Today, director Steven Soderbergh’s four hour subtitled Che Guevera biopic, Che (presented as two films entitled The Argentine and Guerilla) premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Online, critical reception is already momentously loud and divided, in a “Here we go…” way. And as you might expect, the film(s)’s questionable commercial prospects and controversial depiction of the Argentine revolutionary, as played by an uncanny Benicio Del Toro, have some critics waiting it out and chatting about the terrible sandwiches given at intermission instead. However, Cinematical’s Kim Vonyar is incredibly stoked on both films and believes that Soderbergh is a lock for the festival’s top prize, the Palm d’Or…
“Consensus among many of the very smart people I know here at Cannes (well, except for Variety, apparently) is that Che will almost definitely win the Palm d’Or, and if Benecio del Toro doesn’t win the Best Actor Oscar come January, there’s something wrong with the world.”
Stunned by Soderbergh’s DV auteurism, Cinematical’s James Rochhi observed in the first full-length review around, that the biopics’ style, tone, character study and story choices are all open for heavy debate (umm, that’s cool, I agree with him), but says that Oscar talk for Del Toro is also certain. In summation, he proclaims…
“Bold, beautiful, bleak and brilliant, Che’s not just the story of a revolutionary; in many ways, it’s a revolution in and of itself.”
Put that in your pipe, eh? Sounds sweet. In his own way, Jeffrey Wells has stepped out as one of the first supporters/gushers of both films, calling The Argentine “brilliant” and Guerilla “killer.”
“[The Argentine] is what I’d hoped for and more. The tale is the tale, and it’s told straight and true. Benicio del Toro’s Guevara portrayal is, as expected, a flat-immersion that can’t be a “performance” as much as…I don’t know, some kind of knock-down ass-kick inhabiting. Being, not “acting.” No sentimentality, very straight. Oh, God…the second half is starting right now…”
Note the phrase, “it’s told straight and true,” because many historians, college students, Cubans, critics and Slashfilm readers (I’m predicting…) will inevitably take issue with Soderbergh’s decision on what to leave out and what to include from the man’s combative, violent life and ethos. Another reason why these subtitled films are a hard sell. Variety’s Anne Thompson [no linkage] doesn’t dive into the films’ politics, but she was nonetheless underwhelmed and glum. She believes the majority of the press on hand reacted similarly…
“‘A folly.’ ‘A mess.’ ‘Great.’ These words came from some of the critics coming out of Steven Soderbergh’s four-hour 18 minute Spanish-language Che Wednesday night. At the end there was slight applause; no boos. My own description: noble failure.”
She adds that “Benecio [sic] del Toro gives a great performance…” but she’s particularly down on the direction of the second film, Guerilla, saying, “Soderbergh isn’t interested in the things that compel moviegoers to engage with characters: drama, psychology, motivation. He doesn’t dwell on the relationship between Che and Castro. He doesn’t tell you how ‘Ernesto’ turned into ‘Che.’” This works against the frenetic industry buzz that Spoutblog has thoroughly documented; that site points out that the films are being pitched to buyers separately…
“Rumor has it that the second half of the story is currently in better shape than the first; it remains to be seen what would be lost if half of Che was demoted to straight-to-DVD.”
Please, let’s hope this doesn’t happen. I don’t think the Interwebs (or Che) could survive the weight of so many blog tears and life-hating, unedited diatribes. We’ve posted a new video clip from Che (The Argentine half) below. It doesn’t reveal much, but it gives you an idea of the camera work and Soderbergh’s depiction of jungle warfare. One thing is for sure, Che’s t-shirt posse won’t be going away anytime soon (feh!).
Discuss: How do you think these films will be shown domestically? How does one sell four hours of Che? Honestly, who cares, it’s fantastic these films were even made (for $65 million) no matter how you feel (or don’t) about the man in question or how good they are.
May 21st, 2008 at 8:26 pm
Arriba EL CHE papo!!!!!
May 21st, 2008 at 8:26 pm
I’ve been intrigued by the story of Che ever since I saw “The Motorcycle Diaries.” I’ll definitely be checking these out.
May 21st, 2008 at 9:15 pm
I am a fan of Steven Soderbergh but I don’t understand the public’s newfound interest in Che Guevara over the last few years and I don’t think I could sit through a 4 hour movie about him either.
May 21st, 2008 at 9:17 pm
i don’t know about anyone else, but i would pay to see this as a four hour movie with an intermission.
May 21st, 2008 at 9:29 pm
I cannot wait to see this, not just because it is about “Che” but also to see how Soderbergh handled the story.
May 21st, 2008 at 9:32 pm
it might be like there will be blood: an amazing lead performance by del toro partnered with SS’s brilliant direction, and a film that is utterly brilliant, but overall a hard sell.
i’m really excited to see how the red camera performed. i’ve seen some test shoots for commercial and still stuff, but i think this is the first completed feature on it, right?
