Review of Che: Part One (2008) by Robbie M — 23 Mar 2009
This is a combo review, far more concise than the two parts viewed together, I promise. This movie suffers from tunnel vision. It is technically flawless, and pretty much to a fault, so that one struggles to connect in some human way to any of the characters.
Guevara in particular in this respect; I have never seen a film biography before in which a man is so clinically reduced to a cinematic entity. Which is not to say Benicio did anything wrong--indeed, he was brilliant.
But because of the intense focus Soderbergh gives to the military aspect of his history, the performance fails to surmount the limitations of a purely revolutionary angle. Part One is stronger, because we have the occasional (and stylish) balance of retrospect in the 1964 UN visit and news interviews.
The second part imparts its doom to celluloid (albeit digitally generated) in a way that I have never seen before, in which tragedy and failure seem to adhere banally to a reel of film. I was utterly removed from it all, even while watching in fascination.
As I have said repeatedly to people, I have no regrets in seeing this movie, nor will I ever watch it again.
This review of Che: Part One (2008) was written by Robbie M on 23 Mar 2009.
Che: Part One has generally received positive reviews.
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