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Review

In 1952, Ernesto Guevara was a 23-year-old medical student in Buenos Aires. Like many college students before and after him, he goes on a road trip with a buddy before completing his medical studies and settling down to a responsible life. But for this young man, this traditional rite of passage would be much more life-altering than most road trips. Within 8 years, he would hold the title Minister of Industries, second only to Fidel Castro in Cuba’s new revolutionary government, and be known internationally as "Che." The film opens with Ernesto and his friend Alberto heading out on a 13-year-old classic Norton motorcycle to travel tens of thousands of miles across the length and breadth of Latin America. At first interested primarily in scoring liquor and girls, Che becomes deeply affected by the abject poverty and gross inequities he witnesses. Through Argentina, Venezuela, Chile and Peru, from a working stop-over at a leper colony, to revelatory encounters at an Anaconda Mining Company site, to revelations of a different nature at Machu Picchu, Che records what he sees, thinks and feels in the journal that is the basis of this film. Director Salles captures not just the soul of an evolving revolutionary, but the soul of a continent as well. The ever-changing and limitless landscape joins a superb use of indigenous music to create a perfect backdrop for the arresting, engaging faces of the local population; the visual are sometimes reminiscent of Eisenstein’s work in Mexico. While there isn’t a false note struck by any of the performers, Garcia Bernal is outstanding as Che. His portrayal is nuanced and accessible, painting an endearing portrait of a young man of privilege, asthmatic, sensitive, fun-loving yet thoughtful, whose commitment to truth and justice foreshadows his destiny. A remarkable, highly recommended work, which captures that sublime moment in time before political idealism is corrupted by the demands of power. (Spanish with English subtitles)

 -- Ann Yarabinee