Rating: 
Summary: Kinda corny
Review: Shakespearian dimensions! Like Rambo! Like Jack Kerouac! The film has a corny feel to it, and the narrator's voice is too dramatic for me. But there are many interviews that are good
Rating: 
Summary: This is the best video currently available about el Che
Review: That is not to say that there couldn't be better documentaries
made about the "heroic guerrilla." But compared with the video from the Biography network this one is better. I am not thoroughly satisified witht this video but I like it. I think it is the best video of Che that I can presently find.
Rating:
Summary: "His absolute distaste for the slightest privilege."
Review: The documentary film "El Che: Investigating a Legend" is an overview of Guevara's life. The film plots Ernesto "Che" Guevara de la Serna's early life, includes rare footage of his middle-class childhood in Argentina, and charts his revolutionary career up to his death in Bolivia in 1967 at the age of 39. The documentary blends interviews, photo stills, music and narrative to create a fascinating picture of Che. These interviews include personal details and memories from family members, fellow guerilla fighters, political figures, and some footage includes speeches made by Che.
A fair portion of the documentary examines Che's childhood, and his struggle with asthma. This early exposure to disease, the film argues, led to Che's interest in medicine, and his determination to become a Dr. But Che left his entire medical career behind, and he was soon devoted to politics. From his youth, Che maintained the view that the "designated enemy is Imperialism." The film explores Che's political career, his friendship with Fidel Castro, his role in the guerilla war against the Batista government of Cuba, and Che's subsequent role in Castro's Cuban government. Che is shown to be an intelligent man, with an incredible amount of personal discipline. He was devoted to social reform, and possibly at his very best when he was a guerrilla fighter in the jungle--here he established literacy programmes, a radio station, and guerrilla training camps.
The latter part of the documentary--and arguably the most fascinating section--describes Che's role in the new Cuban government, and the portrait shown is a man still devoted to social revolution. But Che--although a Marxist--didn't appear to 'fit in' to the new Soviet-influenced Cuba, and this resulted in an odyssey for Che that ended with his death in Bolivia a few years later. There is one great scene of an empty chair next to Castro, and this was footage taken when many were speculating about Che's whereabouts. These final years and Che's death are clouded with different versions of events, but the true version of Che's death seems quite clear from the interviews in the documentary.
An extra feature included on the DVD is another short documentary, "Tracing Che" in which a filmmaker replicates Che's youthful travels on a motorcycle (now popularised by the film "Motorcycle Diaries"). The most interesting section of this short documentary occurs when Che's traveling companion is interviewed. The statements and interpretations he makes about Che are both insightful and profound--displacedhuman
Rating:
Summary: A True Hero of the Left
Review: The fog of time and the strength of anti-anti-Communism have obscured the real Che. Who was he? He was an Argentinian revolutionary who served as Castro's primary thug. He was especially infamous for presiding over summary executions at La Cabaña, the fortress that was his abattoir. He liked to administer the coup de grâce, the bullet to the back of the neck. And he loved to parade people past El Paredón, the reddened wall against which so many innocents were killed. Furthermore, he established the labor-camp system in which countless citizens--dissidents, democrats, artists, homosexuals--would suffer and die. This is the Cuban gulag. A Cuban-American writer, Humberto Fontova, described Guevara as "a combination of Beria and Himmler." Anthony Daniels once quipped, "The difference between [Guevara] and Pol Pot was that [the former] never studied in Paris." - Jay Nordlinger
Rating:
Summary: A good overview of Che Guevara's life
Review: This documentary is a great overview of Che Guevara's life. It might be a little repetitive for someone who already knows alot about Guevara, but it does show you Guevara himself speaking. I definately recommend this documentary.
Rating:
Summary: A good overview of Che Guevara's life
Review: This documentary is a great overview of Che Guevara's life. It might be a little repetitive for someone who already knows alot about Guevara, but it does show you Guevara himself speaking. I definately recommend this documentary.
