CINEMA: Che: Part One

There’s no mistaking the fact Benicio Del Toro certainly looks the part in this biopic of the early years of Che Guevara’s life and although the film is historically accurate, it takes an age to say what could be said in a fraction of the time – and this is only half of Che’s life – his political rise and death will not be dealt with until part two.

We join the story in the mid 1950s when Che had already become politically active in Guatemala. However, much of the action here is based in the impenetrable Cuban jungle where Fidel Castro (Demian Bichir), Che and eighty rebels hid while constantly harassing the Cuban army.

However, rather than telling the story in chronological order, director Steven Soderbergh has opted for a cut up narrative that flits back and forth through time and becomes increasingly difficult to follow. Although it is beautifully shot, the long, long passages in the jungle soon become boring because nothing much of anything happens.

Because of this the film becomes worthy rather than really watchable – much of the action takes place in part two and one wonders whether a better film could have been edited out of the two combined parts.      Dee Pilgrim