text:
Che (film)
Che | |
Promotional poster
Directed by | Steven Soderbergh |
Produced by | Laura Bickford Benicio del Toro |
Written by | Peter Buchman Benjamin A. van der Veen |
Starring | Benicio del Toro Demián Bichir Rodrigo Santoro Catalina Sandino Moreno Franka Potente Santiago Cabrera Julia Ormond Lou Diamond Phillips Édgar Ramírez Joaquim de Almeida |
Music by | Alberto Iglesias |
Cinematography | Peter Andrews |
Editing by | Pablo Zumárraga |
Studio | Telecinco Cinema Wild Bunch Section Eight Productions |
Distributed by | Morena Films (Spain) Warner Bros. (France) IFC Films (US) |
Release dates |
Running time | 257 minutes[1] |
Country | Spain France United States |
Language | Spanish English |
Budget | US$58 million[2] |
Box office | US$40,779,241[3] |
Che is a two-part 2008 biopic about Argentine Marxist revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara, directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Benicio del Toro. Rather than follow a standard chronological order, the films offer an oblique series of interspersed moments along the overall timeline. Part One is entitled The Argentine and focuses on the Cuban Revolution from the landing of Fidel Castro, Guevara, and other revolutionaries in Cuba to their successful toppling of Fulgencio Batista's dictatorship two years later. Part Two is entitled Guerrilla and focuses on Guevara's attempt to bring revolution to Bolivia and his demise. Both parts are shot in a cinéma vérité style, but each has different approaches to linear narrative, camerawork, and the visual look.
Filmmaker Terrence Malick originally worked on a screenplay limited to Guevara's attempts to start a revolution in Bolivia. When financing fell through, Malick left the project, and Soderbergh subsequently agreed to direct the film. He realized that there was no context for Guevara's actions in Bolivia and decided that his participation in the Cuban Revolution and his appearance at the United Nations in 1964 should also be depicted. Peter Buchman was hired to write the screenplay: the script was so long that Soderbergh decided to divide the film into two parts, one chronicling Cuba and other depicting Bolivia. Soderbergh shot the films back-to-back starting at the beginning of July 2007, with Guerrilla first in Spain for 39 days, and The Argentine shot in Puerto Rico and Mexico for 39 days.
Che was screened as a single film at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. Del Toro won the Best Actor Award, and the film received mostly positive reviews. IFC Films, which holds all North American rights to Che, initially released the combined film for one week on December 12, 2008 in New York City and Los Angeles to qualify for the year's Academy Awards. Strong box office performance led to the "special roadshow edition" being extended in N.Y.C. and L.A. and later expanded into additional markets. The film was released as two separate films, titled Che Part 1: The Argentine and Che Part 2: Guerrilla, and distribution expanded further after that. The Independent Film Channel released the films via video on demand and on Region 1 DVD exclusively from Blockbuster. As of October 2009, Che Parts I and II had grossed US$40,779,241 worldwide.[3]
Part 1: The Argentine[edit]
In Havana 1964, Che Guevara is interviewed by Lisa Howard who asks him if reform throughout Latin America might not blunt the "message of the Cuban Revolution." In 1955, at a gathering in Mexico City, Guevara first meets Fidel Castro. He listens to Castro's plans and signs on as a member of the July 26th Movement. There is a return to 1964 for Guevara's address before the United Nations General Assembly, where he makes an impassioned speech against American imperialism, and defends the executions his regime has committed, declaring "this is a battle to the death."
March 1957, Guevara deals with debilitating bouts of asthma as his group of revolutionaries meet up with Castro's group. Together, they attack an army barracks in the Sierra Maestra on May 28, 1957. On October 15, 1958, the guerrillas approach the town of Las Villas. The Battle of Santa Clara is depicted with Guevara demonstrating his tactical skill as the guerrillas engage in street-to-street fighting and derail a train carrying Cuban soldiers and armaments. Near the film's end, they are victorious. With the Cuban Revolution now over, Guevara heads to Havana, remarking "we won the war, the revolution starts now."
Part 2: Guerrilla[edit]
The second part begins with Guevara arriving in Bolivia disguised as a middle-aged representative of the Organization of American States hailing from Uruguay, who subsequently drives into the mountains to meet his men. The film is organized by the number of days that he was in the country. On Day 26, there is solidarity among Guevara's men despite his status as foreigner. By Day 67, Guevara has been set up for betrayal. He tries to recruit some peasants only to be mistaken for a cocaine smuggler. On Day 100, there is a shortage of food and Guevara exercises discipline to resolve conflicts between his Cuban and Bolivian followers.
