Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

and almost, correct. portrait of a character, it becomes a poem. an eulogy with flavor of Hollywood war films. it is not a sin because each director makes his choices. and, in this case, the not inspired political ideas are important but the art to create a film who present not only images but has desire to give a testimony. so, a problem of courage. and extraordinary occasion for Benicio Del Toro to do a magnificent role. OK, in many parts it is a sentimental lesson. but the measure is not broken. the realism of fight for conquest of power, the good acting and the force of images are real virtues. it is not exactly propaganda but it has not a profound vision about root of events. but it is impressive and that is relevant.

Any biopic on the life of Ernest "Che" Guevara is going to provoke controversy and inevitable interest in the subject matter. He was one of the most recognizable figures of the latter half of the 20th century world stage, and his legacy is ripe fruit for dissection in the film format.Unfortunately, "Che: Part One" really struggles in the content and pacing areas. Much of the film jumps back and forth between two time periods, which isn't bad in itself, but the combination of the two often feels inadequate when the main plot line of the revolution in Cuba is so lacking. As other reviewers have noted, much of the film is of the rebel army moving through the jungle and encountering Batista's forces in tense firefights and standoffs. Very little of Che is explored as an individual, but rather is understated by both Del Toro and the filmmakers, preferring to focus on his role as a leader, doctor, and guerilla. As a result, the viewer leaves with very little knowledge gained besides from what we already know about him, via his command decisions in the field, his relationship with the soldados and country people, and his speeches at the UN. This is not an intimate, inside view of Guevara, but a spectacle of the humanity of the uprising in Cuba and the bond between the guerillas.The story-telling is very straight forward, and for 2 and a half hours the viewer is treated to an almost "fly on the wall" perspective of the events, with a mostly static, mounted camera giving a majority of wide-shots. There are little close-ups and sparse editing. It is all very methodical and almost minimalistic in its approach. The film is very dry in its treatment of the historical subject matter, although saying this would also disservice the good acting chemistry between the actors, who all give very naturalistic performances. The atmosphere created through these elements and the fantastic cinematography are mostly what drives the film forward.While it definitely drags in the middle, the film makes up for it towards the end with an exciting ending detailing the Battle for Santa Clara. The optimism as the revolution finally comes to a head in the finale leaves the film ending on a high note, and I was eager to see Part 2 and the conclusion of this story.Although much material is left out, subject matter that would have shown Che having to make difficult/personal/challenging decisions as he and his compatriots seek to change their world for the better would have been welcome. As it stands, this is a faithful, but not entirely satisfying account of "The Argentine".

This is a dramatised documentary based on Che's diaries. You hear the words, but know no more about Che at the end of Part One than he was quite a nice guy with a strong belief in revolution (His views are expounded at length). If I had not seen 'MotorCycle Diaries' I would not have known anything of his background, because there is little here but a detailed reconstruction of his visit to the US and the lead up the the Castro regime in Cuba. And in the extras on the DVD we get the disingenuous remarks of Soderbergh that all he was interested in doing was getting the film made - sorry, pal, but you have to make something that people want to watch, not just walk away!

I was really disappointed by the lack of preparation by Benicio Del Toro, his accent is that of a Puerto Rican imitating a Cuban (at times) only at the beginning of the film does he sound Argentine.The extras in the different towns are clearly people of shall we say,, Indian-mestizo decent - (they could easily pass for Mexicans, Guatemalans, Salvadoreans, Hondurans, Nicaraguans, Peruvians). you wont find that make up in Cuba. Columbus and the Spaniards made sure of that.The guy playing Fidel oddly enough has an Argentinian accent, So I paused the movie and then come here to IMDb and see that he is from Mexico, so I have no idea what is going on there with that guy.I was very disappointed at Benicio Del Toro, because if your gonna play a guy from Brooklyn you shouldn't sound like a guy from South Carolina.The only one that seemed to take the job seriously was the woman that played Aleida. she is originally from Colombia, and she at times did sound Cuban.VERY Disappointed ALL AROUND BY THIS PRODUCTION :-(