Che

Theatrical Release Date: 2008 12 12 (USA - Limited) / 2008 (USA)

UPC: 715515049610

Studio: Criterion

MPAA Rating: NR   Contains:null

Summary: Nearly 40 years after Che Guevara's execution in Bolivia, director Steven Soderbergh retraces the life of the iconic Cuban revolutionary in this nearly four-and-a-half-hour saga. Part 1 begins on November 26, 1956, as Fidel Castro (Demi?n Bichir) sails into Cuban waters with 80 rebels in tow. Among those rebels is Argentine doctor Ernesto "Che" Guevara (Benicio Del Toro), a man who shares Castro's dream of overthrowing corrupt dictator Fulgencio Batista. As the struggle gets under way, Guevara proves an indispensable part of the revolution due to his firm grasp on the concepts of guerilla warfare. Guevara is heartily embraced by both his comrades and the Cuban people, and quickly rises through the ranks to become first a commander, and ultimately a revolutionary hero. Part 2 of the saga begins with Guevara at the absolute peak of his fame and power. Disappearing suddenly, Guevara subsequently resurfaces in Bolivia to organize a modest group of Cuban comrades and Bolivian recruits in preparation for the Latin American Revolution. But while the Bolivian campaign would ultimately fail, the tenacity, sacrifice, and idealism displayed by Guevara during this period would make him a symbol of heroism to followers around the world. Part 1 and Part 2 were screened together as Che at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, and also received a limited theatrical release under that same title in U.S. theaters later that same year. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Category: Historical Film

Awards: In Competition – Cannes Film Festival Best Actor – Cannes Film Festival Film Presented – New York Film Festival Film Presented – Toronto International Film Festival Film Presented – London Film Festival Film Presented – AFI Fest Best Picture – New York Film Critics Online Best Foreign Language Film – Chicago Film Critics Association

Che

Format: Blu-ray

Release Date: 01/19/2010

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Cinemascope, 1.78:1 Alternate Wide Screen

Audio: DDS Dolby Digital Surround, DHMA null

Runtime: 271 Minutes

Sides: 2

Number of Discs: 2

Language(s) Spanish

Subtitles: English

Region: Blu-ray region A (North America, Central America, South America, Japan, Taiwan, North Korea, South Korea, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia)