By Day 113, some of the guerrillas have deserted and the Bolivian Army has discovered their base camp. Much to Che's disappointment Tamara "Tania" Bunke, Guevara's revolutionary contact, has botched elaborate preparations and given away their identity. On Day 141, the guerrillas capture Bolivian soldiers that refuse to join the revolution and are free to return to their villages. CIA advisers arrive to supervise anti-insurgent activity and training. On Day 169, Guevara's visiting friend, the French intellectual Régis Debray, is captured at Muyupampa by the Bolivian Army, which launches an aerial attack on Day 219.
Guevara grows sick and by Day 280 can barely breathe as a result of his acute asthma. On Day 302, the Bolivian Army massacres Tania Bunke, Juan Acuña Ñunez, and several others in Che's forces as they attempt to cross the Vado del Yeso. By Day 340, Guevara is trapped by the Bolivian Army in the Yuro Ravine near the village of La Higuera. Che is wounded and captured. The next day, a helicopter lands and a Cuban American CIA agent Félix Rodríguez emerges. The Bolivian high command are then phoned and give approval for Guevara's execution. He is shot on October 9, 1967, and his corpse lashed to a helicopter's landing skids and flown out. In a final flashback scene, Guevara is aboard the Granma in 1956, looking out over the ocean. He sees the Castro brothers alone at the bow of the ship; Fidel is talking and Raúl is taking notes. Guevara hands a peeled orange to one of his comrades and returns his gaze to the lone brothers before the scene fades to black.
- Benicio del Toro as Ernesto "Che" Guevara
- Demian Bichir as Fidel Castro
- Rodrigo Santoro as Raúl Castro
- Santiago Cabrera as Camilo Cienfuegos
- Franka Potente as Tamara "Tania" Bunke
- Gastón Pauls as Ciro Bustos (el Argentino)
- Catalina Sandino Moreno as Aleida March
- Julia Ormond as Lisa Howard
- Lou Diamond Phillips as Mario Monje
- Benjamín Benítez as Harry "Pombo" Villegas
- Armando Riesco as Benigno
- Elvira Minguez as Celia Sanchez
- Edgar Ramirez as Ciro Redondo
- Alfredo De Quesada as Israel Pardo
- Roberto Santana as Juan Almeida Bosque
- Victor Rasuk as Rogelio Acevedo
- Kahlil Mendez as Urbano
- Matt Damon as Fr. Schwarz
- Unax Ugalde as Roberto "El Vaquerito" Rodríguez
- Joaquim de Almeida as René Barrientos
Originally, Che was intended to be a much more traditional film based on Jon Lee Anderson's 1997 biography Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life. Actor Benicio del Toro and producer Laura Bickford optioned the film rights to Anderson's book. However, after two years they had not found a suitable writer and the rights expired.[4] During this time, Del Toro and Bickford researched the events depicted in Guerrilla with the idea of exploring Guevara's attempts to start a revolution in Bolivia.[5] Del Toro has said that he previously only thought of Guevara as a "bad guy".[6] For his role, Del Toro spent seven years "obsessively researching" Guevara's life, which made him feel like he "earned his stripes" to interpret the character.[7] Preparation included looking at Guevara's photographs and reading his personal writings. Del Toro read Don Quixote, one of Guevara's favorites, and the first book published and given out free after the Cuban Revolution.[7] Del Toro then personally met with people from different stages of Guevara's life, including Guevara's younger brother and childhood friends,[8] traveling to Cuba where Del Toro met Guevara's widow, family, and "tons of people that loved this man".[6] The visit included a five-minute encounter at a book fair with Fidel Castro, who expressed that he was happy for the "serious" research being undertaken.[9] Such research included collaborating with the three surviving guerrillas from Guevara's ill-fated Bolivian campaign, and with several guerrillas who fought alongside him in Cuba. While researching for both films, Soderbergh made a documentary of his interviews with many of the people who had fought alongside Guevara.[10] In his encounters with people ranging from fellow guerrillas to Guevara's driver, Del Toro described the reaction as "always the same", stating that he was "blown away" by the "bucketful of love" they still harbored for Guevara.[7] In an interview, Del Toro described Guevara as "a weird combination of an intellectual and an action figure, Gregory Peck and Steve McQueen, wrapped in one".[11] After the film's production concluded, Del Toro professed that "when you tell the story of Che, you're telling a story of the history of a country, so you have to be very careful".[8]
