The Che Chronicles

How many people really think of Che Guevara as a romantic, if occasionally headstrong, revolutionary? Outside Latin America, I mean. Perhaps it’s a generational thing, but does anyone under the age of 35 really give even half a damn about Che Guevara?

Certainly, the anti-Che forces continue to write as though he remained a clear, present, danger to all things good and holy. Here’s John J Miller at The Corner, for instance:

I have no objection to a movie about the life of Che Guevara. At least in theory. Yet it’s probably impossible for Hollywood to make an honest film about this awful man — case in point being the new one from director Steven Soderbergh and starring Benicio Del Toro. Even the NYT sees the problem clearly, based on a screening at Cannes…The best news is that the movie is apparently four and a half hours long and in Spanish, which doesn’t sound like a recipe for box-office magic.