Che — Part One: The Argentine [M]

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Demian Bichir, Victor Rasuk

On November 26, 1956, Fidel Castro sails to Cuba with eighty rebels. One of those rebels is Ernesto “Che” Guevara, an Argentine doctor who shares a common goal with Fidel Castro — to overthrow the corrupt dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista.

Che proves indispensable as a fighter, and quickly grasps the art of guerrilla warfare. As he throws himself into the struggle, Che is embraced by his comrades and the Cuban people. (PN)

The cult of Che doesn't match the real Che, whose legacy is the very opposite of what the legend tells us, according to US author and journalist Paul Berman (and writer in residence at New York University).

Writing in slant.com, he says, “The cult of Ernesto Che Guevara is an episode in the moral callousness of our time. Che was a totalitarian. He achieved nothing but disaster. Many of the early leaders of the Cuban Revolution favoured a democratic or democratic-socialist direction for the new Cuba. But Che was a mainstay of the hardline pro-Soviet faction, and his faction won. Che presided over the Cuban Revolution's first firing squads. He founded Cuba's 'labor camp' system — the system that was eventually employed to incarcerate gays, dissidents, and AIDS victims (not mentioned in this film).” — Urban Cinefile

Che — Part Two: Guerilla screens at 8 PM on Wednesday, February 10.

Rating:

Internet Movie Database listing for Che Part One: The Argentine