Che: Part Two (Steven Soderbergh, 2008)

There’s a striking parallel between Che: Part One and Che: Part Two – after ninety minutes of humdrum jungle struggle, the films only come to life during the last half hour. In Che: Part Two the quest for revolution in the Bolivian highlands is, for lack of military opposition, a meandering occupation. Soderbergh tries to capture its tedious character with detached, at times almost abstract images. Their eeriness is even intensified by Alberto Iglesias’ soundtrack, but all this doesn’t counter the aimless narrative. Only when Che (a mesmerizing performance by Benicio del Toro) is shot, the director shows his talent with a masterly control of sound and image that makes Che’s pain and agony palpable. Even more impressive: Che’s execution, filmed from his point of view. The camera seems to die and the light, eventually, overexposures. It gave me the feeling of being shot myself. But it was too little too late to save the film.