496 Che

[Antoine Doinel]

Che



Far from a conventional biopic, Steven Soderbergh’s film about Che Guevara is a fascinating exploration of the revolutionary as icon. Daring in its refusal to make the socialist leader into an easy martyr or hero, Che paints a vivid, naturalistic portrait of the man himself (with a stunning, Cannes-award-winning performance by Benicio del Toro), from his overthrow of the Batista dictatorship to his 1964 United Nations trip to the end of his short life. Originally released in two parts, the first a kaleidoscopic view of the Cuban revolution and the second an all-action dramatization of Che’s failed campaign in Bolivia. Che is presented here in its complete form.

DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION:

- High-definition digital masters, supervised and approved by director Steven Soderbergh, with DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
- New audio commentaries featuring Jon Lee Anderson, author of Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life
- Making Che, a new documentary featuring Soderbergh, producer Laura Bickford, actor-producer Benicio del Toro, and writers Peter Buchman and Ben van der Veen
- Interviews with participants in and historians of the Cuban Revolution and Che’s Bolivian campaign
- End of a Revolution, a short documentary made in Bolivia right after Che’s execution in 1967
- Che and the Digital Cinema Revolution, an original video piece looking at the RED camera and its effect on modern film production
- Deleted scenes
- Theatrical trailer
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic Amy Taubin

NOTE: Che: Part One appears in 2.35:1 aspect ratio. Che: Part Two appears in 1.78:1 aspect ratio.

DVD:
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[The Elegant Dandy Fop]

Soderbergh's next project is two-film biopic of Che Guevera, with Benicio Del Toro in the lead. It was announced today that Soderbergh will shoot the film digitally.

Yeah, it was mentioned in Sight and Sound's March issue that he was planning on shotting digitally, and the idea was going to be that both films were going to be very low budget, and interestingly enough, shot in diffrent aspect ratios.

Hopefully he can redeem himself after The Good German. I love the man's movies, but that was really, really crummy.

[Antoine Doinel]

First pics.

Jeffrey Wells reviews the scripts and goes over the history of the film. Not surprisingly, the films will mostly be in Spanish (which has caused concern among American film buyers who are worried about subtitle-fearing audiences) and early reports of excerpts screened at the Berlin Film Festival have been very positive (the words "modern classic" have been bandied about but then again this is judging ten minutes of a combined 4 hour film).

[domino harvey]

This/these is/are among my most anticipated film(s), really excited to see what Soderbergh does with the material

[kaujot]

As long as it's not a Che lovefest like Motorcycle Diaries was, I'll be seeing it.

[Fletch F. Fletch]

This/these is/are among my most anticipated film(s), really excited to see what Soderbergh does with the material

I agree. I am really anticipating this one and will be very curious to read the reactions to it when it premieres at Cannes.

Stills and a press kit from the official Cannes Film Fest site.

Variety on the various buyers circling the film.

Fox is gonna distribute the films in Spain and a US deal fell through over subtitles.

Jeffrey Wells with the pre-screening buzz/hype.

[Antoine Doinel]

It's depressing that subtitles are a hurdle in getting a North American distribution deal inked. I really hope we don't get shafted with some kind of dubbed version.

[Fletch F. Fletch]

It's depressing that subtitles are a hurdle in getting a North American distribution deal inked. I really hope we don't get shafted with some kind of dubbed version.

Well, I remember the problems Soderbergh had with having the Mexico scenes in Traffic being subtitled but he stuck to his guns and I have a feeling he isn't going to back down on this one either. But it will certainly hurt the film's commercial prospects. Whoever distributes both films is going to have to pray that it gets good notices and tons of awards for them to spin it that way.

[domino harvey]

This was never gonna play to Joe Moviegoer anyways, it's amazing he got funding at all.

[King Prendergast]

Yikes, not a good review in Variety

[Antoine Doinel]

All the things that Todd McCarthy doesn't like about the film -- namely that it sidesteps traditional biopic formats and doesn't have tension filled action sequences -- lead me to believe that Soderbergh has taken the project in the right direction.

not a good review in Variety

The Guardian feels exactly the opposite.

