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Che (Part One): The Argentine - Benicio Del Toro, Demián Bichir, Santiago Cabrera, Steven Soderbergh

Threat advisory: High - High risk of entertaining activities

Movie propaganda

26 November 1956; led by Fidel Castro (Demian Bichir), a band of 80 rebels sails to Cuba. Among these young rebels is Argentine physician, Marxist, soldier, Ernesto "Che" Guevara (Benicio Del Toro). Nation-less, strapped for resources and fuelled only by determination, the group engages in swift, bloody battle to free the Cuban people from the corrupt dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. Che and his soldiers wrestle the nation's resources and affection from Batista's grasp. Though considered a hero by some, Che becomes a hugely controversial figure. At the height of his fame and power, he disappears. Entering South America incognito, Che recruits another band of guerilla fighters in the harsh Bolivian jungles. They embark upon a mission to spark revolution throughout Latin America.

Theatrical propaganda posters

Che (Part One): The Argentine theatrical one sheet image

Target demographic movie keyword propaganda

Film Ernesto 'Che' Guevara biography Argentina Cuba Communism revolution corrupt government rebel

Persons of interest

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
Kahlil Mendez .... Leonardo Tamayo Núñez
Elvira Mínguez .... Celia Sánchez
Andres Munar .... Joel Iglesias Leyva
Julia Ormond .... Lisa Howard
Jorge Perugorría .... Vilo
Édgar Ramírez .... Ciro Redondo García
Victor Rasuk .... Rogelio Acevedo
Othello Rensoli .... Pombo
Armando Riesco .... Benigno
Catalina Sandino Moreno .... Aleida March
Roberto Santana .... Juan Almeida
Norman Santiago .... Tuma
Rodrigo Santoro .... Raúl Castro
Unax Ugalde .... Vaquerito
Roberto Urbina .... Guile Pardo
Yul Vazquez .... Alejandro Ramírez
María Isabel Díaz .... María Antonia
Ramon Fernandez .... Héctor
Jose Caro .... Esteban
Jon DeVries .... Senator Eugene McCarthy
Ernesto 'Che' Guevara .... Author: Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War
Peter Buchman .... Screenwriter
Steven Soderbergh .... Director

Cinematic intelligence sources

Che (Part One): The Argentine official movie sites:

Australia
International

Che (Part One): The Argentine film production notes
Che (Part One): The Argentine QuickTime movie trailers
Awards and film festivals:

Cannes Film Festival 2008: Won: Best Actor (Benicio Del Toro); Nominated: Golden Palm (Steven Soderbergh)
Cinema Writers Circle Awards, Spain 2009: Nominated: Best Actor (Benicio Del Toro), Best Score (Alberto Iglesias), Best Screenplay, Adapted (Peter Buchman)
Goya Awards 2009: Won: Goya: Best Actor (Benicio Del Toro), Best Production Design (Antxón Gómez); Nominated: Goya: Best Original Score (Alberto Iglesias), Best Production Supervision (Cristina Zumárraga), Best Screenplay - Adapted (Peter Buchman)
Online Film Critics Society Awards 2009: Nominated: Best Actor (Benicio Del Toro)

NB: English and Spanish language dialogue with English language subtitles
Screens with Che (Part Two): Guerrilla
See also The motorcycle diaries (Diarios de motocicleta)
Studios and distributors:

Transmission Films

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

Holy shit. Everything you wanted to know about that dude on the t-shirt but were afraid to ask.

Remind me not to become a communist revolutionary guerilla in the tropics. I like my comfy bed. I like having a shower. I like regular meals. I like ambulances which can take me to hospital. I like to be relaxed and comfortable. Mind you, if some bastard set himself up as a dictator in my country I'd kick him in the balls and vote for the Greens. Bloody dictators. The Argentine is like Proof of life from the other side: dirt, sweat, starvation, mud, jungle, shooting. I like the shooting. Shooting is always good, especially when it's done realistically. Sudden noise. Sudden blood. Sudden death. This is like trudging through the undergrowth hoping that the government soldiers don't set up an ambush and blow your brains out.

Yee. Har.

Everyone acts well but Benicio Del Toro acts best. It's easy to get the Che look but Benny (to his friends) sweats blood for the role.

The best part of this film is that Che is not the big hero, riding into town on a white horse, shooting up the bad men and heading off into the sunset. He's just one part of the revolution. An important part, but just one part. On top of that, he has to learn how to be a leader of men and how to win a revolution. It's not some god-given gift that lets him take over the world (well, Cuba). If you want to overthrow the dictator of your country and remove his cronies from power, this is movie makes a great handbook.

The Ernesto 'Che' Guevara biography movie Che (Part One): The Argentine is directed by Steven Soderbergh and stars Benicio Del Toro, Demián Bichir, Santiago Cabrera.