On the road with Che
Soderbergh takes Che’s words and resurrects them for an epic two-parter
By Marcell Minaya
Published: January 7th, 2009 | 11:55am
The opening scene of Steven Soderbergh’s highly ambitious two-part biopic Che is a glaring and audacious outline of Ernesto Che Guevara’s triumphant voyage through Cuba’s former six provinces, followed by his doomed Bolivian utopia. Black and white off-centered shots of a combat boot and lit cigar introduces the audience to a man they think they know or know nothing about.
The two part epic — collectively known as Che during the 2008 film festival circuit — is now being billed as Che Part I: The Argentine and Che Part II: Guerrillafor a later release. Going in, a glossy-Hollywood, pseudo-intellectual interpretation on a complex and polarizing figure was expected. I couldn’t have been more wrong. The script, by Peter Buchman and Benjamin A. Van Der Veen, is based on Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War and The Bolivian Diary by Guevara. Soderbergh surprises and delivers what is by far his best cinematic contribution.
In The Argentine, Soderbergh merges the revolution with the glorified and castigated aftermath effortlessly. While showcasing the arduous and sweeping overthrow of the Batista regime, the battles in Cuba are depicted with eye-level understanding of Che’s literary works. Shot in chronological order in various countries, predominantly in Puerto Rico emulating Cuban terrain and on location in Bolivia for Guerrilla — endless fields of greenery and swamp back-dropped the camaraderie and fortitude of Guevara and the Castro-led exiles.
Interwoven within the earthy imagery is a score by acclaimed Spanish composer Alberto Iglesias that is spellbinding in it’s subtlety. Soderbergh’s attempt to illustrate an almost entirely Spanish-language film proved to be a massive undertaking, but with the masterpiece of Traffic (2000) under his belt and Benicio Del Toro as el Che, the two should be well on their way to Oscar gold.
Del Toro's exceptional performance is a tour de force. Whether it’s giving a historical speech at the U.N., experiencing asthma attacks during combat or administering an execution, charisma and valor were illuminated even in the darkest of times. Del Toro’s portrayal and uncanny resemblance proved to be a transformative one, in many instances — showing us the man behind the ideology — a being that valued the educated mind and entrusted his all in not God but humanity.
Assisting Del Toro is two of Spanish cinema’s finest — Demián Bichir as Fidel Castro and Catalina Sandino Moreno as guerrilla girl Aleida March. We also can’t forget obscure cameos by Julia Ormond, Lou Diamond Philips, and Matt Damon — unexpected visits from Hollywood that worked at the same time.
Che is a cinematic experience not to be missed. The Argentine revolutionary turned Cuban citizen was a Marxist, a soldier, a physician, and writer. He tended enemy wounds, never left a comrade behind, and nurtured an honorable yet fanciful ideology — to emancipate the indigenous of oppression. For many, he was considered saint-like … for others, a ruthless murderer. As history has documented Che, “the brains of the revolution and the power behind Castro,” the Latin American icon will forever exemplify the universal symbol of righteous rebellion.
Issue #24
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