Che: Part One review

Steven Soderbergh makes his first foray into directing political biography with Che: Part One. It's a monumental effort which debuted at the Cannes Film Festival at over four hours long but has now been split into two parts for general release (Part Two follows in a month).

Viewers may remember Che Guevara as the face that launched a thousand student bedroom posters as well as being the subject of Walter Salles' 2004 feature The Motorcycle Diaries (a good companion piece to Soderbergh's work as it outlines the younger man's political evolution through his travels in South America). They may be a little more hazy on what he actually achieved, and Soderbergh and his screenwriter Peter Buchman are here to put that right.

It's a grand, beautifully shot and epic tale of how a young Argentinian doctor became embroiled in one of the great uprisings of the 1950s. Che joined forces with Castro after meeting socially: soon he was leading one of Castro's main flanks through the Cuban undergrowth. What's particularly fascinating is the detail: this is a study of how a revolution grows from a small few seeking change to a majority giving them support. It's a messy, dirty and grimy business and it's all played out in vivid detail.

At the centre is a towering performance by Benicio Del Toro. He is a wonderfully subtle and incredibly intelligent actor and here delivers one of his greatest turns, full of confidence but never afraid to share the screen with his fellow actors. His Che is a determined, morally principled man, unafraid of death and ready to be cruel to be kind in order to achieve the greater good. It's one of the most spectacular screen performances of the year.

Soderbergh jumps about in time - fizzing forward to Che's arrival on the world stage in the 1960s, but largely concentrating on the minutiae of the revolution. The finale, a gripping extended battle sequence, is vividly captured by Peter Andrews' camera, and whets the appetite for the subsequent film.

Paul Hurley