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When it was Terrence Malick who was planning to make a Benicio del Toro-starring biopic of the world's most famous revolutionary, this was the story he was planning to tell: Che Guevara's disastrous failed attempt to overthrow the Bolivian government in a similar manner to that which had succeeded in Cuba seven years earlier. Then Malick bailed and went off to make The New World, so del Toro searched for another director for his passion project, eventually finding one in the form of Steven Soderbergh, who had shepherded the actor to an Oscar win in 2000's Traffic. In Soderbergh's hands the project ballooned in size and scope, leading to the Bolivian part of the tale comprising just the second half of a mammoth 257-minute undertaking.
Given this backstory, the similarities that Che: Part Two bears to the idiosyncratic films of Malick should not come as a surprise. The methodical, meandering narrative, minimal dialogue, and general rejection of Hollywood convention are all hallmarks of the ever-enigmatic filmmaker. Soderbergh chose to film the two halves of his opus with differing styles, meaning that this concluding part (also called Guerilla) has a more rough-and-ready, ad hoc feel to it, befitting the disorganised nature of the events it portrays. Here Soderbergh mostly ditches his tripod, preferring a mostly handheld style, but unlike so many of his contemporaries he does not overdo the shaking of the camera; the decision therefore makes artistic sense without becoming an irritant. As with the first part, however, this is still a stunning looking film (in an earthy, naturalistic sort of way), thanks mainly due to the use of brand new digital camera technology. When combined with digital cinema projection, the detail and colours of the picture are breathtakingly vivid, outclassing anything even Blu-ray can offer.
Some of the flaws of Che: Part One [review] are still evident here, principally the lack of insight into characters and their motivations. The only person we are allowed to become slightly familiar with is Che himself, but even he remains a cipher; none of the others (barring arguably Franka Potente's character, but that's probably simply because she's a rare recognisable face) are distinguishable or developed to any degree at all. This time, though, these problems are not as critical. Right from the start, this instalment is more gripping than the first, and despite a relatively slow pace never loses the sense of forward momentum, helped partly by the regular captions that tell us how long we have spent in the Bolivian jungle ("Day 100", etc.). Especially towards the end, Soderbergh brilliantly builds the suspense to almost intolerable levels, and while there is no action climax to rival the impressive scale of Part One's, that does not ultimately matter. By the time the end is reached, there's finally a sense, exemplified by one particularly inspired shot, that Soderbergh has managed to penetrate the psyche of Che.
The summary
Che: Part Two may overly deify its central figure, but the occasional aimlessness of Part One is replaced by a gripping sense of impending doom. The marathon time investment is not in vain.
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