Regardless of your opinion of Steven Soderbergh and Benicio Del Toro’s cinematic rendition of the life of T-shirt icon Che Guevara, there’s no denying that it is an impressive and epic cinematic achievement. This 4.5 hour behemoth of a film comes to screens first in a roadshow version that presents the whole shebang in one butt-numbing sitting with a single intermission as an act of mercy. It is truly a massive movie worthy of the controversial figure at the center and it’s hard to imagine any other film or filmmaker capturing this story in a more thorough and effective manner.

The first half of Che offers audiences the bio-pic of Che Guevara that they would expected entering the theater. Though the movie outlines a great deal of the day-to-day challenges faced by Guevara, it is ultimately a triumphant film weaving together Che’s revolutionary victory in Cuba with his infamous 1964 speech at the UN in New York. It might be shot in a gritty handheld documentary style, but the tone of this first film is proud and glorious. We see an icon being born through bright and vibrant colors in Cuba and gorgeous monochromatic black and white faux newsreel footage in New York. Even on a visual level this is an uplifting, if morally complex movie. If the first 2 hours had been the only Che film released, it would have undoubtedly caused a splash and been in the Oscar race this year (for the record, the fact that Benicio Del Toro wasn’t even nominated is a crime).

Once the audience returns from the intermission the glossy colors and cinemascope framing are replaced by a standard widescreen frame drained of color. This visual cue sets the tone for the second half of the film which outlines Guevara’s failed attempt to spread the revolution to Bolivia. All of Che’s decisions that paid off so perfectly in Cuba fail him in this second attempted revolution, ultimately leading to his death. It’s a far more depressing and exhausting film (a matter not helped by the fact that it comes after a feature length first chapter), but an important one. Despite all the merchandise, Che Guevara was no Christ-like hero who permanently changed South America for the better. Instead he was a motivated idealist who didn’t survive long enough to see Castro’s less than ideal Cuba in action. By presenting the Che Guevara story in this two film fashion, we get to see both sides of the controversial man and get a far more complex portrait than conventional bio-pic would have accomplished.

Che is an undeniably impressive achievement that succeeds thanks to the incredible talent of two men: Benicio Del Toro and Steven Soderbergh. Del Toro is unquestionably one of the finest actors of his generation and he may never again find a role more suited to his talents than Che Guevara. As usual, Del Toro disappears into the role, vividly bringing this cultural icon to life without ever losing the sense of vulnerability that made human. It will be remembered as one of his finest performances, even if he was ignored outside of Cannes this year. Steven Soderbergh once again proves himself to be one of the most versatile directors in the world with Che. Who would have thought that the director of the glossy Ocean’s Eleven franchise could create a hyper realistic portrait of revolution shot entirely in Spanish and in a documentary style that evokes memories of The Battle Of Algiers. Though this film seems be far outside of Soderbergh’s comfort zone as a director, it still stands as one of his finest achievements, easily matching the emotional intensity and verisimilitude of the infamous Mexico sequences in Traffic