against my better judgment i started che: part 1 last saturday morning when everyone was up and around, making noise and causing a stir. movies like che part 1 and 2 need to be watched in a quiet place with no distractions because they are thoughtful films. i watched che: part 2 by myself today and it was infinitely better.
having said that, che: part 1 was still amazing. of course i am going to like this one the most because it has the most fidel in it. the guy who played fidel was amazing. his mannerisms were exactly like fidel's and my heart was a little nostalgic for time that i never knew but crave for. clearly the first film chronicles che's adventures in the sierra maestra and all over cuba and mexico with fidel. the movie is in spanish with subtitles and goes back and forth from the guerrilla days of the late 1950s to che in new york in 1964. god i wish i were a journalist at that time. i loved every second of this movie. it's beautifully shot, quaint but powerfully complex because how do you really support a guerilla movement in this film when you know what happens next? i do, obviously, but not wholeheartedly. i've always thought that che was really rather a wishy washy kind of person; lazy and flippant about his duties to the july 26th movement and in life altogether. i don't think that anymore. fidel is my number one but i am more open to learning about che(and definitely not just from a film).
che: part 2 felt a lot simpler than the first. maybe it is because i had a week to let che: part 1 settle in until i watched the second part but my attention was not as rapt in this feature. from the beginning i knew that i would have prefered to watch this opus start to finish, even if it would be four plus hours long. it's beautiful and rich and makes me miss towering political figures or rather a time when such figures were appropriate. now we have some political figures that are that powerful like obama or chavez but something is missing. that missing something has to do with modernity and the evolution of political systems and countries and really, evolution of us in general.
movies like this make me love what i am studying, love to learn and miss going to school everyday, knowing i will get my information years later from biopics and documentaries on cbc. that's not necessarily wholly true because i love to read and learn but that is just the fact of what happens when we leave school.
i don't ever miss writing about unrequited love like in my xanga/livejournal/ high school days. but to kick it old school just this once: this year is going to be different.