Perry Seibert

The mythic persona of revolutionary leader Che Guevara, whose legend has only grown in the decades since his death in the Bolivian jungle, makes tackling a biopic about the man all that much more daunting. To some he's a heroic martyr of the political left, to some he's a terrorist, and to some he's little more than a T-shirt logo. Steven Soderbergh sidesteps almost all of these problems in his nearly four-and-a-half-hour movie Che by focusing on what Che experienced, rather than concentrating on the politics. The first half of the film follows Guevara as he helps lead Fidel Castro's Cuban Revolution. After an opening scene where Castro recruits the Argentinean doctor, the movie places us in the jungle alongside a small band of guerrillas that steadily grows into the army that conquers Cuban leader Fulgencio Batista's military. Soderbergh shoots their various attacks in a fly-on-the-wall cin?ma v?rit? style that gives the audience a genuine immediacy -- a sense of both place and danger. We get an understanding of how these soldiers do what they do, and, miraculously, Soderbergh never bores us by trying to explain battlefield strategy. He keeps us aware of the forethought and planning that Castro puts into each of their missions, and because we trust Che, we never worry that the characters don't know what they're doing. As the revolutionaries make their way to Havana, Soderbergh intercuts their exploits with flash-forwards to Che's 1964 trip to New York, including his address to the United Nations, and the grainy black-and-white cinematography used in these sequences lends them a documentary feel that contrasts with the lush, colorful jungle settings. While in the Big Apple, Che sits down for an extensive interview with a reporter, and Soderbergh uses Che's answers to her questions as a soundtrack during some of the battle sequences. While this should distance a viewer from the action, it actually has the opposite effect: these are the only times we feel we're inside Che's head, as Soderbergh avoids almost any mention of Che's personal life. This blending of the cerebral technique with visceral content makes the first half of Che a compelling and unique experience. However, with the second half of the movie, Soderbergh shifts gears. After a brief opening sequence with Che entering Bolivia in disguise, the movie never leaves the jungle. There are no voice-overs or flash-forwards to give us any relief from the growing dread that mounts as the Bolivian Revolution fails in every way that the Cuban campaign succeeded. This is cin?ma v?rit? in the extreme -- we are trapped right alongside Che, forever sensing that the end could come at any moment, but never abandoning the fight. It's a thoroughly exhausting feeling to experience for over two hours. Separated from the movie's first half, this is by no means a conventionally entertaining movie, but it's a remarkable piece of filmmaking. If the movie has a major flaw, it might just be that the second half is so insistently unvaried that the audience may start to ask the kinds of questions -- like why would Che leave his wife and kids to go to Bolivia -- that Soderbergh has no interest in answering. However, even with that fault, the first half of the movie succeeds so grandly that Che's eventual demise still hits us with the power of classic tragedy. In fact, Benicio Del Toro deserves just as much credit as Soderbergh for making us feel the enormity of Che's personality. Because his dialogue never reveals his personal feelings, Del Toro must express Che's inner life almost solely through his physicality -- and, remarkably, he does. From Che's long, confident strides as he approaches the podium at the United Nations to his delicate care in lighting a cigar, Del Toro inhabits this often taciturn leader, and keeps us involved by imbuing even the smallest gestures with significance. At nearly four and a half hours, Che plays at a resoundingly uncommercial length, and while it could have been shaped into an easier to digest three hours, it seems clear that Soderbergh has no interest in satisfying the typical audience's expectations in this regard. He wants the audience to feel Che's desperation and pride more than he wants to conform to the traditions of Hollywood filmmaking. And, for those able to meet the movie on its own terms, Che ranks as one of the most ambitious biopics in recent memory. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Elvira Mínguez  Actor 
Vladimir Cruz  Actor 
Cristian Mercado  Actor 
Benicio Del Toro  Producer 
Benicio Del Toro  Screenwriter 
Steven Soderbergh  Director 
Steven Soderbergh  Producer 
Steven Soderbergh  Screenwriter 
Greg Jacobs  Executive Producer 
Frederic W. Brost  Executive Producer 
Bill Pohlad  Producer 
Alberto Iglesias  Composer (Music Score) 
Laura Bickford  Producer 
Vincent Maraval  Executive Producer 
Peter Buchman  Screenwriter 
Andreas Schmid  Executive Producer 
Alvaro Longoria  Executive Producer 
Alvaro Augustin  Executive Producer 
Philip Elway  Executive Producer 
Belen Atienza  Executive Producer 
Brahim Chioua  Executive Producer 
Benjamin A. VanDerVeen  Screenwriter 
Benicio Del Toro  Actor 
Demián Bichir  Actor 
Santiago Cabrera  Actor 
Jorge Perugorría  Actor 
Edgar Ramirez  Actor 
Victor Rasuk  Actor 
Armando Riesco  Actor 
Catalina Sandino Moreno  Actor 
Rodrigo Santoro  Actor 
Unax Ugalde  Actor 
Yul Vázquez  Actor 
Carlos Bardem  Actor 
Joaquim de Almeida  Actor 
Eduard Fernández  Actor 
Marc-André Grondin  Actor 
Óscar Jaenada  Actor 
Kahlil Mendez  Actor 
Matt Damon  Actor 
Jordi Mollà  Actor 
Ruben Ochandiano  Actor 
Julia Ormond  Actor 
Gastón Pauls  Actor 
Lou Diamond Phillips  Actor 
Franka Potente  Actor 
Mark Umbers  Actor 
Antonio Peredo  Actor 
Othello Rensoli  Actor 

Country: France,Spain,USA