Confessions of a Festival Junkie: Dayzzzzzz

Following the flood of weekend movie junkets, it seemed an apt time for some serious business. There had been speculation that Steven Soderbergh’s Cannes premiered Che had finally made a deal for North American distribution rights but all players involved kept their cards very close to their chests.

There were other murmurings and speculative questions that swirled around Che. The most obvious asked whether the filmmaker had done a significant re-edit following what was a heated but predominantly negative tilting response from the critical community. I was told by someone obviously not in the loop that the Toronto version was radically different from the May debut in the French festival’s official competition.

However, after its press screening the word circulated that no more than a few minutes had been trimmed and Soderbergh’s primary focus was in working on color timing and issues of the sound mix.

The other great question mark hovering over the film is just how it will be screened to the public. The filmmaker has stated a preference for a single screening (with intermission) in its present form though he hasn’t ruled out the prospect of staggered releases of the separate parts that focus on both the Cuban and Bolivian episodes of his revolutionary life. He’s even suggested a willingness to create an abridged version that combines footage from the two films that presumably more shave an hour off of its current four hour plus running time.

The latter scenario seems a bit far fetched if for no another reason than the fact that the two sections were filmed in different aspect ratios. The first shot in widescreen while the second is in the slightly more intimate 1.85 aspect ratio and marrying the two is a time consuming process technically that additionally would require a total re-think to create a seamless narrative arc.

The first part opened commercially in Spain last Friday at that top of the charts with a very sturdy $9,000 per engagement average. However, that experience is in no way an indication of how it will be presented elsewhere – a determination to be made by the distributors that pre-brought the film many years ago.

I first heard about a Che project 20 years ago from the late producer-writer Barry Beckerman. He was enthused by several books including the icon’s diaries and was undaunted by the 1969 movie that starred Omar Shariff and then as now remains a hallmark of kitsch cinema.

The current incarnation began as a project for Terrence Malick following his return to active directing with The Thin Red Line. Malick had begun scouting location with cinematographer Emmanuel Lebezki when he informed the financiers that he’d like to do another film (The New World) prior to taking on Che. It’s fair to say that the news set off a seismic response with the prospect of millions of dollars in pre-sales being put in jeopardy and placing the company into potential bankruptcy.

Hoping to stave off catastrophe, they moved to secure another filmmaker to placate investors and buy some time. It’s at this point that Soderbergh entered the scene and in the course of developing his version of Che decided it should be made in two parts and filmed in Spanish. While his budget was in line with the single picture plan, the initial idea had been to shoot in English and there was concern how a Spanish-language film might affect a U.S. sale down the line. Nonetheless no one could afford to change horses once again and filming proceeded with Benecio Del Toro in the title role.

The Cannes screening was down to the line with festival officials informed that the second half might not be completed in time. In that event it would be withdrawn as Soderbergh was unwilling to show only the first part. Fortunately, for the event, it was completed to a point acceptable to the filmmakers and Del Toro emerged from Cannes with the best actor award.

But the strategy to secure an American distributor for a rumored $10 million asking price failed to coalesce. Scuttlebutt swirled that Warner Bros. had been willing to acquire the film prior to Cannes sight unseen but its sales agent, Paris-based Wild Bunch, preferred to keep its options open which may have been a misstep in retrospect. There were also reports of interest from the Weinstein Company following the screening and others and the unstated understanding that the price had been lowered with the understanding that significant money be spent on the release and promotion of the film for an Oscar run in 2008.

The North America deal was apparently sealed just prior to Toronto by IFC. Unconfirmed reports are that the price tag was $2 million plus an undisclosed amount for prints and advertising.

All that said, it’s easy to see why the film itself has confounded distributors. The first part is a compelling, panoramic look at Che’s Cuban period that spans his first meeting with Castro in Mexico City in 1955 through the triumphal entry into Havana following the fall of Batista in 1959. Interspersed is black and white recreation of Guevara’s trip to New York for a United Nation’s address in 1964 as a senior official in the Cuban government.

The film has a deliberate, authoritative and absorbing quality that underline’s Soderbergh’s ranking as a first tier filmmaker. It’s also exquisitely crafted with Del Toro anchoring the drama with a determined, spare evocation of the character.

The Bolivian period is considerably more problematic. There is an open ended aspect to the conclusion of the first part that suggests a resolution not to be found in the second that jumps ahead to 1965 with only reference to his involvement in campaigns in Africa and Venezuela.

While there’s much to applaud in the latter section, the context is more difficult to embrace. The politics of the region, the guerrilla organization and the sheer lack of fervor are evident without the requisite connectivity that will lead to fiasco and tragedy. It’s more ruminative (intentionally) and curiously uncomplimentary to the accompanying film. It’s probably best to separate the two parts of Che as a result. Seeing them back to back is a jarring experience because of extremes in tone and approach that separate rather than bond the films.

I’ll quickly note that The Wrestler was quickly acquired by Fox Searchlight and that Summit stepped up for Kathryn Bigelow’s unusual Iraq war drama The Hurt Locker. With the event rapidly coming to a close the prospect of wrapping it into a tidy bow is going to be daunting.

– Leonard Klady

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