Che 2008

Guerrilla filmmaking on an epic scale, Steven Soderbergh’s painstakingly authentic Che takes a remarkably dispassionate look at the iconic revolutionary hero. Shot in rugged locations in Mexico, Spain and Puerto Rico, the film provides breathtaking evidence of the widescreen brilliance and expressive power of the new Red digital camera. Panoramic historical spectacle is no longer the exclusive domain of the military industrial complex! Che is in fact two films which we will be showing, at the filmmaker’s request, as a single presentation. Part One, The Argentine, depicts the 1956–58 Cuban campaign and ends in glory with Che and Fidel en route to Havana. Part Two, Guerrilla, follows Che’s disastrous attempt to repeat the Cuban strategy in Bolivia. — BG
“No one who cares about organic film acting (the opposite of showing off) will want to miss Benicio Del Toro’s magnificent performance, his hooded eyes reflecting wells of idealism and torment… Diving into the movie’s riches is an experience you won’t forget or regret… Soderbergh says he was drawn to what goes into ‘implementing any large-scale political idea’ – a challenge that seems timelier than ever.” — Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
“Soderbergh’s cinematography and Juan Pedro de Gaspar’s art direction create a superbly persuasive sense of mood, time and place… Che is an adventure: massively serious and ambitious… It is far from being a biopic, more a cinematic extrapolation of Che’s iconic status, and by that token it may exasperate some. Others will be engrossed by this flawed, sprawling, intriguing movie.” — Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
“Che places Soderbergh in the ranks of the masters.” — Amy Taubin, Film Comment