Che Movie

[subcomhd]

I waited 3 years for that Che movie, the one with Benicio del Toro. What happened? I never figured it would come to my podunk town, but hell we got "Milk" - surprisingly without protests from the local fundies. But it never came here and it's not at Blockbuster. Did anyone see it? and if so where?

[Judi Lynn]

1. The two-part film was available this year on Time Warner Cable Pay-for-View,

but we didn't have the time to see it even then. Don't know how it did nationally, but did know it was VERY well received at Cannes, and other film festivals.

After seeing your post the first time I ran across this article on the second half of the set, available now on DVD:

Che Part 2: Guerilla DVD review
Michael Lead

The concluding part of Steven Soderbergh's Che Guevara biopic. We're still hunting for some better DVD extras, too...
Published on Jun 24, 2009

The two films that make up Che, an epic biopic directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Benicio Del Toro, are inseparable yet not necessarily co-dependent. Due to the very nature of the expensive, expansive production that birthed them, it is unsurprising that they have been marketed as a single entity, yet exhibited and released individually. As pieces of cinema, they are two very different creatures, adapted from two distinct sources. They even have their own titles. Although they should still be watched together, they have been released as two DVDs. This review is of Che Part 2: Guerilla. Read the review of Part 1: The Argentine here.

Che Part 2: Guerilla is, on a very basic level, a harder film to sink into than The Argentine. Whereas the first part had the benefit of its dual narrative structure, which gave it a feeling of space, context and room to breathe, Part Two is single-minded in its storytelling. After a quick series of scenes in Castro's Cuba, and La Paz, Guevara joins up with the Bolivian revolutionaries in the jungle. For the most part, the film retains this perspective, doggedly mimicking the stifling drudgery of the guerillas' progress.

Che's final campaign in Bolivia, documented in his Bolivian Diary, was crucially different from the Cuban Revolutionary War. It was almost doomed from the start, with the various left-wing political groups being disparate and unwilling to support armed action. Likewise, the local population, in Che's mind the source of any revolution's power, proved unreliable and suspicious of their cause. The soldiers themselves weren't as united, or passionate in their mission. And, to make matters worse, the involvement of American-trained anti-Guerilla forces gave the revolutionaries - starving, divided and listless - a real, embittered enemy to contend with.

The film's aesthetic mirrors this shift in the content. In contrast to The Argentine, which was mostly filmed with steadicam shots, Guerilla uses handheld cameras; equally, Alberto Iglesias' score, orchestral before, is now sparse and distant. This makes the film more intimate, but also much more claustrophobic and oppressive, giving it a slow-burning tension as the narrative winds towards its hopeless conclusion. Del Toro's performance is still powerful, and he is given more room to impress as Che's fortune runs out; whereas in The Argentine, Che is at the height of his powers, in Guerilla he slides from strength to weakness, admitting his mistakes and, in key scenes, losing his composure. By the end, he is haggard, hairy, injured and succumbing to his asthma, yet still retains the solid core of his ideals.

The Argentine was quiet, complex and surprisingly objective, but still had a strong vein of accomplishment - that the Cuban communists were fighting on the side of history. Guerilla, by contrast, is a much more downbeat, even harrowing affair. It studies the other side of the coin - a revolution that flies against the odds, and doesn't triumph.

While both Che films add up to an often baggy, uncompromising 4-and-a-half-hour epic, their quality lies in their ambition and duality. Furthermore, they break the mould by refusing to rein in history, subjugating it to the medium of cinema. Instead, characters, events and context spill out from all directions, inciting the viewer to explore the period on their own after the film ends. As a whole, they present a kind of political, biographical film that manages to inspire interest without resorting to crass polemicism or Hollywood sugar-coating.

More:
http://denofgeek.com/Reviews/274869/che_part_2_guerilla_dvd_review.html

It could be they're having a hard time getting a distributor here at the moment. It may be some people are passing on showing this one due to an upsurgeance of ignorant, reactionary right-wing belligerance toward "socialism," and a murderous hatred toward anyone who hasn't glorified the government which has plundered, raped, and dominated Latin America, overthrowing governments, elected leaders, and replacing them with bloody, corrupt, US-serving right-wing monsters.

People have mentioned in threads here they intend to see it but haven't heard anyone mention they've seen it anywhere, yet! I'm sure if anyone who reads the articles in this forum sees it, he/she will most likely post a comment.

