Film Reviews
Che Part I
- Rating:
- Director: Steven Soderbergh
- Starring: Benicio Del Toro
- Details: France/Spain/US / 126mins (15A).
Steven Soderbergh's ambitious attempt to bring the life of Ernesto 'Che' Guevara to the screen is both a success and a failure, but one of its major successes is that the film is split up into two parts (Part I sees the revolution in Cuba while Part II takes in the Bolivian exhibition that ended with his death in 1967) as 4 hours and 13 minutes would be tough on anyone's backside. Part I kicks off in 1955 with Che (Del Toro) meeting Fidel Castro (Bechir) in an apartment in Mexico City where the fledgling plans to overthrow Batista's US-favoured regime for a socialist paradise are put in place. Soderbergh then skips forward to 1964 and Che's trip to the US, where he is now a celebrity. The rest of the film follows in this vein, cutting back and forth from the revolution and the run up to his speech to the UN.
In Part I, Soderbergh touches on all aspects of the man's persona: the thinker, the doctor, the man of the people (Che asks and remembers the names of everyone he comes across) and the warrior. It's important for the director to explore all these facets, but none are fleshed out and this results in a character derived from history books rather than heart - something the recent Baadar Meinhoff Complex suffered from. Soderbergh is also shown up as a director who isn't comfortable with the action sequence; his fight scenes are flat and lack the pizzazz of a war film - no one was expecting Platoon, but still. Soderbergh's biggest mistake, however, is making the assumption that anyone watching knows a lot about the man and has seen and loved The Motorcycle Diaries; Che's past is hardly mentioned and what Soderbergh is hoping is that the audience is already onside because of Gael Garcia Bernal's brilliant performance. Del Toro's Che differs from Bernal's; gone is the wide-eyed youth in favour of a quietly confident man who knows what he wants and what the world needs. Del Toro is commanding in what is a difficult role, a soldier who has been elevated to a Christ-like figure by that poster that adorns many a student wall. Sometimes interesting but sometimes dull, one can only hope that Part II will settle down and delve deeper into the mind of this fascinating man...
Review by Gavin Burke
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Your Comments
Che Part 1 a tour de force - Johinho
Published 18 December 2008
I saw Che some months back on its Spanish release.Its a wonderful piece from a Spanish speakers point of view and provides a very Cuban experience in both the landscape and the attitudes of the protagonists portrayed.There are many literal jokes which I have no idea how they will be able to translate, in particular one of El Che´s messengers who misunderstands the nickname some of the others have given him. I must disagree with some of the above review of this film. On the one hand the review claims many facets of Che are not fleshed out but on the other wants Soderbergh to flesh out Che´s Argentine past,in which case the film is too long yet not long enough,How many parts do we expect Soderbergh to make? I believe that rather than the potential non-viewer of The Motorcycle Diaries suffering from missing out on the story it is the reviewer that is suffering from having seen the story.The Motorcycle Diaries is a wonderful idealistic portrayal of what is essentially a flat book.The book tells of what probably was an amazing trip but ultimately is a lifeless read. El Che part 1 launches into what is essentially the meat and gristle of El Che´s life, a slow burner without any blockbuster pretentions. There is just no exciting way to portray a man fighting his asthma in the Cuban mountains while involved in a guerilla campaign.We are the better later for having seen it if a little bored by the experience at the time. I disagree also with the earlier reviews criticism of the war sequences.The film begins with skirmishes and as the campaign mounts so does the scale of the action, and all before the real action,the taking of Havana. Much like The Wind that Shakes the Barley the sequences feel real and so purposefully lack the cohesion of larger Vietnam or World War II pieces. a bullet in the head feels like a bullet in the head and not some vague violent gore in the background. If the film lacks something it is within the characters around Che.Fidel is perfectly performed and perfectly believable but lacks the magnetism that a Javier Bardem would have brought to the role. when Del Toro is absolutely sterling in the role and very gentle in his portrayal of El Che, again very reminiscent of Cillian Murphy in The Wind That Shakes The Barley.Both characters are of a medical background and show their most common touch when helping the sick and needy. Indeed this could very easily be a Ken Loach film. The film could definitely be shorter.In the American black and white sequences there are many shots of Del Toro in his residence with many very unnecessary interactions which in real terms further neither the story nor a deeper understanding of the man.Living in Spain I recognise many of the actors in the film and although they are very good in it I feel Soderbergh could have allowed them to be even more charming and alive than they were. On the other hand their importance may grow in the beginning of the second instalment.One would hope so.