Che

When Steven Soderbergh’s epic meditation on Latin American revolutionary (and hipster T-shirt icon) Che Guevara was released in theaters, it was presented in two parts, like a Marxist version of Kill Bill. Now, on this three-disc Criterion set, Che is whole again — four hours and change of jungle warfare, cigar smoke, and heady talk about land reform. The good news is that Del Toro, who speaks Spanish throughout, is amazing as the brains behind Fidel Castro who later tried (and failed) to export the guerrilla movement to Bolivia. The bad is that just because a film can be this long doesn’t mean it should be. Occasionally, it feels like you’re watching the Cuban revolution in real time. The EXTRAS are an embarrassment of riches: a great making-of feature, interviews with now-elderly Cuban rebels, and a haunting 1968 documentary made mere days after Che’s death in Bolivia. B+

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