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Che: Part One (2008)
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Overview
User Rating:
Writers (WGA):
Peter Buchman (screenplay)Ernesto 'Che' Guevara (memoir "Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War")
Release Date:
24 January 2009 (USA) morePlot:
In 1956, Ernesto 'Che' Guevara (Benicio Del Toro) and a band of Castro-led Cuban exiles mobilize an army to topple the regime of dictator Fulgencio Batista. full summary | add synopsisAwards:
3 wins & 8 nominations moreNewsDesk:
(38 articles)
Actor Suarez Passes Away (From WENN. 2 April 2009, 5:15 AM, PDT)
Penn: 'I Should Be Competing For An Oscar With Del Toro'
(From WENN. 7 February 2009, 6:00 AM, PST)
User Comments:
Atmospheric and well made but... moreCast
(Cast overview, first billed only)| Benicio Del Toro | ... | Ernesto 'Che' Guevara | |
| Demián Bichir | ... | Fidel Castro | |
| Santiago Cabrera | ... | Camilo Cienfuegos | |
| Vladimir Cruz | ... | Ramiro Valdés Menéndez | |
| Alfredo De Quesada | ... | Israel Pardo | |
| Jsu Garcia | ... | Jorge Sotús (as Jsu García) | |
| Kahlil Mendez | ... | Leonardo Tamayo Núñez (as Kahlil Méndez) | |
| Elvira Mínguez | ... | Celia Sánchez | |
| Andres Munar | ... | Joel Iglesias Leyva (as Andrés Manuel Munar) | |
| Julia Ormond | ... | Lisa Howard | |
| Jorge Perugorría | ... | Vilo | |
| Édgar Ramírez | ... | Ciro Redondo García (as Edgar Ramírez) | |
| Victor Rasuk | ... | Rogelio Acevedo | |
| Othello Rensoli | ... | Pombo | |
| Armando Riesco | ... | Benigno |
Additional Details
Also Known As:
The Argentine (International: English title) (alternative title) (USA) (working title)Che - 1ère partie - L'Argentin (France)
Che, el argentino (Spain: Castilian title)
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Parents Guide:
View content advisory for parentsRuntime:
134 minAspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 moreCertification:
Spain:7 | UK:15 | Brazil:14 | Argentina:13 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Czech Republic:15 | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | Finland:K-13 | Canada:14A (Alberta) | Canada:PG (British Columbia) | Sweden:11 | USA:Not Rated | Singapore:M18Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Benicio Del Toro chose Ryan Gosling to play Benigno 'Beni' Ramírez. Gosling met with the real Ramirez and learned some Spanish to prepare for role. But delays during pre-production caused Gosling to drop out of the project. moreGoofs:
Factual errors: When the guerrilleros are in the Sierra Maestra, we can hear the coqui (Eleutherodactylus coqui) singing in the night. However, this small frog is endemic to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, thus not possible to be heard in Cuba. moreSoundtrack:
Basura moreFAQ
Is this a non-english film?What is the song with vocals that plays in the trailer?
Does this movie explain Che's politics or how he adopted them?
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Nothing quite like getting your teeth into an epic is there? Sitting back and letting yourself get immersed into a struggle, a journey, in this case the Cuban revolution that has become such a cause celebre for many since the 1950s. By the time I left the cinema I sadly felt as though the epic had been squashed down into an easily swallowed period piece with all the epic grandeur of a Dan Brown novel. The problem with Che Part One is that it doesn't say anything particularly interesting or contain any memorable moments. There is lots and lots of shooting which is actually fairly sanitised (this is certainly no Saving Private Ryan), there is some mistreatment of people who are then avenged and there are lots of shots of Benicio del Toro looking quite idealistic and cool.
Don't get me wrong, there is nothing specifically wrong with this film. It portrays a fairly accurate (if, as I said, sanitised) picture of the March on Santa Clara and the victory of Castro's rebels. However much in the same way as the kind of perpetually running museum film that you can dip in and out of it is largely uninspiring and leaves you feeling quite detached. The problem is not the direction or the acting which does manage to transport you into the heart of a Civil War ravaged Cuba. It is the fact that we learn next to nothing about Cuba, Che himself or the goals of the revolutionaries. We learn nothing of why the Batista regime was so bad that people wanted to overthrow it. Which means that this simply stands alone as a war film where there are lots of explosions, lots of running around and some scenes of people celebrating in the streets. While I understand from reports that Che Part Two is rather different I think that nevertheless the slight blandness of Che Part One means that, though it looks good, it does feel like a rather wasted opportunity.