[subcomhd]

2. Thanks for the Info

It is a really strange way to release a film. Maybe they did have trouble finding a distributor. Like I wrote in the OP, I was shocked that Milk didn't get protested here. This place has a long tradition of protesting "anti-Christian" movies. When I was a child the uproar was Jesus Christ Superstar and then last Temptation of Chist got picketed later.

Well that's good to know it's on DVD. Blockbuster didn't have it last week but I see the story you posted was from yesterday.

Hey, please do post if you run across the reason for the bizarre release.

Again, thanks

[subcomhd]

5. JL

Well, my local Blockbuster doesn't have it. But I'm in BFE. It seems like whenever I think of a movie, they never have it. They don't even have Down and Out in Beverly Hills - which is stunning. I did find out that Blockbuster has a pretty good website that allows you to check the availability of a movie at any given store. Blockbuster is our only movie rental place we have here. Che and The Argentine are available at other Blockbusters it seems. You can also download both movies on their website - but that seems like a waste of time and memory space.

I'm just going to buy the DVD(s) online.

Thanks again for your help.

[EFerrari]

3. Hey, I'm glad you found the forum, subomhd.

I can't wait to see this movie, myself. :)

[subcomhd]

4. Hi, EF. :-)

Hey, I really liked the Galeano vid. Thanks.

[Judi Lynn]

6. Here's another review, subcomhd: DVD review: Che: Part One and Two

DVD review: Che: Part One and Two
Published Date: 27 June 2009
By ALISTAIR HARKNESS

THOUGH SPLIT IN TWO FOR ITS cinematic release, Che, Steven Soderbergh's four-hour film about Ernesto "Che" Guevara, is the kind of picture that benefits from watching as a complete entity rather than as separate films. Sure, that may be a big time commitment, but it's only when they're watched back-to-back that the full impact of Soderbergh's bold new approach to his subject matter – and this genre of filmmaking in general – can really be appreciated. Tracing both Che's rise to prominence as Fidel Castro's point man in the Cuban revolution and his downfall when he tried and failed to replicate that success in Bolivia, it's a film that seeks to interrogate one of the most mythologised, problematic and pored-over figures of the 20th century by challenging our perceptions of how such a figure should be presented on screen.

With Che played by Benicio Del Toro, it would have been easy to shoot a myth-enhancing film celebrating the radical chic icon adorning student bedrooms the world over, but Soderbergh strips away all that. He never frames Del Toro in classic hero poses or gives him thunderous oration to deliver. Instead, he does something much more clever: he presents a deliberately biased account of the man (the screenplay is based largely on Che's diaries with few dissenting voices) that's coolly intellectual, even boring at times, forcing us to ask ourselves why he's so revered and celebrated. We don't really get a sense of his interior life; even though he's telling his own story, Soderbergh finds subtle and clever ways to keep us at one step removed from Che.

That's where watching the films back-to-back reinforces how audacious Soderbergh has been. Separately, they're two interesting but resolutely unengaging movies. Together, they play like a great piece of installation art, one that questions how image can be created and manipulated. In the spirit of its protagonist, this is guerrilla filmmaking on a grand scale, with Soderbergh fighting against every cinematic instinct and every pre-conceived idea about how a movie like this should work. That still makes it a tough watch, but it's fascinating to get lost in and it has a cumulative power when both parts are watched in quick succession. Everything we learn about Che in the first half is effectively undermined and turned on its head in the second half, which shows how he fundamentally misunderstood the poor by viewing them as one homogenous mass in need of a saviour rather than complex individuals whose needs differed greatly in different nations. That's why the criticism Soderbergh received for not presenting a more obviously critical portrait of Che don't really wash. He presents the facts as they were and leaves it to us to interpret them.

Watching the films back-to-back also allows you to better appreciate Soderbergh's visual style, the way he changes film-stock, switches between black and white and colour, and even alters the aspect ratio of the two parts to draw attention to the way we view Che. It's too bad that, save for a few festival screenings, the film wasn't presented this way in cinemas. Obviously its length was a commercial barrier, but since neither film made any money anyway, what was there really to lose? At least now it can be viewed in its entirety and appreciated for the risk-taking, ambitious venture it is.

Last Updated: 25 June 2009 4:03 PM
Source: The Scotsman
Location: Edinburgh

http://living.scotsman.com/movies/DVD-review-Che-Part-One.5397575.jp

[Judi Lynn]

7. Adding a review of the first half, by the same guy who reviewed the 2nd upthread:

Che Part 1: The Argentine DVD review
Michael Leader

Michael reviews part one of Steven Soderbergh's ambitious biopic of Che Guevara
Published on Jun 23, 2009

The two films that make up Che, an epic biopic directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Benicio Del Toro, are inseparable yet not necessarily co-dependent. Due to the very nature of the expensive, expansive production that birthed them, it is unsurprising that they have been marketed as a single entity, yet exhibited and released individually. As pieces of cinema, they are two very different creatures, adapted from two distinct sources. They even have their own titles. Although they should still be watched together, they have been released as two DVDs. This review is of Che Part 1: The Argentine. Read the review of Che Part 2: Guerilla here.

