Review of Che: Part One (2008) by Jos . — 06 Jul 2009

On occassion Soderbergh has let cinematic style distract from the substance of his movies. At times this has worked to his advantage, like in the Ocean's series, and at other times I felt it overwhelmed (Traffic, where some of the palattes were too artificial for the subject matter). Here, he has given himself a tough charge, and stylistically, at least, he has pulled off a masterwork. The mixed-media cinematography is sumptuous (with one shot reminding me quite strongly of a similar set-up by Terrence Malik); the sound too is well engineered, and it was unquestionably the right choice to shoot in Spanish.

I like the film's ligering structure, but where it falls down is when one scrutinises its substance. We are given a thread of connected nodes into events he was part of, but we have little insight into his motivations, or the events of the Cuban revolution. All we get is snatches. Now this was a deliberate choice of the film-makers, and there are times when it works well. But sometimes it is simply frustrating.