Che Part 2: Guerilla (**½)

Directed by: Steven Soderbergh

Starring: Benicio Del Toro, Franka Potente, Matt Damon, Joaquim de Almeida

Seen: December 22^nd 2009

**½ Out of ****

Where Che Part 1: The Argentinian dealed with Che Guevara's (Del Toro) rise in Castro's army including his acceptance by the Cuban people, Che Part 2: Guerilla deals with what happened after the liberation of Cuba, when Guevara decided it was his responsibility to free the rest of South America, Bolivia in particular. But the story is also in stark contrast with the first movie, as here Guevara is constantly fighting a losing battle, all the while losing soldiers and ground to a concerted effort by the Bolivian government, under the leadership of their president, René Barrientos (de Almeida).

Guevara had an extremely romanticised view of communism, seeing it probably as the ultimate freedom worth fighting for. He literally sacrificed a life with all the riches he could want, leaving behind his wife and children to live in the jungle on a very limited diet (food was a scarce commodity), and with no medicines for his rather acute asthma to boot. This was a man who eventually died for an idea, if in a rather unceremonious and also very insulting way. From the highpoint of Cuba's liberation to the extreme low-point of his Bolivian defeat, he never let his ideals go for a minute.

Benicio Del Toro truly embodies the spirit of the time and the man in a truly towering performance, with great supporting cast backing him all the way. Two other big names also make appearances, German actress Franka Potente as Tania Bunke, Guevara’s contact with the outside world, and Matt Damon as a small-time politician who only gets about 30 seconds of plot time.

Soderbergh pays painfully perfect attention to immaculate details, with nothing in the movie feeling anything but 100% in place, be it the cars, the costumes, anything. Two scenes in particular stuck with me, both involving dying soldiers, and both so small that blinking might cause you to miss them. One involved a badly injured soldier trying to swallow some soup, but having difficulty while coughing through it, and the other involved a side shot of a soldier's facial profile just as he dies, and you would only see the pupil dilating if you were paying particular attention to it - in my opinion one of the best dying shots I've ever seen...

Part 2 feels disjointed, however. Where Part 1 followed a pretty structured approach Part 2 seems like the viewer is taken out of the story every so often, only to be dropped into it at later stage that does not make it confusing, but never gives you the chance to really feel part of the story. You know what happened. But this feels as though it’s missing the passion the first movie portrayed, it rarely feels as if there is any true plot development, the historic events are just represented as they happened (as reconstructed from Guevara’s Bolivian diary). The movie is not as good as the first and feels almost twice as long.

It is however interesting to see what happened, and if you're a history buff or simply a Guevara fan, give Che Part 2: Guerilla a chance.