‘Che’ reveals fractured leader

In “Che,” director Steven Soderbergh attempts to show a revolutionary leader whose life remains cloaked in mystery and myth. His mammoth film creates a man who is both heroic and despicable at the same time.

“Che” is divided into two parts: The first film encompasses the Cuban Revolution and the second film painfully details Ernest “Che” Guevara’s failed revolution in Bolivia. While part one is shot with static cameras and expansive wide-screen, the second film has a much narrower film stock and tense hand-held cameras. Both films are cold and analytical.

Benicio Del Toro is utterly compelling as Guevara. Besides looking exactly like the revolutionary, Del Toro is able to convey the contradictions inherent in a man who desperately wants freedom for all but is willing to violently murder for it.

Soderbergh’s “Che” is often uncompromising and difficult, but nothing less would suit its subject.