Summary:
In 1967, Che leads a small army against the Bolivian government.
My Thoughts:
“Che: Part One” ended with Che on top, as part of the Cuban government, their revolution being successful. “Che: Part Two” begins as Che leaves Cuba to continue his revolutionary work in Latin America, something he had always planned to do. While “Che: Part One” documented the rise of Che, this film documents the fall of Che, during his last, ill-fated revolution in Bolivia. Both parts of “Che” work to create a complex portrait of the controversial figure, but I would say that this film paints him far more sympathetic a character than the first.
“To Survive Here, To Win… You Have to Live as if You’ve Already Died.”
Matt Damon’s random five second cameo.
“Part Two” of Che begins with Fidel Castro (Demian Bichir, “The Hateful Eight”) reading a letter from Che to the Cuban people, explaining why he has to leave the Cuban government to continue his revolutionary work. Shortly after, we follow Che (Benicio Del Toro, “Sicario”) as he disguises himself and sneaks into Bolivia. From there, Che sneaks deep into the jungle where he can start building his camp for the base of his revolution. As the revolution begins, Che finds himself facing the Bolivian army, hunger, and dozens of other obstacles, which, combined, make the campaign feel insurmountable.
These films are sort of strange. On one hand, I feel like they work simultaneously as companion pieces and sequels- they are two sides to a coin- the rise and fall; the successes and failure. But at the same time, if “Che” had been edited into one epic four and a half hour movie, I almost wonder if the result would’ve been a bit more powerful. As a side note, I also feel like it’s hard to discuss this film without comparing it to the first film, so expect a lot of contrasting in this article.
Where “Part One” of Che jumped around Che’s life a lot, from the time before his campaign in Cuba to after the success of the campaign, “Part Two” happens almost entirely linearly, starting at the beginning of his Bolivian campaign and just following him through to the end. “Part One” had a bit more action, and it also showed us some of the more brutal things Che was willing to do in order to maintain power once he had achieved it, like killing people without trials simply because someone claimed they had committed a crime. “Part One” paints Che as a more reckless revolutionary, one who is willing to do anything he needs in order to achieve his goal. “Part Two” shows Che when he’s more mature; he knows the consequences of battle, and he knows that every fighter who dies is demoralizing to his soldiers and their cause. The Bolivian campaign is direr, too; they’re further removed from cities, the food is scarcer, and Che does not have the charismatic support of Castro, whose leadership was a huge support during the Cuban campaign.
Because of the vastly different campaigns, Parts One and Two feel entirely different in their tone as well. Where Part One felt, in many ways, triumphant, Part Two feels horrific. This film feels a lot like “Aguirre The Wrath of God”, where we just follow a doomed band of travelers through the jungle and watch as their numbers slowly dwindle. Part Two isn’t as exciting as the Part One; it feels like Che is just constantly on the run, constantly trying to stay one step ahead of the government before they catch up to him, and, simultaneously, he tries to form relationships with the locals in an attempt to gain support for the cause. I think some of my favorite parts of this film are when Che is trying to buy milk or grain off farmers while the government is shooting close enough for Che’s band of rebels to hear their gunfire. The implication is that Che cares so much about the cause that he’s risking his life just to have a good interaction with locals, just so that they might voice their support for him. As the situation gets worse and worse, and Che’s band of men dwindles away, Che’s stubborn determination gives his character more depth, and we get a sense that he is fighting not only because he believes that it is the right thing to do, but because he doesn’t know any other way to live, and he’s willing to die for his way of life.
Verdict:
I’ve watched both Parts One and Two of Che now; I wont say that the films aren’t without flaw (this one in particular was a bit slower than the first), and I wont say that I necessarily agree with much of what Che stood for, but I will say that Soderbergh has provided a very detailed and complex portrait of controversial man.
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