Che!

Che!is a 1969 Americanbiographical filmdirected byRichard Fleischerand starringOmar SharifasMarxistrevolutionaryErnesto "Che" Guevara. It follows Guevara from when he first landed in Cuba in 1956 to his death in Bolivia in 1967, although the film does not portray the formative pre-Cuban revolutionsections of Che's life as described in the autobiographical bookThe Motorcycle Diaries(1993).
The film tells of Che Guevara (Omar Sharif), a young Argentine doctor who proves his mettle during the Cubanguerrillawar in the late 1950s. He gains the respect of his men and becomes the leader of a patrol.
Fidel Castro(Jack Palance) is impressed by Guevara's tactics and discipline and makes him his chief adviser. When Castro defeats Cuban dictatorBatistaafter two years of fighting, Guevara directs a series of massive reprisals, yet, Guevara dreams of fomenting a worldwide revolution. After Castro backs down during theCuban Missile Crisis, Guevara accuses Castro of being a Soviet tool and decides to leave Cuba.
Guevara lands in Bolivia, where he attempts to begin his dream of a worldwide peasant revolution, but the Bolivian peasants do not follow his lead and the Bolivian Army pursues him.
The film was directed by Richard Fleischer who said before filming:
"We are doing purely the story Che, the person, not the movement", said producer Sy Bartlett. "We want to show what happened with the people who touched his life."
Filming started in October in Puerto Rico. The island was chosen because South America was considered too politically unstable.
The film opened without press screenings on May 29, 1969 atLoew'sCine and the newPenthousetheatre in New York City.It grossed $76,000 in its opening week.
The film received mostly negative reviews at the time of its release.Che!was listed in the bookThe Fifty Worst Films of All Time(1978).The Book of Lists(1977) labeled it "a cardboard, pseudo-historical drama" and noted that "Poor Sharif is forced to deliver lines such as 'The peasant is like a flower, and the revolutionary like a bee. Neither can survive or propagate without the other'".
Film critic Roger Ebert panned the film and the motivations for producing the drama, writing: "From the beginning, it sounded like a bad dream. Hollywood was making a movie about Che Guevara. Why? Probably because somebody smelled easy money, having been inspired by the sales figures on Che posters. That must have been the reason, becauseChe!is abundant evidence that no one connected with this stinkeroo gave a damn about Che Guevara, Fidel Castro, the Cuban Revolution or anything else requiring more than five seconds' thought".
Fleischer later said "the picture was a disaster. It should never have been made. People got emotional about it. By the time the memos from the board of directors got to me, they'd taken out all the pro-Che things. It took no sides, which wasn't what we started out to do. The producer was no help. He gave in so easily."
According to Fox records the film required $9,400,000 in rentals to break even and by 11 December 1970 had made $4,100,000.By September 1970 Fox estimated they had lost $3,389,000 on the film.
The film score was composed, arranged and conducted byLalo Schifrinand the soundtrack album was released on theTetragrammatonlabel in 1969.
All compositions by Lalo Schifrin except as indicated