Che Part 1: The Argentine | DVD Review

As controversial a figure as Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara was, director Steven Soderbergh (Erin Brockovich, this year’s The Girlfriend Experience) wisely straddled the fence in portraying the man many people believe to be the driving force behind Fidel Castro’s rise to power in Cuba. In fact, Che: Part One – The Argentine is pretty much a retelling of the Cuban revolutionary war through the eyes and experiences of the man himself.

Soderbergh’s 258 minute opus is being released on DVD in two parts and Part 1 starts at the beginning of the Cuban revolution, with Castro (Demián Bichir, TV’s ‘Weeds‘) and his lieutenants gathering in Mexico to discuss their plans, and ends with the corrupt dictator Fulgencio Batista deserting his country as Castro’s rebels claim victory. In between, we see an abbreviated version of the revolution through Che Guevara’s (Benicio Del Toro, Traffic, Snatch) point of view. He leads his men through the jungle, preaching the importance of reading and writing to them, making sure that they know more than just how to fight a war; yet at the same time, he teaches his men the finer points of guerilla warfare, such as how not one man, no matter how injured he may be, should be left behind. The film often cuts to scenes of Del Toro as Che during his 1964 visit to New York and his impassioned speech at the United Nations.

Working from a screenplay by Peter Buchman (Eragon) which was based on Guevara’s ‘Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War‘, Soderbergh doesn’t employ too many fancy camera shots or trickery, instead opting to let the story unfurl of its own accord. Sure, there’s some beautiful scenery of the Cuban jungle, and the scenes of 1964 are shot in such a way that they seem like they could be the real thing, but the essence of this film is the story of Che Guevara, a man of apparently strong morals with a disdain for materialistic people and regimes. And Del Toro, who won Best Actor at Cannes in 2008 for this role, delivers a tremendous performance, depicting Che as a man who never got too close to any one of his comrades, perhaps to show that he feels all men should be treated equally. Or maybe it had more to do with the fact that he didn’t want to lose a friend in the war. Either way, the viewer gets the sense that he was a very lonely man.

There are no special features to speak of, but the DVD is stunning to watch and listen to in a crystal clear 2.40:1 widescreen presentation that makes excellent use of the 5.1 surround field. In the jungle, rain falls all around the viewers as Castro’s army discusses their plans in the central speaker; during action sequences, the viewers feel like they’re in the middle of a firestorm, with bullets being fired from all directions and whizzing past their ears. Quite an experience, indeed!

In the end, Soderbergh’s biopic of Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara was a four hour beast that had no chance of garnering mass appeal, and this is unfortunate, because it is a powerful film worthy of being regarded as one of the best of the year. Splitting it in two parts for its DVD release is a smart move, though, and Che: Part One is a quick two-plus hours depicting the struggles and ideals of an important historical figure, no matter which side of the argument you fall on.

Movie rating – 4.5

Disc Rating – 2.5