Rating:
Summary: El Che Vive
Review: This DVD contains a fairly detailed account (for a film) of the life of Che Guevara, it follows him from his Argentine birthplace to his eventual death in Bolivia. It also contains many interviews from people who either knew Che personally or had even fought against him. In once instance there is even an old interview with a CIA agent in Bolivia as they are tracking down Che. If you want to learn about Che Guevara but for some reason do not have the time, or do not want to put forth the effort, to read his biography, then this DVD is the perfect alternative. The film is also great if you have already read one of his biographies and are looking for an audio/visual companion.In addition to Che's biography, the viewer is also treated to a short film about a man who takes a similar Motorcycle trip as Che did. He follows the exact same path and tries to see what Che saw. Of course many of what Che saw on his trip was missing at the time of the filming, but the viewer can get and idea of what the Argentina/Chile portion of the trip was like for him.
Rating:
Summary: El Che Vive
Review: This DVD contains a fairly detailed account (for a film) of the life of Che Guevara, it follows him from his Argentine birthplace to his eventual death in Bolivia. It also contains many interviews from people who either knew Che personally or had even fought against him. In once instance there is even an old interview with a CIA agent in Bolivia as they are tracking down Che. If you want to learn about Che Guevara but for some reason do not have the time, or do not want to put forth the effort, to read his biography, then this DVD is the perfect alternative. The film is also great if you have already read one of his biographies and are looking for an audio/visual companion. In addition to Che's biography, the viewer is also treated to a short film about a man who takes a similar Motorcycle trip as Che did. He follows the exact same path and tries to see what Che saw. Of course many of what Che saw on his trip was missing at the time of the filming, but the viewer can get and idea of what the Argentina/Chile portion of the trip was like for him.
Rating:
Summary: An in-depth look at the man behind the legend.
Review: This film has rare footage of Ernesto as a child, and later views of him with his parents after the taking of Havana. The interviews with his compadres and some of the Bolivian officials involved in his capture are insightful. There are a lot of views of the treatment of his remains after his execution. There are a few confusing aspects, such as when they showed a recent interview with his daughter Hildita. This film was released in 1998, but I believe Hildita died in 1995. They must have done that segment of the picture in 1995, but they do not say so. Overall, it was a very enjoyable film. The shots of Che's speeches are great, especially the one in which he is speaking fluent French. I highly recommend the film.
Rating: 
Summary: Kalfon's version of Guevara
Review: This is the film version of French biographer/diplomat Pierre Kalfon's book "Che -- Ernesto Guevara, a Legend of the Century" (as yet unavailable in English, though Amazon sells the French & Spanish versions.) Made by Canal +, it is certainly the best thing available in video on the subject for English-speaking audiences. Beginning with the famous Carlos Puebla "Hasta Siempre, Commandante" song, it covers his military/political life with reasonable thoroughness and restraint, giving a strong, clear-eyed picture of the public man while still managing to remain sympathetic overall. It has quite a bit of good footage of Che as well as interviews with various friends and associates (esp. the then recently defected Col. Dariel Alarcon Ramirez, aka "Benigno", who served with Che in the Sierra Maestra all the way through to the bitter end in Bolivia), though Che's US TV interviews and his memorable appearance on "Face the Nation" are missing. But at the very least, this film has the guts to point its finger at Castro as Che's ultimate betrayer, something Jon Lee Anderson, in his massive and massively footnoted bio, couldn't bring himself to. However, the tone here comes off a bit stodgy and superficial with very little info or insight into Che as a human personality. Also, as one earlier reviewer put it, the BBC-ish narration is indeed a little "corny" (though said reviewer should be made aware that when the narrator compares Che to "Rambo", he is not referring to the movie super commando but to the French poet Arthur Rimbaud, famous for his wandering.) Overall this is by no means the definitive last word on Che, such a documentary film has yet to be made. But take it all around it rates a very solid 4 stars.
|
