both became either matyrs to some and demons to others.

The film implies that Che only ordered the execution of Batista's former torturers, and that he was under tremendous pressure from the population to do so. I'm going to have to double check this, because I was under the impression that some political dissidents were included in those executions as well. (Or can someone out there set me straight?)

Even if the executed were all former torturers, I think the Cuban revolution would have done better to do as Sandinista leader Tomas Borge who, after the revolution in Nicaragua,
walked into the prison and found the national guard soldiers of Somoza who had castrated him, had killed his wife, and had forced him to watch while seventeen men gang raped and then killed his daughter. Borge embraced them and told them he forgave them, and let them go free.

Or follow the advice of Thomas Paine, who once said before the French Revolutionary convention, "[When future historians talk about this revolution] I would rather report 100 errors of mercy than 1 error of vengeance" (unfortunately the French didn't listen to him either).

But do I feel guilty for wearing Che Guevara shirts? I suppose no more than I feel about wearing Calvin College shirts, even though John Calvin had Michael Servitus burned at the stake. I believe it is possible to embrace the ideals a man stood for without having to defend every low point of his life. (As Saint Just was being lead to the guillotine, he pointed to a copy of "The Rights of Man" on the wall and said, "At least you'll still have this to thank us for.")

All this is only 2 minutes of the film, but I wanted to get this discussion out of the way before moving on to the rest of documentary.

As mentioned above, I didn't learn a lot new from this film. Someone who didn't know anything about Che Guevara would probably get a lot more out of the film. Nevertheless it was an enjoyable enough 90 minutes. As with any documentary film, the best part is the old documentary footage that you can't see by reading a book. Unfortunately, like a lot of documentaries, this film relied more on interviews than old video clips, but there was some footage of Che Guevara as a child (apparently his dad was one of the few people back then who had a home video camera). And of course footage of the famous bearded cigar smoking Che triumphant after the revolution. And some footage from the trial of Regis Debray in Bolivia. (Again perhaps because this is a French film, there is an emphasis Regis Debray's trial).

The part of the movie I found most interesting was about Che's adventures in the Belgian Congo, brief though that part was, because it was something I knew nothing about.

I would recommend this film, but I suppose recommending a documentary is pointless. If you like documentaries, and if you are interested in the subject matter, than I imagine you'll seek this out regardless of my recommendation or lack of. And if you don't like documentaries, then there's not really much of a point, is there?

the feeling i walked away from the film was that che was a martyr. martyr, someone who bears witness. unlike castro, unlike so many of the idealogues/revolutionaries who compromise after their success, che's lived his conviction to identify with the poor/oppressed, literally, to the end of his life. che's death was not a tragedy, but a beautiful testimony to faithfulness and steadfastness. and documentary let the story of che be told without getting in the way. good job.

This is an excellent film. It gives a straightforward narrative of Che's life, covering it from his time as a child in Argentina thru the Cuban Revolution, and onward to his death in Bolivia in 1967. I cannot say more; it is done very, very well.

The special feature section, where the filmmaker traces out Che's journey across Latin America isn't that great. It's interesting seeing some of the sights along the way, but I personally think he is too melodramatic in his narration. . .trying to make it seem like his journey with his camera crew is similarly arduous to the one Che made. . . Sadly, the short film stops somewhere in Chile, and we don't get to see Macchu Piccu or the Amazon or the Leper Colony. I wouldn't buy the film just to watch this.

If you want to learn more about Che after watching this movie, you should read Jon Lee Anderson's book, "Che: a revolutionary Life." Or, if you have read that book, and want some images of the man to go along with the words, give this movie a watching.

En Solidaridad