Del Toro and Bickford hired screenwriter Benjamin A. van der Veen to write the screenplay's first drafts, and their extensive research took them to Cuba where they met with several of the remaining members of Guevara's team in Bolivia as well as the revolutionary's wife and children. It was during this phase of development that the filmmakers discovered Terrence Malick had been in Bolivia as a journalist in 1966 working on a story about Che. Malick came on as director and worked on the screenplay with van der Veen and Del Toro, but after a year-and-a-half, the financing had not come together entirely and Malick left to make The New World, a film about Jamestown, Virginia.[2] Afraid that their multi-territory deals would fall apart, Bickford and Del Toro asked Steven Soderbergh, who was previously on board as producer, to direct.[2] The filmmaker was drawn to the contrast of "engagement versus disengagement. Do we want to participate or observe? Once Che made the decision to engage, he engaged fully. Often people attribute that to a higher power, but as an atheist, he didn't have that. I found that very interesting".[12] Furthermore, he remarked that Guevara was "great movie material" and "had one of the most fascinating lives" that he could "imagine in the last century".[13] Bickford and Del Toro realized that there was no context for what made Guevara decide to go to Bolivia. They began looking for someone to rewrite the screenplay; Peter Buchman was recommended to them because he had a good reputation for writing about historical figures, based on a script he worked about Alexander the Great.[14] He spent a year reading every available book on Guevara in preparation for writing the script. The project was put on hold when Bickford and Del Toro made Traffic with Soderbergh.[5]
Soderbergh wanted to incorporate Guevara's experiences in Cuba and at the United Nations in 1964. Buchman helped with the script's structure, which he gave three storylines: Guevara's life and the Cuban Revolution; his demise in Bolivia; and his trip to New York to speak at the U.N. Buchman found that the problem with containing all of these stories in one film was that he had to condense time and this distorted history.[5] Soderbergh found the draft Buchman submitted to him "unreadable" and after two weeks decided to split the script into two separate films.[2] Buchman went back and with Del Toro expanded the Cuban story for The Argentine.[2] Additional research included reading Guevara's diaries and declassified documents from the U.S. State Department about his trip to New York and memos from his time in Bolivia.[5]
Soderbergh found the task of researching such a popular historical figure as Guevara a daunting one: "If you go to any bookstore, you'll find an entire wall of Che-related material. We tried to go through all of it, we were overwhelmed with information. He means something different to everyone. At a certain point we had to decide for ourselves who Che was".[12] The original source material for these scripts was Guevara's diary from the Cuban Revolution, Reminiscences of the Cuban Revolutionary War, and from his time in Bolivia, Bolivian Diary.[2] From there, he drew on interviews with people who knew Guevara from both of those time periods and read every book available that pertained to both Cuba and Bolivia.[15] Bickford and Del Toro met with Harry "Pombo" Villegas, Urbano and Benigno—three men who met Guevara during the Cuban Revolution, followed him to Bolivia, and survived.[5] They interviewed them individually and then Pombo and Benigno together about their experiences in Cuba and Bolivia. Urbano was an adviser while they were filming in Spain and the actors often consulted with him and the others about specific details, like how to hold their guns in a certain situation, and very specific tactical information.[5]
In December 2008, Ocean Press, in cooperation with the Che Guevara Publishing Project, released Che: The Diaries of Ernesto Che Guevara, with a movie tie-in cover.[16] The book's aim was to compile all the original letters, diary excerpts, speeches and maps on which Soderbergh relied for the film. The text is interspersed with remarks by Benicio del Toro and Steven Soderbergh.[16]
Initially, Che was going to be made in English and a strong interest in financing it was met; however, when the decision was made to make it in Spanish and break it up into two films, the studios' pay-TV deals, which were for English-language product only, "disappeared", according to Bickford, "and, at that point, nobody wanted to step up".[17] The director defended his decision to shoot almost all of the film in Spanish in an interview: "You can't make a film with any level of credibility in this case unless it's in Spanish. I hope we're reaching a time where you go make a movie in another culture, that you shoot in the language of that culture. I'm hoping the days of that sort of specific brand of cultural imperialism have ended".[18] Both films were financed without any American money or distribution deal; Soderbergh remarked, "It was very frustrating to know that this is a zeitgeist movie and that some of the very people who told me how much they now regret passing on Traffic passed on this one too".[19] Foreign pre-sales covered $54 million of the $58 million budget.[2] Wild Bunch, a French production, distribution and foreign sales company put up 75% of the budget for the two films, tapping into a production and acquisition fund from financing and investment company Continental Entertainment Capitol, a subsidiary of the U.S.-based Citigroup. Spain's Telecinco/Moreno Films supplied the rest of the budget.[20]
Principal photography[edit]
In 2006, shortly before the U.N. Headquarters underwent major renovations, Del Toro and Soderbergh shot the scenes of Guevara speaking to the U.N. General Assembly in 1964.[5] The director wanted to shoot the first part of The Argentine in Cuba, but was prevented from travelling there by the U.S. government's embargo.[21] Doubling Santa Clara proved to be difficult because it was a certain size and had a certain look. Soderbergh spent four to five months scouting for a suitable replacement, looking at towns in Veracruz/Yucatán before settling on Campeche, which had the elements they needed.[21]
