Che Part 1

Don't expect any great psychological insight about the eponymous hero, nor much useful information about the Cuban Revolution itself. By the end of the film we're not much wiser about Che and his motives than we were at the beginning. I did however learn that he suffered from asthma which suggests an incredibly dogged determination as he endlessly tramped up and down and across the country. That's about as far as it goes though. The film also suffers from too many characters who look far too similar (it's all the facial hair) and who are on screen for too short a time to make much of an impression. There's also a clunky structure, split between the events leading to the Battle of Santa Clara and Che's time in New York (helpfully filmed in black and white for those with ADD) to speak at the UN. I'd rather have had a bit more time spent on character. Oh, and a couple less scenes which basically boil down to Fidel saying to Che "I want you to ..." It's only really during the final battle that it becomes genuinely interesting. The guerrillas knocking holes through five walls to reach the army in a bell tower was quite possibly the best sequence in the entire film. Maybe when the second part appears it will all come into focus, though I'm not holding my breath.