2. Che (2008)
Steven Soderbergh's biopic of Che Guevara has much in common with the man himself. It's incredibly divisive, with the film receiving much critical acclaim but also being the subject of derision in some quarters. Benicio del Toro embodies the legendary rebel with a scary accuracy and you instantly believe you are watching the man himself as the movie is enthralling despite its long running time. Che is a vivid epic that details Che's life from his first meeting with Fidel Castro to his death in Bolivia showing the sheer scope of Che's legacy. It is not the most political movie that could have been made about Guevara and it neither supports nor critiques his Marxist ideology, focussing more on the man and the nature of war. Che, however, shows a man committed to the very end in pursuing political overhaul in the name of revolutionary ideals. It is a movie very close to fact but covered in mythological beauty as it is a riveting and expansive movie that never loses its intimacy or historical aesthetic. It may not be the most explosive or unique explorations of a historical figure, but it is above all, a detailed, revolutionary study of war and the lengths one man will go to for something he believes in. The film does not objectify Che, it objectifies war and cause from Guevara's point of view. There is no discussion of Marxist ideology, it is entirely focussed on the present and war, with the extended length showing the powerful endurance and the crazed intensity of the driven man. Soderbergh's movie has no time for subjectivity, refusing to judge Che or the regimes he overthrows one way or the other. It is a beautiful film to look at and is a film impossible not to get involved in. The film explores exhaustion and will in the form of Che Guevara and while it may lack a detailed examination of Che the man for some, for me it is a masterpiece.