El Che - Investigating a Legend

Starring:El Che-Investigating a Legend
Studio: White Star
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Description
Che Guevara, the man with the beret with the star, embodies one of the strongest myths of the 20th century. He was a combination of a saint and an adventurer; somewhere between Don Quixote and a latter-day Jesus Christ. In his relations with Fidel Castro, he is the hero of a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions. Che Guevara became a symbol of an entire generation. Today he is a myth. Some still draw inspiration from him - others condemn him; sometimes bitterly. For all, he is a subject of controversy and passion. This film examines the myth, and contains: His voyages of discovery through Latin America, the meeting with Fidel Castro, when an instantaneous friendship was born, his travels around the world, and footage of his tragic end in Bolivia at age 39.

Description

Che Guevara, the man with the beret with the star, embodies one of the strongest myths of the 20th century. He was a combination of a saint and an adventurer; somewhere between Don Quixote and a latter-day Jesus Christ. In his relations with Fidel Castro, he is the hero of a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions. Che Guevara became a symbol of an entire generation. Today he is a myth. Some still draw inspiration from him - others condemn him; sometimes bitterly. For all, he is a subject of controversy and passion. This film examines the myth, and contains: His voyages of discovery through Latin America, the meeting with Fidel Castro, when an instantaneous friendship was born, his travels around the world, and footage of his tragic end in Bolivia at age 39.

Special Bonus Feature: Tracing Che. In this documentary, a Canadian film director goes in search of the man behind the myth, re-creating the legendary road trip through South America on an old Norton motorcycle that Che documented in The Motorcycle Diaries. On his way, he encounters many of Che's family and friends - including the friend who took the trip with him - who shed light on the truth behind this icon of the 20th century. This is a film that discovers the humanity, the passion, and the free spirit of a young 22 year old whose eyes were forced open on a relentless road trip.

Customer Reviews:

Great documentary.......2007-05-31

Very objective in nature. There are photos and footage never seen about Che Guevara's life. An educational piece of art.

Not a lot new, but good solid documentary.......2007-05-11

Like most student radical wannabes, I went through a Che Guevara stage. Initially I started wearing Che Guevara T-shirts just because it got approval from all the right sort of people, and also managed to upset all the people I wanted to upset. However as a history nerd and bookworm, it wasn't too long before I had spent a couple nights in the library reading up on everything Che related.

There's a lot to admire about Che Guevara. However the fact that he presided over firing squads is always a bit troubling. The documentary mentions this briefly and (because this was originally a French film) compares Che's revolutionary zeal to Saint Just.

The more I thought about it, the comparison seems apt on many levels. Perhaps Che Guevara was the Saint Just of the 20th Century. Both were renowned for their good looks and eloquence. Both were famous for being the right hand man of someone else. Both were absolutely convinced of the justice of the justice of their actions and both left a violent legacy which is somewhat at odds with their humanitarian rhetoric. Both were captured, executed, and after their death both became either matyrs to some and demons to others.

The film implies that Che only ordered the execution of Batista's former torturers, and that he was under tremendous pressure from the population to do so. I'm going to have to double check this, because I was under the impression that some political dissidents were included in those executions as well. (Or can someone out there set me straight?)

Even if the executed were all former torturers, I think the Cuban revolution would have done better to do as Sandinista leader Tomas Borge who, after the revolution in Nicaragua,
walked into the prison and found the national guard soldiers of Somoza who had castrated him, had killed his wife, and had forced him to watch while seventeen men gang raped and then killed his daughter. Borge embraced them and told them he forgave them, and let them go free.

Or follow the advice of Thomas Paine, who once said before the French Revolutionary convention, "[When future historians talk about this revolution] I would rather report 100 errors of mercy than 1 error of vengeance" (unfortunately the French didn't listen to him either).

But do I feel guilty for wearing Che Guevara shirts? I suppose no more than I feel about wearing Calvin College shirts, even though John Calvin had Michael Servitus burned at the stake. I believe it is possible to embrace the ideals a man stood for without having to defend every low point of his life. (As Saint Just was being lead to the guillotine, he pointed to a copy of "The Rights of Man" on the wall and said, "At least you'll still have this to thank us for.")

All this is only 2 minutes of the film, but I wanted to get this discussion out of the way before moving on to the rest of documentary.

As mentioned above, I didn't learn a lot new from this film. Someone who didn't know anything about Che Guevara would probably get a lot more out of the film. Nevertheless it was an enjoyable enough 90 minutes. As with any documentary film, the best part is the old documentary footage that you can't see by reading a book. Unfortunately, like a lot of documentaries, this film relied more on interviews than old video clips, but there was some footage of Che Guevara as a child (apparently his dad was one of the few people back then who had a home video camera). And of course footage of the famous bearded cigar smoking Che triumphant after the revolution. And some footage from the trial of Regis Debray in Bolivia. (Again perhaps because this is a French film, there is an emphasis Regis Debray's trial).

The part of the movie I found most interesting was about Che's adventures in the Belgian Congo, brief though that part was, because it was something I knew nothing about.

I would recommend this film, but I suppose recommending a documentary is pointless. If you like documentaries, and if you are interested in the subject matter, than I imagine you'll seek this out regardless of my recommendation or lack of. And if you don't like documentaries, then there's not really much of a point, is there?

Che: example for all generations........2006-10-29

I first started to hear Che's stories from my father who went to Medical School at University of Buenos Aires. Che was a couple of years ahead an graduated earlier but still my father met him.

I haven't watched this DVD but I have read many books about Che, the Cuban revolution, about his life before the Cuban revolution, and I also went to Bolivia, to Vallegrande and La Higuera, the place where Che was killed. You would be surprised how many locals you can meet there (peasants, teachers, etc...) that can tell you stories of Che doing voluntary work, paying for his medicines, not stealing them as many have said. Only if you have studied his life and analized the legacy and feeling to this day his strong presence, would you ever be capable of experiencing the truth.

But you still have people talking without knowing a single fact. How daring it is to be so ignorant to speak about Che when you live in a country that is full of politicians that are assassins and when you can tell they haven't learnt a single piece of history? They have learnt about this country giving "preventive medicine to the world" -as they disrespectfully refer to their intervention in foreign countries-, by constantly violating someone else's homeland. Well... ask that to ignorant and pathetic souls like James Chiu or Delawanna below... I believe they like to have the "pack" mentality because they do not remotely dream of understanding what is to stand up for themselves and have an opinion.

Che was an honorable human being. He was born from an aristocratic family and gave up any confort and position to fight for his ideals. A kind of person these people cannot ever dream of being.

I admire Che and Fidel for having the pants to fight for the control of their own lifes and people of Latinamerica, despite considering that socialism is not the ideal economic model.

CHE GUEVARA FOREVER.......2006-05-15

CHE GUEVARA LIVES AND GUIDE US ALL!!!!
this movie is excellent!!

see it its a MUST

Don't listen to James Chiu.......2006-05-13

I'm going to watch this DVD soon but wanted to ask the reviewer named James Chiu a quick question. If Che is a murderer, what does that make George W. Bush? A saint?

I agree that Che was not perfect but he was much, much more than your narrow assesment of him. Try again James, try again.

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