May 21st, 2008 at 9:36 pm
i mean it might be that way if the script wasn’t written as a straightforward rise to leadership/war film, but rather a philosophically abstract look at che. i duuno, im just really looking forward to it.
May 21st, 2008 at 11:15 pm
Very, very, excited about this movie.
May 22nd, 2008 at 1:10 am
WoW im really excited about this… ! i would definitely go to the movies to go see it as a 4 hour FILM!!!!
i hope it gets released out here in the u.s though :/
seems like soderbergh is going to have problems selling it to Uncle Tom.. :(
May 22nd, 2008 at 2:59 am
I’m appalled that a movie is even being made about this mass-murderer. He was no revolutionary, he was a cold-blooded killer who enforce Castro’s government with an iron fist.
Before hailing him as some kind of “hero” and “revolutionary” please, please, PLEASE do some fact-finding and digging into history to find out more about what this man did.
May 22nd, 2008 at 3:17 am
I don’t know why this wouldn’t be packaged as a four hour double feature. The risk is obvious, of course, I’m just being glib. I do think it would be best served for the two films to be seen together, though.
I think the films are probably good more than bad.
May 22nd, 2008 at 4:16 am
I will gladly sit through 4 hours…I’d even stay till the end of the credits in case Nick Fury shows up.
May 22nd, 2008 at 8:51 am
I hope it is shown as a full 4 hour package at some point in the US at least in major cities… i def want to check this out.
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:23 am
@ jonny
Please make that a requisite P.O.W. boast in the comments. You’re our McCain. Thanks.
May 22nd, 2008 at 9:52 am
Looks kinda like Billy Walsh’s Medellin.
May 25th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
Meh. Just another Hollywood left-wing love-in. I’m surprised Soderbergh didn’t tap his fellow useful idiot Clooney to play the bearded one.
Given the choice between a four-hour yawn-fest glorifying a Commie who adorns clueless sophomores’ t-shirts around the world, and a two-hour action fest about a fedora-wearing conservative (he says “I like Ike” at one point, remember), I’ll take the latter any day, thanks.
May 27th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
I was at the Cannes Film Festival myself, and watched both movies, “The Argentine” and “The Guerilla”. I was amazed at how great the movie was. For people from the variety it takes dumber movies for them to understand the subtleties Steven Soderberg was trying to portray. Both movies portray Che Guevara’s participation in the revolution, they don’t make him any more human than any of the other soldiers in the war. It brings humanity into the story. First of all Americans can’t handle anything that is above a 9th grade level of understanding, and the “variety” definitely reads as 9th grade level. Tom Mcarthy should be fired for being a racist interpreter, leaving his readers in a dumb ignorant world we call America.
P.S A message to Steven Sodergberg: Don’t let the capitalist producers ruin your movie by letting them force you to cut it short. Stay strong and keep the dreams alive of what cinema really is. Not just a medium for entertainment but a medium for education and making the world change. Thank you for your inspiration.
May 27th, 2008 at 3:08 pm
P,S to everyone who watches movies
This “Che” is not an action movie, not a biopic, or a hollywood trend flick. IT is actually a well produced movie. Which in some cases a lot of people wont understand unless they see blood and violence because that is what hollywood has conditioned people into watching. This movie actually taps in into a lot of film making techniques and has really brought cinema to the authentic levels it needs to be made in. Other movies everyone should look out for are “Johnny Mad Dog”. “The Chaser”, “The Class”, “Changeling”, “Serbis”.
Oh yeah if no one knows some of the best movies I saw at Cannes are already lined up for adaptations by Warner Bro’s, Paramount, and Universal. Shows how original American Writers are. The writers guild strike makes no difference to me because all they care about is money and not the art of the medium and the power behind in changing people.
June 11th, 2008 at 10:54 am
How and when can we watch it in the states? I’ve been looking everywhere for information and all I got was IMDB that said it was released in Russia…which doesn’t help me… at all.
June 11th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
I personally don’t see it being released here in the states until atleast another year, or until Steven Soderbergh is able to convince the producers that his vision is the way it should be released in theaters. I also wouldn’t be surprised if the producers are trying to dub it in english, which would destroy the movie. You have to watch it in Spanish because you’ll understand how he got the nick name “che” based on his slang, and you’ll hear subtle jokes a lot of people wont understand based on Spanish language accents. The great thing about the movie is that he got every different latin American accent down to a key, and it’s funnier when you can hear the differences. I’m pro for him adding the extra hours he was forced to cut out during production. He’s also considering making a documentary on the actual image of Ernesto Guevera, and how a lot of people don’t understand it and actually use his image as a fashion statement. Keep your eyes out for “Che”, it’s an amazing movie and I recommend it for everyone. Especially watching them both back to back. And I don’t care if it doesn’t do well in theaterrs in the states because the movie will go down in the classics in the medium of cinema. Screw Hollywood and its brainwashing antics.