Steven Soderbergh’s two film project (entitled “The Argentine” & “Guerrilla”) about Latin American revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara. “The Argentine,” begins as Che and a band of Cuban exiles (led by Fidel Castro) reach the Cuban shore from Mexico in 1956. Within two years, they mobilized popular support and an army and toppled the U.S.-friendly regime of dictator Fulgencio Batista.
In Havana 1964, Che Guevara is interviewed by Lisa Howard who asks him if reform throughout Latin America might not blunt the “message of the Cuban Revolution”. In 1955, at a gathering in Mexico City, Guevara first meets Fidel Castro. He listens to Castro’s plans and signs on as a member of the July 26th Movement. There is a return to 1964 for Guevara’s address before the United Nations General Assembly, where he makes an impassioned speech against American imperialism, and defends the executions his regime has committed declaring that “this is a battle to the death”.
March 1957, Guevara deals with debilitating bouts of asthma as his group of revolutionaries meet up with Castro’s group. Together, they attack an army barracks on May 28, 1957. On October 15, 1958, the guerrillas approach the town of Las Villas. The Battle of Santa Clara is depicted with Guevara demonstrating his tactical skill as the guerrillas engage in street-to-street fighting. Near the film’s end they are victorious. With the Cuban Revolution now over, Guevara heads to Havana, remarking “we won the war, the revolution starts now”.
Read production notes for Che – Guerrilla Movie
Che – The Argentine
Starring: Armando Riesco, Benicio Del Toro, Benjamín Benítez, Benjamin Bratt, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Franka Potente
Directed by: Steven Soderbergh
Screenplay by: Peter Buchman
Release: December 12, 2008
MPAA Rating: None.
Studio: IFC Films
Box Office Totals
Domestic: $1,336,708 (85.0%)
Foreign: $236,423 (15.0%)
Total: $1,573,131 (Worldwide)