The original intention was for The Argentine to be shot using anamorphic 16 mm film because, according to the director, it needed "a bit of Bruckheimer but scruffier".[19] He kept to his plan of shooting The Argentine anamorphically, and Guerrilla with spherical lenses.[19] Soderbergh wanted to use the new RED One rather than 16 mm film because of its ability to replicate film stock digitally but initially, it was not going to be available on time.[5] However, their Spanish work papers and visas were late and Del Toro and Soderbergh were grounded in Los Angeles for a week. The director was meanwhile informed that the prototype cameras were ready.[5]
Each half of the film focuses on a different revolution, both fundamentally the same in theory but vastly different in outcome, reflecting the Marxist notion of dialectics.[22] Soderbergh wanted the film's two parts to mimic the voice of the two diaries they were based on; the Cuban diaries were written after the fact and, according to the director, "with a certain hindsight and perspective and a tone that comes from being victorious", while the Bolivian diaries were "contemporaneous, and they're very isolated and have no perspective, at all. It's a much more tense read, because the outcome is totally unclear".[23]
Soderbergh shot the films back-to-back in the beginning of July 2007 with Guerrilla shot first in Spain for 39 days and The Argentine shot in Puerto Rico and Mexico for 39 days. The director conceived The Argentine as "a Hollywood movie" shot in widescreen 'scope aspect ratio, with the camera either fixed or moving on a dolly or a Steadicam.[2] Guerrilla was shot, according to Soderbergh, "in Super-16, 1.85:1. No dollies, no cranes, it's all either handheld or tripods. I want it to look nice but simple. We'll work with a very small group: basically me, the producer Gregory Jacobs and the unit production manager".[19] According to the director, the portion set in Cuba was written from the victor's perspective and as a result he adopted a more traditional look with classical compositions, vibrant color and a warm palette.[21] With Guerrilla, he wanted a sense of foreboding with hand-held camerawork and a muted color palette. Soderbergh told his production designer Antxon Gomez that the first part would have green with a lot of yellow in it and the second part would have green with a lot of blue in it.[21]
At the end of The Argentine, Soderbergh depicts Guevara's derailment of a freight train during the Battle of Santa Clara. In filming the sequence, Soderbergh balked at the digital effects solution and managed to reallocate $500,000 from the overall $58 million budget to build a real set of tracks and a train powered by two V-8 car engines. To film the scene, they had six rehearsals, and could only shoot the scene once.[24]
Many aspects of Guevara's personality and beliefs affected the filming process. For instance, close-ups of Del Toro were avoided due to Guevara's belief in collectivism, with Soderbergh remarking, "You can't make a movie about a guy who has these hard-core sort of egalitarian socialist principles and then isolate him with close-ups."[22] According to Edgar Ramirez, who portrays Ciro Redondo, the cast "were improvising a lot" while making The Argentine, and he describes the project as a "very contemplative movie", shot chronologically.[25] While filming outdoors, Soderbergh used natural light as much as possible.[5] Del Toro, who speaks Puerto Rican Spanish, tried to speak the best Argentinean Spanish (Rioplatense Spanish) he could without sounding "stiff".[6] Prior to shooting the film's final scenes that depict Guevara's time in Bolivia at the end of his life, Del Toro shed 35 pounds to show how ill Guevara had become. The actor shaved the top of his head rather than wear a bald cap for the scenes depicting Guevara's arrival in Bolivia in disguise.[26]
Soderbergh has said that with Che, he wanted to show everyday tasks, "things that have meaning on a practical level and on an ideological level", as a "way of showing what it might have been like to be there".[2] While addressing the issue after at the Toronto International Film Festival, Soderbergh remarked that he was trying to avoid what he felt were typical scenes for a biographical film and that he would tell screenwriter Peter Buchman, that he was "trying to find the scenes that would happen before or after the scene that you would typically see in a movie like this".[22] Soderbergh was not interested in depicting Guevara's personal life because he felt that "everybody on these campaigns has a personal life, they all left families behind, that doesn't make him special and why should I go into his personal life and nobody else's?"[14]
