In the first part of Steven Soderbergh's four hour screen version of the Argentinian revolutionary who helped Castro oust the corrupt Cuban dictator Batista is clearly a labour of love. But I wonder whether his fascination with Che Guevara [whose own memoirs formed the base of Peter Buchman's screenplay] had such a hold that Soderbergh was determined to have us walk in every one of Che's footprints.
Which is to say the film, even though I've only seen its first two hours, is too long and tries to interleave history lesson with ideology with not so much drama as dramatization. I'm tempted to say this would have worked well as one of those BBC radio tales told in snippets throughout a week or two.
I'm tempted were it not for the exquisite visuals and exhilarating editing in the action scenes. Or Soderbergh's assured direction throughout. Or especially Benicio Del Toro's monumental performance as Che.
Perhaps it will come in Part Two - but much or Che's characterization is provided here by Del Toro. He makes the icon - whose bearded face still adorns tee-shirts and tea-towels - into a fallible human being. He assumes the mantle of leadership when he has to, but remains a man among the people whose cause he shares.
I'm not sure why Soderbergh leaves out well-known incidents that render Che even more fallible, such as his many affairs while away from wife and kids. I think they'd have humanized him even more and connected him even more to even those who don't accept his theories or his methods.
As I understand, Che: Part Two carries his story from Cuba's success to the rebellions against repressive regimes in South America. Let's see how that will affect Che the man.
