Che: Rise and Fall

Che: Rise and Fall

UK Release, 2006
Directed by Eduardo Montes-Bradley
Produced by Soledad Liendo
Starring Alberto Granado, Alberto Castellanos, Enrique Oltuski, Argudín Mendoza, Enrique “Pombo” Villegas
Music by Various
Edited by Eduardo Montes-Bradley
Distributed by Alexander Street Press, Heritage Film Project.
Release dates
 USA 2006
Running time
 60 minutes
Country USA
Language Spanish with english Subtitles. Doubled into German.

Che Rise and Fall is a documentary film created by Eduardo Montes-Bradley. The film was entirely shot in Cuba at the time Che Guevara’s remains were airlifted from Bolivia to Santa Clara the final resting place. The documentary features the testimonies of Guevara’s comrades-in-arms in Sierra Maestra, Congo and Bolivia, also with Alberto Granado with whom Guevara rode a motorcycle from Argentina on a trip that will end, tragically, sixteen years later in the jungles of Bolivia, an experience that was brought to the big screen on The Motorcycle Diaries. Che Rise and Fall begins with an account of Guevara's death in Bolivia in 1967, and fittingly ends with footage of the return of his remains for internment in a monument in Santa Clara's Revolution Square some 30 years later.[1]

Che Rise and Fall explores an unorthodox approach to the myth of Che as a revolutionary icon. According to Lourdes Vázquez from Rutgers University Library, the film documents Che’s frustrated experience for the period spent fighting a in Congo's Revolutionary War as well as his sense of failure.[2] The documentary includes original archival footage, original photographs taken by Ernesto Guevara in Mexico, and images from the ceremony of Che’s remains being brought to Santa Clara, originally included on the documentary "Che, a man of this world" (1998) directed by Marcelo Schapces.[3]

Che: Rise and Fall was premiered on National Geographic Channel on June 14, 2007[4][5] and has been released on DVD in the USA, Germany,[6] United Kingdom, Portugal, and Spain.

Production Notes

Enrique Oltuski in Cuba. Screenshot from the documentary film Che: Rise and Fall.

The documentary is structured around the testimony of Guevara’s childhood friend Alberto Granado, and those of Alberto Castellanos, Enrique Oltuski, Argudín Mendoza, Enrique “Pombo” Villegas, all members of his elite military entourage of Che Guevara during his revolutionary incursions in Sierra Maestra, Congo, and Bolivia. Che: Rise and Fall, was shot in La Habana, Bolivia, and undisclosed locations in Africa. What seems to distinguish this documentary from other biographical attempts to capture the man behind the myth, is the fact that even though the filmmaker features a wealth of archival stills and film footage, it’s essentially an oral history, told by those who actually knew Ernesto Guevara. Filmed on Super 16mm. Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 DVD | Release Date: July 13, 2006.

Festivals and Academic Projection

Che: Rise and Fall has been invited to participate at the 20èmes Rencontres Cinémas d'Amérique Latine de Toulouse, in France. The documentary is also listed by WorldCat as available at some fifty university and public libraries in the United States including the University of Virginia, National Defense University Library, Defense Intelligence Agency, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, Bucknell University, University of Pennsylvania Libraries,The College of New Jersey, Morehead State University, Ohio State University Libraries, Emory University, Dartmouth College Library, Université du Québec à Montréal, and Tulane University.

Notes

  1. ↑ WorldCat
  2. ↑ Vázquez, Lourdes, Rutgers University Library. Educational Media Reviews Online. October 2, 2007
  3. ↑ Konno, Kiyoshi. Illustrations by Shimano, Chie. Che Guevara. Pinguin Group. New York, USA. Bibliography
  4. ↑ Libr’insula, la isla de los libros. Vol 4. N. 180. June 15th, 2007
  5. ↑ Diario Clarin. Buenos Aires, Sunday, June 10, 2007
  6. ↑ Che Guevara: Aufstieg und Fall eines grossen Revolutionärs. 2007 Edel entertainment GmbH. PAL.
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