Argentina-born revolutionary Ernesto 'Che' Guevara has the strange distinction of being equally ubiquitous, mysterious and controversial. His standing as a Marxist icon has kept him dangerous and relevant to successive generations of disaffected youths and vanguard lefties alike, irrespective of his face selling more t-shirts and other assorted apparel than Jesus Christ and Manchester United combined. So, it is almost fitting that in making his two-part biopic, Soderbergh decided to keep Che (played by Benicio Del Toro) as a vessel - he is neither vindicated nor condemned, neither analysed nor explained. In this respect, both Che films are crucially different in intention, execution and feel from The Motorcycle Diaries, the 2004 film that dealt with Che's youth, his long road trip around South America, and his political awakening - which at times seemed like a wet dream for humanities students.

Like The Motorcycle Diaries, The Argentine is based on one of Guevara's many written works -- specifically his book Reminiscences Of The Cuban Revolutionary War (Pasajes De La Guerra Revolucionaria), which is concerned with Guevara's experiences with Fidel Castro and his 26th of July Movement, and the lead-up to their successful campaign against the Batista government, from their landing in Southern Cuba in 1956, to the decisive victory in Santa Clara in 1958.

The film's plot interweaves scenes from the Revolutionary War with a flash-forward frame narrative, featuring Guevara traveling to New York in 1964 to be interviewed by the international press and address the United Nations - communicated with pithy script in sharp monochrome. This alternation between guerilla warfare and international politics gives the film an open sense of perspective, and gracefully stresses the interlocking processes of Che's mythology. In New York, he is toasted at cocktail parties, hailed as 'the brains behind the Cuban revolution', and called into debates about socialism, armed revolution and the will of the people. In Cuba, he is an asthmatic commander, a doctor and an educator; he is as unfit for service as he is fiercely driven in his ideals - as inspiring as he is stubborn.

Benicio Del Toro is, unsurprisingly, the centre of the film, and delivers a career-best performance as Che. Without the crutches available to other actors in biopics, such as prosthetics, make-up or hammy vocal tics, Del Toro internalises his performance, relying on subtle body language and inflection to flesh out his character. Those looking for insight into the man's motives will be disappointed with The Argentine, as Soderbergh and company shy away from explaining, advocating or demonising Che, and refuse to delve into his personal life. For instance, historical biopics often rely on emotional pay-offs, either in the form of romance, personal achievement, or tragic downfall; in The Argentine, Che meets his second wife, Aleida March, but the film is not at all interested in their relationship.

This makes the film a little unwelcoming, even heavy at times. Its slow pacing and cinéma vérité-like use of location shooting and natural lighting will not win over the popcorn flick audiences. Nevertheless, what The Argentine loses in sentimentalism, easy pay-offs and side-taking, it gains in communicating the drive of revolution.

Extras
Let's be clear about one thing: these films should be released together. They are not two films in a series, but two parts of an intricate whole, with subtleties and qualities highlighted by being viewed side by side. Optimum have released them separately, and as part of a 'complete story' boxset. The meagre extras are spread across the two discs, so come with the individual films - but add very little value.

The extras for Che Part 1: The Argentine are pitiful. The 'Making of Che Featurette' may sound like a promising proposition, but in reality it is one of those lazy, 10 minute deals which are assembled from various shallow interviews and padded out with promotional clips from the film. Appearing in the featurette are Soderbergh, Del Toro and Demián Bachir (Fidel Castro); frustratingly, both Del Toro and Soderbergh relate bite-sized anecdotes about the film's production process - eight years of research, funding trouble, resistance from studios - which should have been fully explored in any self-respecting DVD extra.

Furthermore, the extra interview with Soderbergh is 10 minutes of mildly interesting chatter from a promotional tour. Once more, Soderbergh touches on issues that cry out for more discussion, such as the decision to shoot the film in Spanish, which caused the film's American funding support to dwindle. Unfortunately, neither of these extras reflect the complexity of the feature itself.

http://www.denofgeek.com/Reviews/274230/che_part_1_the_argentine_dvd_review.html