Che: The Argentine and Guerrilla
By Herald de Paris Contributor's Bureau on January 18, 2009
By: Gabriela Benedit (Photos by Nikol Burgos) - Blame it on Gossip Girl. A weeklong quest to find the holy grail of shameful indulgence is humiliating enough to admit. But, hey, after a month-long vacation in Puerto Rico, one tires of sun-drenched beaches, rum cocktails and bronzed bods. Honestly. On our way to Borders to continue our descent into unabashed loserdom, me n’my co-G.G. junkie Nikol spotted some flashing lights by the local theater. We figured that there must be some hoity-toity event going on. Our first thought? Canapés. Alas, there was no food to be had, but we were met by something infinitely more delicious.
Benicio del Toro.
Several failed inquiries later, we were finally informed that he was on the island to promote his new vehicle, Che, and we were able to score a pair of tickets to the four-hour-long tandem feature followed by a question and answer session with Benny [I can call him that. We’re tight] and producer Laura Bickford.
A film split in two, Che 1 & 2 chronicle two seminal epochs in the life of Ernesto “Che” Guevara, Argentine revolutionary, medic, poet, guerilla warrior… all-around Marxist Renaissance Man. Del Toro has already wrangled himself a Best Actor Award at Cannes for his portrayal of the socialist idol/angst-ridden teenage-firebrand fashion accessory.
Although marketed as a two-part film, the fact is that the tones, stories and editing make the films two very different animals. But when you think about it, the noun “che” is the “dawg” of Argentina. When understood as indicating solidarity and fraternity, it doesn’t come as a surprise that neither film seems to focus as much on the character of Guevara as on the spirit of an oppressed people. The Argentine [chronicling the efforts of young Cuban rebels] offers hope whereas Guerrilla makes you want too look up into the heavens through tear muddled eyes, raise your fists and shout “WHY SO UNFAIR? HUH?.” It’s pretty dismal. In the best possible way. I promise. In both films, depictions of social political landscapes figure as prominently as the luscious Latin American backdrop of green, jungle-y goodness. The geography lends itself to a better understanding of the difficulties faced by the young, eager and armed men who in turn represented and fought against the oppression of a nation. But again, if you’re into the whole uplifting, fist-pumping, rawk-on thing, skip Guerrilla. It was so bleak that at a certain point I found myself stepping out for a smoke break.
With the dialogue delivered almost exclusively in Spanish, it’s understandable that an English-speaking audience would be put off by four hours of subtitles; however, it’s definitely worth the effort. In the words of producer Laura Bickford, “I think Che’s values are universal. Make the world a better place. Create a free society.” If anything, knowing the story of an idealist who sought to make civil liberty, education and healthcare inalienable rights, desiring to spark change and liberate Latin America country by country. It may not have worked out very well [SPOILER ALERT: Homeboy gets capped before he can free Bolivia], but his story is beautiful and inspiring.
So we watched the movies. We laughed. We cried. We hungrily awaited Benicio’s arrival for the Q&A. What a fox. It’s clear that it’s not simply Benicio’s exceptional acting, but also his ridiculous charm that propelled him out of Puerto Rico and into the VIP lounges and hearts of millions [the gaggle of pseudo-intellectual middle-aged [and I quote] “I’m an actress, too”s included].
The thing itself was an utter clusterfuck; as if the heckling by a class from a Mennonite high school wasn’t bad enough, we had a representative of theirs asking inane questions of the producer under the impression that she had directed the film [right after lengthy introduction wherein was established the direction by a dude named Stephen Soderberg], an ancient anti-Zionist rambling ad-nauseum about current affairs, and a militant anti-Marxist complaining about a not-radical-enough Che. All-in-all, the Q&A turned out to lack very many Qs, and ended up as a forum for people to express their adoration/abhorrence of Benicio/Che. Luckily, a cool and likely bombed-out-of-his-mind Benicio stood his ground and charmed (very nearly literally) the pants off me.
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