Críticas Magazine

Adriana V. Lopez

My 4 Che Guevaras
May 10, 2008

For all the bearded heartthrobs that Hollywood has given us to interpret Jesus Christ, we may just be beginning a lost list of Che Guevara interpreters to compete. I can count four. First we had Omar Sharif in the controversial 1969 version Che! The movie was seen as so offensive in Chile and Argentina that Molotov cocktails were reportedly thrown at screens in movie theaters. Then we had Gael Garcia Bernal as boy Che in Walter Salles’ The Motorcycle Diaries to whet our appetites for a more grown up comandante to come. On May 20th, we’ll have a third and much more hirsute Che played by Eduardo Noriega. This straight to DVD Image Entertainment biopic also stars Sonia Braga. The film's tagline reads: Rebel. Hero. Lover. Legend.  And some of its trailer's sound bites include wooden lines like: “To lay my hands on a weapon and pull the trigger for what I believe,” and “Shoot me coward, I’m only a man.” Steamy love scenes also included. I will see it, as any Che aficionado should, but my expectations aren’t high. I’m still waiting for the big numero cuatro: Steven Soderbergh’s two part saga, The Argentine and Guerrilla, to finally be finished. This four-hour-plus opus is filmed in Spanish and stars none other than the enormous Benicio Del Toro.

  Los Cuatro Ches: Omar, Gael, Eduardo, and Benicio

Posted by Adriana V. Lopez on May 10, 2008 | Comments (0)