[King Prendergast]

Anyone that saw that brilliant "Soderbergh b-sides" thread I started awhile back knows that I am an enthusiastic SS apologist, but I have a bad feeling about this one...

[domino harvey]

I'm with Antoine on this one, what these reviewers feel is lacking is exactly what makes biopics such chores. I think this sounds amazing and I hope it gets released without being messed up. Soderbergh is one of our greatest working filmmakers and this sounds like another of his audience-defying, challenging projects.

[Tom Hagen]

I am wondering what the ultimate theatrical release will look like: do we get both films all at once, or do we get some truncated version as a prelude to a full-fledged DVD release?

[domino harvey]

I am wondering what the ultimate theatrical release will look like: do we get both films all at once, or do we get some truncated version as a prelude to a full-fledged DVD release?

I don't know what the budget was on this, but it seems like double-feature runs in the big markets would make the most sense. I suspect what will happen though is the first film gets limited release, bombs, and the second makes brief qualifying runs in LA and NY before both come out on DVD.

[Tommy Sleeb]

Salon's Andrew O'Hehir loved it:

Soderbergh’s spectacular "Che"-volution

Messy, unfinished and utterly mesmerizing, Steven Soderbergh's two-part, four-hour Che Guevara opus, starring Benicio del Toro, sets Cannes buzzing.

[Tom Hagen]

A.O. Scott express some ambivalence about the film. I am dissapointed that Soderbergh elides over the Cuba regime years, effectively making the movie easier for right wingers to criticize, and in Scott's estimation less interesting.

[Antoine Doinel]

I am wondering what the ultimate theatrical release will look like: do we get both films all at once, or do we get some truncated version as a prelude to a full-fledged DVD release?

I don't know what the budget was on this, but it seems like double-feature runs in the big markets would make the most sense. I suspect what will happen though is the first film gets limited release, bombs, and the second makes brief qualifying runs in LA and NY before both come out on DVD.

As much as I wish this will get double feature runs in big markets, the failure of Grindhouse won't exactly entice theater owners to book a four hour subtitled film about Che Guevara. I suspect both features will get a limited run, released within weeks of each other and then this thing will find a life on DVD.

Salon's review has me very excited. I think Soderbergh's approach will make for a fascinating film.

[Svevan]

There's an easy solution to the 4 hour situation: add an intermission and double the price. Then theatre owners will get the money for two screenings, which the film essentially is.

[Cold Bishop]

I imagine this is the type of film, if it bombs in the US, could easily make its money back overseas. Soderbergh should pick his foreign distributors wisely.

[miless]

I imagine the Latin-American market will be pretty fertile grounds

[Anhedionisiac]

I imagine the Latin-American market will be pretty fertile grounds

God, dont even mention it. I live in Mexico and Im already world-weary of the furor itll cause. Bad enough having to deal with the newspapers fussing every single day over Cruz and Bardem in VCB.

[bdsweeney]

Though I imagine this may have changed by the end of the festival, apparently the rights for the two films have not been sold. It's the same for Two lovers and Synecdoche. With all of the financial difficulties and low US dollar, a lot of distributors may be wary about handling film(s) that probably won't gross much (at least US domestic).

I can't imagine that this situation will remain, esp. with the talk the Che film(s) is/are a possible Palme d'Or winner.

[Polybius]

I am dissapointed that Soderbergh elides over the Cuba regime years, effectively making the movie easier for right wingers to criticize [...]

You're talking about people currently screaming at Rachel Ray because they think she's a Fatah sympathizer due to a scarf she wore in a Dunkin' Donuts ad. That ship is going to sail, no matter what.

Svevan's suggestion was the original plan for Cleopatra, if I am remembering the story properly.

[Antoine Doinel]

Brief interview with Soderbergh about the film. Amazing to note that the entire film was shot in 39 days.