Still Snoozing...After watching the pair of
Steven Soderbergh's docudrama films based on the short life of
Ernesto "Che" Guevara, you might come to the conclusion that the Cuban revolution was big on cigars and short on substance.
If you haven't read books by or about Guevara, you're also likely to be confused and bored by the films rather than just plain bored. At least with some book information under your belt, you'll be able to fill in the blanks. I calculated about one blank spot in every two minutes of film in both
Che, Part 1 : The Argentine and
Che, Part 2 : Guerrilla.
The movies are shot in both color and black & white and for reasons I don't yet understand,
Benicio del Torro is a better actor in black & white. I suppose it's because he mines to perfection every photograph of Che during his heyday -- again, books at work here filling in the missing captions.
Fidel, as played by
Demian Bichir (who?) is too short for his cigar. Then there's
Tania (played with skill by actress
Franka Potente) who ambles in -- then out of a film that never explains that Tania was Che's sometime lover during his last days.
Ironically
Che the revolutionary will forever be caught up in the famous photograph (above) taken by
Alberto Korda, March 5, 1960. This much reproduced photograph has sold on everything from coffee mugs, to cell phones, not to mention millions of tee-shirts and parody goods the world over.
Further Reading : First Hand, Pro/Con, and Fictional CheThe Bolivan Diary of Ernesto Che GuevaraThe African Dream : The Diaries of the Revolutionary War in the CongoChe Guevara a Revolutionary Life by Jon Lee AndersonThe Fall of Che Guevara by Henry Butterfield Ryan
The library's fiction collection also includes a number of reads featuring Che, W.E.B. Griffin's Special Ops series thrillers included.
Post by Phil Carr
Saturday, November 21
