CHE (Spine #496)

"To survive here, to win... you have to live as if you've already died." - Ernesto "Che" Guevara

One would be hard pressed to name a more recognizable image than that of Cuban revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara. The sad irony of that is the severe lack of knowledge of who Che was to go along with that recognition. With his film, "CHE", director Stephen Soderbergh, set about the task of meticulously sharing the story of a man that is equally celebrated as much as reviled. Drawing from numerous historical sources, as well as author Jon Lee Anderson's biography "Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life" and some of Guevara's own diaries, Soderbergh had built an enormous amount of material to cover; much more than a regular movie time would allow. What was originally financed as one English speaking film grew into a story spanning four and a half hours and split into two parts, now almost entirely spoken in Spanish. The two halves, "Part One: The Argentine" and "Part Two: The Guerrilla", both tell different era's of Che's life, but not only work in conveying a true sense of this man's slow rise and drastic fall, but watched in one sitting it ignores modern convention of how film should tell a story, all the while containing an incredible and demanding performance by Benicio Del Toro as Che himself.

"Part One: The Argentine" has a back and forth nature in time, jumping from Che's address of the UN in 1964 and his actual beginnings with the Cuban Revolution in 1955. With this back and forth the film creates an excellent dichotomy showing us a very strong, very well known Che seemingly as popular as anyone on Earth, whereas when the film jumps back we see Che's early beginnings; his slow rise within the revolution itself, even his own personal battles with asthma, which adds this dash of humanism to someone that we are seeing will become larger than life. An early scene shows the introduction of Che to Fidel Castro, in which Castro asks Che to join him and there's this subtle power in seeing two men discussing their dream, and living to see it fulfilled; to an extent, at least. By the time "The Argentine" concludes, we see Che's group, the July 26th Movement, succeeding in their takeover of Cuba. While feeling like a high note, Che is quick to remind his troops that they have simply "won a war. The Revolution has just begun." Nevertheless, at this point, Che has become almost mythic and most certainly legendary. The very final scene is jumps back to that first meeting with Castro and reveals what Che wants in return for his help.

"Part Two: The Guerrilla" has a much more stark and bleaker feel all around. Years after the successful taking of Cuba, Che now finds himself in Bolivia, hoping to bring their brand of revolution to South America. Whereas the taking of Cuba was slow and successful, Che would find merely less than a year in Bolivia, giving up his fame and name in hopes of spreading that which he believed in. Despite a warm welcome in lieu of him being a foreigner, Che could never get strong support from the locals of Bolivia, and this would be the beginning of his end. As his health becomes worse and worse, his men begin to dissent and eventually betray the man the pledged to follow. This leads to his discovery, capture, and eventual execution.

If anyone doubted the prowess of Benicio Del Toro before this film, upon seeing it they would no longer have a right to that doubt. Del Toro simply becomes this role, in such a seemingly effortless way. He exhibits an amazing understanding of a man that has dreams but also maintains a strict forcefulness with his troops and a lack of real celebration, always focusing on the task at hand. No matter what era you are witnessing, its almost uncanny how one can beleive they are watching the real Che onscreen.

"CHE" was also one of the first films to use the RED cameras, a new type of high definition filming, and there aren't many words to describe just how amazing both films look, in their own right. Soderbergh approached both parts with seperate, yet unified ideas in mind. "Part One" was filmed widescreen and with warm colors, in a way reflecting Che's success, but also coordinating with his writing style in his diary in regards to those times; very eloquent and well spoken. During the era "Part Two" happened, Che was very sporadic and uncoordinated with his writing, not knowing what would come next. Soderbergh filmed "Part Two" in a handheld style to help convey this uncertainty and leave the viewer anxious for what may come next for them.

Despite one's feeling on the subject matter dealt with in "CHE", one would be hard pressed to find much to dislike about the film(s) as a whole. Yes, there are big aspects of his life not covered, but with what is covered directly shows the biggest high and lowest low in the life of a man that lives on as far more than that. I urge anyone and everyone to view this as a whole and get a better, clearer understanding of "that guy on the T-shirt", which sadly is what he and his memory have become.