Benicio del Toro:Premiere of Che in Cuba, a great deal of responsibility
Campaign News | Sunday, 7 December 2008
Actor Benicio del Toro said that the premiere in Havana of the film Che, by American director Steven Soderberh, entailed a great deal of responsibility and emotion, since showing the movie to the people who knew Che Guevara so well, was like closing a cycle and writing a page for his own autobiography.
The film Che was screened Saturday in the centrally located Yara movie theatre, downtown Havana , as part of the 30th International Festival of the New Latin American Cinema.
The movie has two parts, one called “El argentino”, which deals with the activities of Ernesto Guevara and the 26 of July Movement on the Sierra Maestra Mountain Range, with special emphasis on the historic battle of Santa Clara . The first part of the film also shows excerpts of the speech given by Che at the United Nations in 1964.
The second part, titled “Guerrilla,” starts with the farewell letter, which Che left for Fidel in 1965 and tells about events of the liberation war in Bolivia until it concludes with the assassination of Che Guevara at the locality known as Quebrada del Yuro.
In a meeting with the press in Havana , Del Toro, who plays the role of Ernesto Che Guevara in the film, said he has always admired the determination of Che, a historic figure he respects for having been a very consistent man.
Meanwhile, producer Alvaro Longoria said that they donated 20 copies of the movie to the Cuban Film Institute so that they can be screened throughout Cuba after the closing of the International Film Festival.
The press conference was also attended by actors Rodrigo Santero, who plays the role of Raul Castro and Colombian Santiago Cabrera, who plays the role of Camilo Cienfuegos. Both actors revealed that they were impressed with the premiere of both parts of the film in Havana . They underscored the responsibility they assumed at interpreting such important historic figures.
