Che: Part Two

2008 Director Steven Soderbergh

This is part two of Soderbergh's Che Guevara Saga. Part one ended with the taking of Havana. This film deals with the fated Bolivian Campaign.

In 1967 Guevara resurfaces in Bolivia to organize a modest group of Cuban comrades and Bolivian recruits in preparation for the Latin American Revolution. But while the Bolivian campaign would ultimately fail, the tenacity, sacrifice, and idealism displayed by Guevara during this period would make him a symbol of heroism to followers around the world.

Benicio Del Toro keeps up the mesmerising performance that he started in part one. It is a pity that Guevara's African campaigns go unmentioned as much of what happened in the intervening years had bearing on the outcome of this campaign. Partly because one knows how this will end and partly due to the non-changing surroundings, this film lacks the pace and energy of its predecessor. However, as a concluding glimpse at this iconic figure it is well worth the watch. Though Parts 1 and 2 were screened together at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, they were set to be released separately.

Che: Part One

2008 Director Steven Soderbergh

This is Soderbergh's epic account of the legendary Argentine revolutionary Ernesto 'Che' Guevara. Filmed in two parts this portion deals with the Cuban episode.

The first part opens with Che meeting Fidel in Mexico City in 1955 and joining the small invasion party that established a base in the Sierra Maestra in Cuba. It ends in January 1959 when the 30-year-old Che, cautioning against triumphalism and forbidding his men to indulge in looting, heads towards Havana to begin what he considers the really important part of the revolution, creating a new kind of society.

It's an intelligent, fast-moving, well-researched film, based in part on Che's posthumously published Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War, offering both a convincing account of the bitter, hard-fought struggle and a portrait of a great and complex revolutionary. He was first valued for his medical skills, but soon became such an essential adviser that Fidel tried to keep him out of harm's way. Benicio Del Toro gives a masterful performance of Che establishing him as an actor of considerable skills.