With the Festival de Cannes kicking off later this week, a bunch of new production photos have surfaced. First up is Steven Soderbergh’s Che, a pair of films (The Argentine and Guerrilla) starring Benicio Del Toro as Argentine revolutionary Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara de la Serna.
The running time for the two films combined is a whopping 268 minutes, or four and a half hours long. Let’s take a look at the newly released official plot synopsis:
PART ONE
On November 26, 1956, Fidel Castro sails to Cuba with eighty rebels. One of those rebels is Ernesto “Che” Guevara, an Argentine doctor who shares a common goal with Fidel Castro - to overthrow the corrupt dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista.
Che proves indispensable as a fighter, and quickly grasps the art of guerrilla warfare. As he throws himself into the struggle, Che is embraced by his comrades and the Cuban people. This film tracks Che’s rise in the Cuban Revolution, from doctor to commander to revolutionary hero.
PART TWO
After the Cuban Revolution, Che is at the height of his fame and power. Then he disappears, re-emerging incognito in Bolivia, where he organizes a small group of Cuban comrades and Bolivian recruits to start the great Latin American Revolution.
The story of the Bolivian campaign is a tale of tenacity, sacrifice, idealism, and of guerrilla warfare that ultimately fails, bringing Che to his death. Through this story, we come to understand how Che remains a symbol of idealism and heroism that lives in the hearts of people around the world.
May 11th, 2008 at 11:54 pm
awesome.
May 12th, 2008 at 2:12 am
“Che remains a symbol of idealism and heroism that lives in the hearts of people around the world.”
especially for caucasin indie boys wearing t-shirts bearing his face, yet have no real idea who the man truly was.”
c’mon, we’ve all seen those guys!
May 12th, 2008 at 8:05 am
@ Mike
Peter is just reporting the fact that this movie is premiering this weekend, and he geve the official plot synopsis so people know what it is about.
I see no “rancid political cheerleading”
This is a movie news site, and I believe this counts as movie news.
May 12th, 2008 at 8:06 am
Ok my comment doesn’t make sense anymore. disregard.
May 12th, 2008 at 9:45 am
People will be like they made a movie about a guy on a T-shirt. Since wearing a T-shirt of him then you dont know who he is.
May 12th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
It’s a freaking paradox. People will bite at others for wearing a Che shirt, and others will bite at them. Complaining about a white kid (or any race) wearing a Che shirt is probably the least original and most annoying argument one can pose. GET OVER IT. Che is a historical figure like any other. Many hate him, probably more adore him. I won’t even get into how I feel about him because it truly doesn’t matter.
Just remember, you are not a beautiful and unique snowflake.
May 12th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
I wonder if they are going to go into the whole “support the Soviets, kill all democracy-supporters” thing.
Yeah, this guy was an enemy to freedom everywhere and a ruthless killer as well.
Those who can celebrate him simply don’t know their history… or are disgruntled ex-Soviets.
May 13th, 2008 at 6:06 am
Foremore info about this movie … http://www.hey-che.com
May 13th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Che was a murderer. he killed innocent people. this movie is filth. I cannot believe we are going to make a movie about this guy. Way to go Hollywood, lets just make a movie next time called “Communism is way cooler than capitalism: We hate America the movie”
May 14th, 2008 at 6:30 am
I hope they glorify him. There is nothing like letting Hollywood speak its mind to prove the ignorance of the political left.
May 14th, 2008 at 7:54 am
For those that keep crediting “Hollywood” for the making of this movie, you might want to do your research first. There was no American (i.e. Hollywood) financial support for this movie. Ya bunch of morons!
May 17th, 2008 at 12:47 am
Che was a monster who killed thousands of people in the name of Liberty.
May 17th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
Che killed hundreds in war and executed a few hundred thugs and killers.
He helped started a regime that gave unprecedented medical care and education for Cuba.. but a regime that has also attacked some human rights in the name of defending the hard-won gains of their revolution.
During the same time JFK/LBJ/Nixon killed 6 million+ Vietnamese in Vietnam… Capitalism kills 6 million children alone who die every year because of malnutrition. The system inherently exploits people like me who come from working-class backgrounds and have to work 50+ hours for someone elses profits and live pay-check to paycheck.
He might have not been a perfect man, or someone to idolize, but he fought for what he believed and against an unjust system. He is a symbol for people who want social change, even though now people know to reject both Sovietism and Capitalism.
May 25th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
hi everyone, I live in turkey and i want to attract attention on some points. Che is the icon of the fredoom and the revolution, che had be never murderer. just think, and ask yourself this question who risks death for the people who are hungary, forgetten,homeless. in my country, USA has stirred up trouble when everyone wants to human rights. Che, Fidel, Hugo Chavez, Deniz( a revolutionist of my country) have fought for human rights, women, children whereas USA have killed women, children for just petrol. Jeff, can you understand this?
May 25th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
Che could never be understood without putting in context the conditions from which he offspring… besides that, this man cannot be understood lacking understanding of his ideals. Alas, to most of us in America, that is an impossibility as we have been victimized by the most elaborate propaganda machine man has ever known… One of the greatest misconception begin when we compare Communism to Democracy. That is like comparing pickles and vanilla ice cream simply because they aren’t opposing ideologies. Thus, if we placed democracy on one extreme of a spectrum, then dictatorship would be on the other extreme, NOT communism. Communism could be instead compared to capitalism (one spectrum being political and the other economic and they can be combined in all various ways). Having said that, the “abuses” of most “communist” regimes should be attributed to their dictatorial nature rather than to their economic ideology.
May 25th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
Another point I would like to make in an attempt to explain the conditions that lead to revolutions is that there would be NO Castro without a Batista (Our man prior to the Rev). NO Sandinistas without the Somozas (Our dynasty in Nicaragua) . NO Mao without Chiang Kai-Shek (Our associate in China). NO Lenin without a ruthless Tzar. And No Allende without the exploitation of a nation by the “beacon of freedom”.
I hope I am not labeled “communist” because of my posting, for I don’t possess the selflessness to be one… if I did, some may even called me Jesus… others would call me Che…