SnoopyStyle Part One is called The Argentine and takes place from the early 50s to the eventual victory of the Cuban Revolution over the Batista regime and then Che Guevara (Benicio del Toro) addressing the UN in 1964. Most of the movie is in Spanish with some English as Che Guevara is interviewed by Lisa Howard. The movie culminates with the street to street battle in Santa Clara.This movie is held up by two tent poles; the directorial skills of Steven Soderbergh and the acting skills of Benicio del Toro. Both are formidable and they have created something unique. However this artistic endeavor left me a little cold. The back and forth in time leaves the movie with a disconnected feel. The movie comes off as a series of 2 minute vignettes that jumps around. The cinematography is great but it keeps Che at a distance. He's portrayed simply as an unswerving committed revolutionary. It isn't able to dig up another layer to the character. Maybe there isn't another layer to the man. The Battle of Santa Clara does get pretty intense which is unlike the rest of the movie. This is not a traditional biopic.

Degree7 Any biopic on the life of Ernest "Che" Guevara is going to provoke controversy and inevitable interest in the subject matter. He was one of the most recognizable figures of the latter half of the 20th century world stage, and his legacy is ripe fruit for dissection in the film format.Unfortunately, "Che: Part One" really struggles in the content and pacing areas. Much of the film jumps back and forth between two time periods, which isn't bad in itself, but the combination of the two often feels inadequate when the main plot line of the revolution in Cuba is so lacking. As other reviewers have noted, much of the film is of the rebel army moving through the jungle and encountering Batista's forces in tense firefights and standoffs. Very little of Che is explored as an individual, but rather is understated by both Del Toro and the filmmakers, preferring to focus on his role as a leader, doctor, and guerilla. As a result, the viewer leaves with very little knowledge gained besides from what we already know about him, via his command decisions in the field, his relationship with the soldados and country people, and his speeches at the UN. This is not an intimate, inside view of Guevara, but a spectacle of the humanity of the uprising in Cuba and the bond between the guerillas.The story-telling is very straight forward, and for 2 and a half hours the viewer is treated to an almost "fly on the wall" perspective of the events, with a mostly static, mounted camera giving a majority of wide-shots. There are little close-ups and sparse editing. It is all very methodical and almost minimalistic in its approach. The film is very dry in its treatment of the historical subject matter, although saying this would also disservice the good acting chemistry between the actors, who all give very naturalistic performances. The atmosphere created through these elements and the fantastic cinematography are mostly what drives the film forward.While it definitely drags in the middle, the film makes up for it towards the end with an exciting ending detailing the Battle for Santa Clara. The optimism as the revolution finally comes to a head in the finale leaves the film ending on a high note, and I was eager to see Part 2 and the conclusion of this story.Although much material is left out, subject matter that would have shown Che having to make difficult/personal/challenging decisions as he and his compatriots seek to change their world for the better would have been welcome. As it stands, this is a faithful, but not entirely satisfying account of "The Argentine".

generationofswine To tell the truth, I was excited about the prospects of a Che movie, in this day & age I'd say that it's needed. Che certainly has a stigma behind him that the close minded among us like to tout the loudest, "he's a communist, he's a monster," so it was nice to be able to walk into a film about Che that I knew was not going to damn him with a strong political agenda.And I am a historian, I'll sit through long drawn out trash just to see Rome on the big screen. I've studied Che, don't worry, I understand it's Hollywood, I don't judge a movie based on how historically accurate it is or isn't, I don't necessarily even want to see a film that sacrifices entertainment for accuracy. I often have dull & boring as a product of my profession.That being said, I'd like to know, historically, how someone could make a movie about Che that's, well, boring. Not even the history books about the man managed to make him this boring. He was like a Latino Ethan Hunt, a master of disguise, highly skilled in the dark arts of espionage, he was the man that literally wrote the book on guerrilla warfare, & that's not here at all, at least not in any entertaining way.See this film to change your global views, not to be entertained. From what I know about Che, I was expecting...I don't know...something more James Bond & less, well, less dull.

kluseba First of all, I am someone who is very interested in history and especially in the Cuban revolution and the life of Ernesto "Che" Guevara, so I expected a lot of this movie divided in two parts...Well, I am very disappointed about the result. First of all, it would have been interesting to present Che Guevara before the beginnings of the revolution, to explain his reasons, his first contacts with corruption, submission, poverty, politics and revolution. One should have shown the youth of this man, one should have talked about his voyages, of the events that forged his mind and his ideology. Instead of this, the viewer is introduced to the Che Guevara as he is already formed and forged just before the revolution.If they hadn't enough time to do a more profound portrait of this legend, I ask myself why the films shows many unnecessary dialogues and scenes in the Cuban jungle during the guerrilla fights. This whole beginning of the movie seems just to be a recitation of Che's most famous speeches, but doesn't look beyond and is sometimes without any chronology. The movie seems just to be based on a lot of intelligent words and speeches, without showing the true intention of it. The few fight scenes which interrupt the endless dialogues, seem somehow poor and there is not just a lack of action or tension, but also of emotion during the little combat scenes that would show us why all this was worth dying for.In the end, the movie ends as strange as it began, the real arriving and the real triumph of the victorious revolution and the development of Che's personality during his implication in a new government is not shown and the film seems to be quite incomplete, as if a little chapter of a giant book was chosen without reading or telling its beginning or continuation. The second part of the movie works the same way, but it finishes at least with something concrete.All in all, I am really disappointed about this movie and would have expected more about it.