If the life of the Argentine Marxist revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara were an ocean Steven Soderbergh’s two-part Che biopic would symbolize two pebbles thrown into the vast sea as very little is accomplished from any standpoint outside of a great performance by Benicio Del Toro as the title character and the work of Steven Soderbergh working as his own director of photography. For all the love-hate there seems to be for Che Guevara none of the reasoning is visible in Soderbergh’s picture as Part One involves the 26th of July Movement in which Che participated alongside Fidel Castro in 1959 to overthrow the Fulgencio Batista government in Cuba and Part Two featuring Che’s failed attempt to do much of the same in Bolivia in 1966-67. For such a grand effort, as the two films together total 269 minutes of screen time, I would expect more than a slice of life story as neither film gets to the bottom of who Che was and what made him a hero to some and a butcher to others.
The greater of the two parts is certainly the first as we not only follow the 26th of July Movement, but bounce around in time to witness Che’s first meeting with Fidel Castro to his speech at the United Nations in 1964. The fractured narrative proves to work in helping keep the audience’s attention, but it also hinders the story as there are definite issues with the editing as instances of needless footage could have been left on the cutting room floor. Basically the film ends up with too much filler and not enough guts.
Everything about Che is presented in such a matter-of-fact way. I can appreciate Soderbergh’s attempt at authenticity as he occasionally abandons subtitles and goes for direct voice over translation, but when something such as an execution of one of Che’s own men occurs I would expect to feel some kind of emotional reaction to fire in my brain. Instead I sit back and watch as it is carried out as the ho-hum nature of the presentation doesn’t get to the heart of the matter. Is this one isolated case of someone being executed? We know it’s not, but it seems to be a footnote in the storyline. I am left to assume Soderbergh’s only concern was to show how a small band of rebels were able to recruit many to their cause and ultimately win out in overthrowing a corrupt dictator. History has shown what that has led to, but Che never preaches to the audience as much as it dedicates itself to dutifully presenting the story when a little bit of preaching would have made it more interesting. There isn’t enough here to get an audience to care. There are little to no moments for outrage or compassion as what we are watching begins to feel like a politically motivated action adventure without the politics.
I say this even though I did get some enjoyment out of the first part, if not for the story, for the impressive visual appeal. And I get the feeling Part One holds some greater importance to Soderbergh as well. He took greater care in carving Part One together despite the editing issues I mentioned. It’s far more stylized and its story is much larger in scale and meaning when compared to the second half. Soderbergh could have simply told the story of the Cuban Revolution and left it at that, but instead he broke up the timeline to give us Che’s speech at the UN as well as a variety of other scenes not involving guerilla warfare including Che thanking Senator McCarthy for the Bay of Pigs invasion. As it turns out he abandoned that idea when it came to the Bolivian campaign in Part Two.
Part Two is a straight forward narrative that leaves any trace of style behind. Soderbergh even goes so far as to switch from widescreen to a 1.85 aspect ratio bringing the audience deeper into the storytelling, but there isn’t anything too interesting being told. There is great attention paid to detail and guerilla tactics, which is just as boring as it sounds and makes the Bolivian campaign of ’66-’67 feel more like a chore than a piece of entertainment.
Che is operating under the name Ramon, he has abandoned his international celebrity and is organizing a group of Cuban comrades and Bolivian recruits to lead a Bolivian revolution much like he had in Cuba. The campaign fails and it comes as no surprise. Part Two is about watching the decline of a man Soderbergh never managed to elevate high enough in the first place. Nothing is a surprise here as we simply seem to be going through the motions on an inevitable path to destruction. To put it plainly, it’s boring. Part Two feels like a two hour deleted scene from Part One outside of an occasionally interesting aside.
I am not extremely well versed in the life of Che Guevara, but I have read some of Jon Lee Anderson’s well respected biography on the man and Anderson served as the primary consultant on this film. Che’s life is far more interesting than simple gun battles in Cuban and Bolivian territory. Considering this is a man that can divide a room in an instant as young rebels ironically wear his image on a T-shirt and others despise everything he stands for you would think a four-plus hour film on his life would instill some level of emotion one way or another. Instead I come out flat and without much more ammo than I went in with.
Throughout much of the film Che is seen battling his asthma, but we never see Che as a child bedridden due to his infliction. We see Che fighting for a cause that is only referred to as overthrowing a corrupt power, but we never see Che’s journeys where he witnesses the poverty that enraged him first hand. Why does Che want people to know how to read and write? Sure, he says why, but words in this instance mean very little as this film itself sets out to prove actions speak much louder than words ever will.
In a director’s statement included in the press notes Soderbergh says he wanted to “illustrate the process by which a man born with an unshakable will discovers his own ability to inspire and lead others.” Unfortunately much of that “will” is already realized before the film even starts, outside of one small tongue lashing Castro gives Che in the early moments of Part One, a tongue lashing that rings throughout the span of both features, but not in a way that has a whole lot to do with what makes Ernesto Guevara — Che.
I watched Part One separately from Part Two and I can’t imagine surviving the second part in a back-to-back marathon as the final two hours and 14 minutes would weigh on your eyelids like a ton of bricks. There is plenty of gunfire, but to call any of it exciting, interesting or intriguing would be a massive exaggeration. My recommendation is to definitely give Part One a peek and if you are inclined to see a little more try Part Two a day or two later. Soderbergh remains a favorite of mine, but this experiment missed the mark. Here’s to hoping The Informant gives us more to talk about.
