As seen at AFI
Fest 2008:
It will be hard
for me to discuss the extent of my thoughts on Steven
Soderbergh's 4-1/2 hour epic, Che, within the
confines of a short review, but the movie didn’t conjure up
enough excitement to make me want to explore it in longer form.
This is because Che boasts none of the standard markings
of a sprawling opus; instead, it's almost exclusively strung
together by minor moments. While there’s nothing wrong with this
approach on the surface, it quickly tires three hours in because
the film lacks distinctness. In other words: if you were
wondering what Che Guevara, the man who is equally praised by
leftists for being a heroic revolutionary as he is condemned by
moderates and conservatives for being responsible for dozens of
brutal murders, was like on a trivial human level when he camped
out before skirmishes in his revolutions in Cuba and Bolivia,
then this is the movie for you. Most of us will find that in the
end Che is boring, unaffecting, and politically
abhorrent.
What I found most curious about Che was how
differently I reacted to its two parts. (It was split primarily
for commercial reasons—it will show as two separate engagements
at most theatres—but there were some artistic differences
between the segments like theatrical aspect ratio.) Part one,
The Argentine, covers Guevara’s participation in the Cuban
Revolution, from the communist principles that led him to
participate to the battles he fought to his relationship with
Fidel Castro. It succeeds as a straightforward war film with a
uniquely intimate scope because Soderbergh adheres to detail and
doesn't over-glamorize Che. (No, Soderbergh doesn't depict his
subject for the murderer he was, but given the movie is told
from Che's emotional-perspective, this is forgivable). The
cinematography is sweeping, especially when one considers how
good it looks for digital. And Benicio Del Toro just flat-out
disappears into the role of Che, instantly sucking the viewer
in.
Part two of the film, Guerrilla, is awful. It moves
with the pace of molasses, covering the aforementioned "quieter"
moments of Che's attempted overthrow of the Bolivian government,
years after his efforts in Cuba became infamous. I don't have
any problem with this approach in theory—in fact, I think
Soderbergh's refusal to go for a traditionally epic approach was
noble and lends admirable grit to the material-—but it doesn't
work overall because scribes Peter Buchman and Benjamin A. van
der Veen's script contains few interesting insights on Che the
man. The result is a 2+ hour saga that delves into a completely
empty version of a Che’s psyche, fast becoming repetitive. And
the final scenes absolutely glamorize Che in an inappropriate
manner, with sympathetic POV photography that is as
morally-condemnable as it is aesthetically-beautiful. Yes, Del
Toro remains as good in part two as he is in part one—I don't
believe there was any lapse in filming, so any difference in the
quality of his performance would have been unexpected—but he
can't save what becomes a yawn-inducing and arguably offensive
finish to what begins as a pretty good movie. What a shame.
-Danny Baldwin,
Bucket Reviews
Review Published
on: 11.7.2008
Screened on:
11.1.2008 at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, CA.
Che is rated R and runs 257 minutes
plus an intermission.
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