Cannes Review: Che

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Steven Soderbergh’s Che Receives Major Response at Cannes, Palm d’Or Talk
Published 5/22/2008 by orfilms@gmail.com (slashfilm.com) at /Film
... Stunned by Soderbergh’s DV auteurism, Cinematical’s James Rochhi observed in the first full-length review around, that the biopics’ style, tone, character study and story choices are all open for heavy debate (umm, that’s cool, I agree with him), but says that Oscar talk for Del Toro is also certain. In summation, he proclaims… ...

Rocchi Hearts Che
Published 5/22/2008 at Hollywood Elsewhere
Rocchi Hearts Che "I can't predict how all of the questions and possibilities about Steven Soderbergh 's Che will play out, but I can say -- and will say -- what a rare pleasure it is to have a film (or films) that, in our box-office obsessed, event-movie, Oscar-craving age, is actually worth talking about on so many levels," writes Cinematical 's James Rocchi . "Bad biographical dramas try to tell you everything about a person's life; good biographical dramas leave you inspired to find out the things not on-screen . Che is, by that yardstick, a very good ...

Is ‘Che’ This Year's ‘Southland Tales’?
Published 5/22/2008 at Vulture
... (which does point out that a number of sequences in the films are stunning, including a soon-to-be-legendary train derailment and battle scene in the first half). And Cinematical is the first to go against the prevailing wisdom, posting an out-and-out rave that praises Che for what other reviewers view as problematic: its refusal to embrace biopic tropes. (The film's current cut, apparently, defiantly fills in few blanks about Guevara's life and doesn't even show obviously cinematic moments like the taking of that iconic photograph.) "Bold, beautiful, bleak and ...

Cannes Audiences Not Thrilled With Soderbergh's Che
Published 5/25/2008 at Cinema Blend News
... James Rocchi says, “What a rare pleasure it is to have a film (or films) that, in our box-office obsessed, event-movie, Oscar-craving age, is actually worth talking about on so many levels.” So, yeah, mixed opinions indeed. The pros seem to be convinced that we probably won't see The Argentine or Guerilla in the form in which the Cannes audience saw them. Thompson writes, “There is plenty of fine material here to be edited into one releasable long dramatic feature and hopefully [the producers] will give the filmmaker the time he needs to find this promising film's ...

Why You Should Take an Interest in Steven Soderbergh's Che
Published 5/26/2008 by Alex Billington at FirstShowing.net
... But that's not all. Cinematical's James Rocchi gives the film a glowing review as well. Rocchi gives a great explanation to the feel of both parts: "The first half of Che feels like nothing less than Lawrence of Arabia, as a charismatic outsider helps fight, and win, a seemingly impossible series of battles; the second part is a little more sad and thoughtful, as we witness Che's tragic flaw where, after creating a revolution in Cuba, he simply could not stop, and tried to re-create something irreproducible." He also praises it as much as the others before, ...