Review: Che Part I

[Originally published in the Forge Press 05.12.08]

The Face of a Thousand T-shirts

Review: Che Part I

Che Guevara’s face is a tad annoying. The iconic image of his flowing beard and meaningful gaze is like a song that has been overplayed for forty years, the meaning is lost and those who sing it have never really listened to the lyrics. A proportion of the vaguely left-wing layabouts who adorn their chests with Che Guevara T-shirts are greatly unaware of Che as a person, apart from the fact he’s from Cuba and, like, rebelliously rad if y’know what I mean. Well, he’s not Cuban, he’s from Argentina and his name isn’t even Che.
Che – part 1, the first in a film of two parts, follows the story of the Cuban Revolution, from its beginnings with the making of acquaintance between Castro and Guevara to the capture of Santa Clara, the victory that caused the enemy, General Batista, to flee the country. The character of Ernesto “Che” Guevara is played by Benicio del Toro who also takes the role of co-producer. The film took seven years to research with the majority of information taken from Guevara’s own writing and this is the reason that it stands out as more than a mere documentation of revolution.
Guevara’s nickname derived from his habit of punctuating his speech with the interjection ‘che’, a common Spanish term that loosely translates as ‘friend’ or ‘kid’. It is this side of the lovable cigar-smoking Guevara that is shown in the first film as we see his development from intelligent and socially conscious Argentinean doctor to fully-fledged revolutionary and guerrilla warfare expert. Guevara and Castro’s dedication to their cause is emphasised and also the way that they achieve results: with a mixture of hard graft and love. They are committed to reform and there is repeated insistence on the importance on learning: the increase in literacy was seen as one of the major successes of the Revolution.
Far from death or glory, the much-lauded phrase of this Revolution is ‘homeland or death’ and it is shouted throughout the film as the revolutionaries make their way over unfriendly terrain and face numerous challenges. The fact that the producers choose to extend this story over two films rather than try to squeeze it into one means there is room for plenty of detail and the film celebrates the comradeship and inner politics of organising a group of people who have nothing to hold them together but their beliefs. Guevara cites belief as the trump card that the Revolution army held; explaining that when your army know why they’re fighting they will fight better and therefore be able to defeat bigger and seemingly stronger forces as the revolutionaries seemingly did.
Even in his moments of glory, Guevara is grounded and principled. Immediately after their glorious victory in Santa Clara, he sends some celebratory members of his army back after they leave the town driving in a stolen car. Spoil sport? Perhaps. Infallibly moral revolutionary superstar? Yes.So perhaps there is more to learn about Che Guevara. The realities of revolution are portrayed in an unflinching fashion: tell your housemate who thinks he subverts society by smoking weed all day to go and see the reality.

Natasha Lewis