Review of Che: Part One (2008) by Alan D — 24 Mar 2009

I was anticipating this film because I am a fan of Soderbergh and also a big fan of Del Toro. I wasn't exactly disappointed, but I was a little confused by the end of the film. I can attribute that to the fact that I would probably enjoy the entire four hour version instead of just getting a taste here with the first chapter.

Del Toro's acting is amazing and I contend that he is one of the most naturalistic actors we have out there right now. I could honestly watch him in anything. The cinematography is beautiful and I was glad to see Soderergh didn't go with too many different film stocks in this chapter a la Traffic.

As a director and cinematographer, he has a great understanding of composing shots and it came out looking great. I guess my biggest problem is that Soderergh and the screenwriter expect you to know a lot about the Cuban revolution going into the film and, not being one of those people, I felt really confused during some stretches of the film.

People come and go and seem to be important parts of the revolution, but you never get a chance to know them. Even Che seems a little mysterious as much as Del Toro tries to bring out his more humanistic qualities.

I guess I was expecting a little deeper insight into the person more than a history lesson that's slight on the details.