CHE is technically two movies in one. Steven Soderbergh’s (Ocean’s 11, Traffic) 267-minute epic of the Latin American revolutionary is split into halves, the first covering Argentinean doctor Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara’s (Benicio Del Toro) involvement in the Cuban Revolution working as Fidel Castro’s (Demián Bichir) friend, confidant and must trusted military colonel, the latter picking things up in 1965 as the renowned soldier secretly heads to Bolivia to try and duplicate his previous success.

Benicio del Toro in IFC Films' CHE

Personally, I’m not sure what it would be like to watch Part One or Part Two disconnected from its familial partner. While I wouldn’t keep viewers from taking an intermission, it is almost vitally imperative CHE is treated as the singular epic it rightfully is (and was always meant to be). The two pieces feed one off the other, and the only way to fully embrace the shattering power of the climactic denouement is to go on the crazy blood-soaked prologue which precedes it.

Be all that as it may, this is an amazingly tough motion picture to talk about let alone dissect. Soderbergh and Del Toro have such passion for the project that, at times, it can’t help but feel like they’ve spent so much time on the details that they forgot to add the insight. I admit to knowing very little about Guevara. Unfortunately, after watching this movie I can’t say that has changed. The man remains a bizarre, erudite, driven, cold-blooded, deeply passionate mystery, and if beforehand I longed to be given insight into just what it was that drew so many to his cause that basic curiosity sadly still remains.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t say this was a problem. With all the controversy surrounding Che, you’d think the filmmakers would have at least attempted to dive inside his skin and figure out what made him tick. One of the great things about Walter Salles’ The Motorcycle Diaries is that it showed Guevara as a man, that it gave us insight to the events and moments that would shape this youngster into the revolutionary figure he would someday become. But that is not continued here, Peter Buchman (Eragon) and Benjamin A. van der Veen only glossing the surface of the internal struggles residing within this iconic historical figure.

Yet, much like Warren Beatty’s Reds this is an epic that is more about the size and the scope of the prize the central figures are fighting for than it is the personal motivations that urged them on to try and do it. This is a film about the furious forces that compel individuals to fight on one side or the other, about the charismatic figures that can convince you to take a stand whether or not the ideals they’re clamoring for are ones you yourself actually embrace.

With that being the case to call Che fascinating would be a decided understatement. Even when it drags (and how can a four-plus hour movie not from time to time?) it is still so enthralling it’s difficult not to get swept along with the guerilla armies tromping through the lush jungles of Cuba and South America. Alberto Iglesias’ (Volver) score is a kinetic triumph only fueling the film’s visceral fire, while Soderbergh’s photography, again working under the pseudonym Peter Andrews, is arguably the best of his entire career.

As for the halves themselves, Part Two worked a little better for me than Part One did. It moved at a faster pace, its downward spiral into tragedy far more interesting than the hit-and-run sparring of the first part did. That said, I can’t remotely imagine it would have worked near as well without being setup so beautifully by that initial section, the seeds of Bolivian downfall only sprouting their destructive roots thanks to almost shocking success of Guevara and Castro in Cuba.

I’m not entirely sure what to say about Del Toro. He is very good here, his performance as lived-in and as realistic as any he has arguably given. At the same time, though, that earlier complaint about not gaining insight into the character one way or the other still holds, and as fine as the Oscar-winning actor is I can’t help but feel this holds him back and keeps Guevara from resonating as fully as he probably could have. 

At the very least, CHE is still a movie just crying to be seen in theaters. Soderbergh’s vision is as cinematic as anything he has ever attempted (at least since his divisive remake of Solaris), and even with the overlapping narratives, the changing aspect ratios and the murky moralistic waters in which it sometimes treks to call it anything less than mesmerizing would be a lie. It’s a film I think is only going to improve as time goes by, and as revolutions go this one ranks up with some of the director’s very best.

Film Rating: êêê1/2 (out of 4)

Additional Links

• CHE Theatrical Trailer