Che: Part One (2008)
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The first installment of a sprawling biographical epic chronicles the early revolutionary activities of Ernesto 'Che' Guevara in Cuba.
The story
Part One, titled The Argentine, focuses on the Cuban Revolution. The narrative begins with the landing of Fidel Castro, Che Guevara, and other revolutionaries in Cuba. The film follows their efforts to topple the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista over the course of two years. Rather than following a standard chronological order, the film offers an oblique series of interspersed moments along the overall timeline, including Guevara's address before the United Nations General Assembly in 1964 and his early meetings with Castro in Mexico City.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Part One, 'The Argentine,' focuses on the Cuban Revolution. It features Guevara meeting Fidel Castro in Mexico City in 1955 and joining the July 26th Movement. The film depicts the revolutionaries attacking an army barracks in the Sierra Maestra in 1957 and winning over the rural peasant population. Key moments include the Battle of Santa Clara in 1958, where Guevara demonstrates tactical skill in street-to-street fighting and derails a train carrying soldiers. The film also includes a 1964 interview in Havana and Guevara's impassioned speech against American imperialism at the United Nations in New York City. The narrative concludes with the victory of the revolution, where Guevara remarks, 'we won the war, the revolution starts now.'
- First release year
- 2008
- Runtime (minutes)
- 132
- Production countries
- Spain; Germany; France; United States
- Original languages
- Spanish; English
- Directors
- Steven Soderbergh
- Writers
- Peter Buchman · screenplay; Benjamin A. van der Veen · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Benicio del Toro · Che Guevara; Demián Bichir · Ciro Redondo; Rodrigo Santoro; Santiago Cabrera; Franka Potente; Julia Ormond; Vladimir Cruz; Marc-André Grondin; Lou Diamond Phillips; Joaquim de Almeida; Édgar Ramírez; Yul Vazquez
- Genres
- biographical; drama; epic
- Themes
- Revolution; Marxism; Imperialism; Warfare
- Tone and mood
- Cinéma vérité; Contemplative; Tense
- Premise and plot tags
- Biographical; Historical; Nonlinear Narrative; War Film
- Source material / true-story basis
- Che Guevara's diary from the Cuban Revolution, Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War, and Bolivian Diary
- Reception
- The film received mostly positive reviews, with critics praising the performances and visual style, though some noted its length and lack of interiority.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 68% · review count: 142; Rotten Tomatoes · score: 79% · review count: 52; Metacritic · score: 64 · scale: 100 · review count: 24
- Awards and nominations
- Goya Award · best Spanish Lead Actor · 2009 · Win; Tomas Gutierrez Alea prize · Havana ceremony · 2009 · Win; The White Camel · Sahara International Film Festival · 2009 · Win
- Production trivia
- The film was originally intended to be a more traditional film based on Jon Lee Anderson's 1997 biography.; Soderbergh avoided close-ups of Del Toro due to Guevara's belief in collectivism.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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