Che! (1969)

Synopsis: Che fights alongside Castro and his Cuban rebels against Batista. He is an internationalist as opposed to Castro's belief in "consolidating" the revolution domestically (mirroring the earlier opposition between Trotsky and Lenin in the Soviet Revolution). He goes to Bolivia in the hopes of starting a revolution that would spread throughout Latin America. He neglects the basic principles of guerrilla fighting, which he himself had laid out in a classic book, and pays the price with his own life.

Appraisal: Biopic that is short and to-the-point, and boasts good cinematography and a literate screenplay (by left-winger Richard Wilson - who allegedly repudiated the movie - among others). Sharif as the title character conveys his emotions and states of mind in a subtle yet powerful way; Palance delivers a delightful caricature of the real Castro (although - allegedly - he had opposed to this approach at first). From what I know from having watched documentaries respectively about Castro and Che himself, the film is mostly historically accurate, and I honestly don't think that its occasional inaccuracies harm the picture in a significant way. I watched it in a pan-and-scan version, so I am not able to judge the finer detail of the visual compositions and camerawork. Bottom line: not a great movie, but it does the job of telling a story in a reasonable manner.

Rating: 50