Review of Che: Part One (2008) by Esteban G — 11 May 2009

I found this first part of Che very interesting and truely enjoyed the performance of Benicio Del Toro as Ernesto Che Guevara, the revolutionary Argentine who helped Fidel Castro and the rebels to overthrow the Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista.

The film works as sort of a guerilla film slash biography of Che`s involvement in the Cuban revolution. During the film we experience several cuts to the future when Che was in the United States being interviewed about his accomplishments and in a Conference in the United Nations all shot in black and white reminiscing Soderbergh`s film Traffic.

Benicio del Toro defintely deserved an Oscar nomination for his work in this film. He depicted the character very well with true human passion for the revolution. This film only gives us a small glimpse of why el Che is considered the symbol of revolution everywhere you go.

I am looking forward to seeing the second part. I also enjoyed the supportive characters in this film, such as Demian Bichir playing Fidel Castro, but especially Santiago Cabrera who played Camilo Cienfuegos who delivered several laughs and every time the movie began to slow down a bit his interventions brought a smile to my face.

Overall very good movie which will interest all those fans of world history.