Che!

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Che!

DVD cover
Directed by Richard Fleischer
Produced by Sy Bartlett
Written by Screenplay:
Michael Wilson
Sy Bartlett
Story:
David Karp
Sy Bartlett
Starring Omar Sharif
Jack Palance
Barbara Luna
Music by Lalo Schifrin
Cinematography Charles F. Wheeler
Editing by Marion Rothman
Distributed by Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation
Release date(s) May 29, 1969
(New York City)
Running time 96 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Spanish
Budget $2,800,000 (estimate)
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

Che! (1969) is a film directed by Richard Fleischer. It is a biopic of Che Guevara, starring Omar Sharif as the iconic revolutionary, though the film ignores the formative pre-Cuban revolution sections of Che's life as described in the autobiographical book The Motorcycle Diaries.[1]

Contents

[edit] Plot

The film tells of Che Guevara (Omar Sharif), a young Argentine doctor who proves his mettle during the Cuban guerilla war in the late 1950s. He gains the respect of his men and becomes the leader of a patrol.

Fidel Castro (Jack Palance) is impressed by Guevara's tactics and discipline and makes him his chief advisor.

When Castro defeats Cuban dictator Batista after two years of fighting, Guevara directs a series of massive reprisals -- yet, Guevara dreams of fomenting a worldwide revolution.

After Castro backs down during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Guevara accuses Castro of being a Soviet tool and decides to leave Cuba.

Guevara lands in Bolivia, where he attempts to begin his dream of a worldwide peasant revolution, but the Bolivian peasants do not follow his lead and he becomes pursued by the Bolivian army.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Critical reception

Critic Paul Brenner wrote, "In this badly misconceived pseudo-biography of the legendary Cuban revolutionary -- played, incredibly, by Omar Sharif -- Che Guevara takes up the cause as a rebel fighter under the direction of Fidel Castro, played -- also incredibly -- by Jack Palance."[2]

Film critic Roger Ebert panned the film and the motivations for producing the drama writing, "From the beginning, it sounded like a bad dream. Hollywood was making a movie about Che Guevera. Why? Probably because somebody smelled easy money, having been inspired by the sales figures on Che posters. That must have been the reason, because Che! is abundant evidence that no one connected with this stinkeroo gave a damn about Che Guevera, Fidel Castro, the Cuban Revolution or anything else requiring more than five seconds' thought."[3]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Che! at the Internet Movie Database.
  2. ^ Brenner, Paul. Che! at Allmovie. Last accessed: January 9, 2008.
  3. ^ Ebert, roger. The Chicago Sun-Times, film review, June 10, 1969. Last accessed: January 9, 2008.

[edit] External links


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