Soderbergh decided to omit the post-revolution execution sentences of "suspected war criminals, traitors and informants" that Guevara reviewed at La Cabana Fortress because "there is no amount of accumulated barbarity that would have satisfied the people who hate him".[27] Soderbergh addressed the criticism for this omission in a post release interview where he stated: "I don't think anybody now, even in Cuba, is going to sit with a straight face and defend the events. La Cabana was really turned into a Roman circus, where I think even the people in power look back on that as excessive. However, every regime, in order to retain power when it feels threatened, acts excessively ... This is what people do when they feel they need to act in an extreme way to secure themselves".[27] The filmmaker noted as well that, "with a character this complicated, you're going to have a very polarized reaction".[22] Furthermore, he was not interested in depicting Guevara's life as "a bureaucrat", stating that he was making a diptych about two military campaigns, declaring the pictures "war films".[27] Soderbergh said, "I'm sure some people will say, 'That's convenient because that's when he was at his worst.' Yeah, maybe—it just wasn't interesting to me. I was interested in making a procedural about guerrilla warfare".[17]
Soderbergh described the Cuban Revolution as "the last analog revolution. I loved that we shot a period film about a type of war that can't be fought anymore".[28] Soderbergh has said that he is open to making another film about Guevara's experiences in the Congo but only if Che makes $100 million at the box office.[12]
Theatrical distribution rights were pre-sold to distributors in several major territories, including France, the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, Italy, and Japan (Nikkatsu); Twentieth Century Fox bought the Spanish theatrical and home video rights.[20] IFC Films paid a low seven-figure sum to acquire all North American rights to Che after production had completed and released it on December 12, 2008 in New York City and Los Angeles in order to qualify it for the Academy Awards.[29][30] The "special roadshow edition" in N.Y.C. and L.A. was initially planned as a one-week special engagement—complete with intermission and including a full-color printed program—but strong box-office results led to its re-opening for two weeks on January 9, 2009 as two separate films, titled Che Part 1: The Argentine and Che Part 2: Guerrilla.[31] Soderbergh said that the program's inspiration came from the 70 mm engagements for Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now.[21] The film was expanded to additional markets on January 16 and 22 both as a single film and as two separate films.[32][33] IFC made the films available through video on demand on January 21 on all major cable and satellite providers in both standard and high definition versions.[34]
Che was screened on 21 May at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival reportedly running over four hours.[35] Following this screening, Soderbergh cut 5–7 minutes from each half.[36] It was shown at the 46th New York Film Festival[37] and was shown at the 33rd Toronto International Film Festival as Che with a 15-minute intermission and as two separate films, The Argentine and Guerrilla,[38] where it was considered the festival's "must-see" film.[39] Che made its sold-out L.A. premiere at Grauman's Chinese Theatre on November 1, 2008 as part of the AFI Fest.[17]
Che was screened in Guevara's homeland of Argentina in November 2008.[40] To mark the occasion, the streets of Buenos Aires were decorated with large posters of Del Toro in his role as the guerrilla fighter, unprecedented in the city's history. When questioned by the press on Guevara's ideas and use of violence, Del Toro stated that if he had lived during the 1960s, he would have agreed with Guevara, and that although he did not support violent revolution now, in the '60s he may "have been another person and in agreement with armed war".[40]
Del Toro and Soderbergh both attended the French premiere in late November 2008, where they took questions from the press. Del Toro remarked that the "legendary rebel" was still pertinent because "the things that he fought for in the late 1950s and mid 1960s are still relevant today", adding that "he did not hide behind curtains ... he stood up for the forgotten ones".[41] When asked why he made the film, Soderbergh stated, "I needed to make the film, and that is a different feeling. I felt like, if I am worth anything, I have to say yes. I can't say no".[41] The following day, the Dubai International Film Festival would describe Soderbergh's narrative as a "magisterial ... compelling experience", with Del Toro's performance as "blue-chip".[42]
Che opened in single theaters in N.Y.C. and L.A. where it made $60,100 with sellouts of both venues.[43] Based on this success, IFC Films executives added two weekends of exclusive runs for the roadshow version, starting December 24 in N.Y.C. and December 26 in L.A.[44] This successful run prompted IFC Films to show this version in nine additional markets on January 16. Che will be shown in its entirety, commercial and trailer free with an intermission and limited edition program book at every screening.[45] Soderbergh has said that the film's roadshow version will not be released on DVD but released in two parts with the animated map that opens the roadshow's second half missing from Part II, as well as the overture and intermission music.[46]
According to Variety, it had grossed $164,142 in one weekend, at 35 locations in North America and $20 million from a half-dozen major markets around the world, led by Spain at $9.7 million.[47] As of May 2009, it has grossed $1.4 million in North America and $29.8 million in the rest of the world for a worldwide total of $30 million.[48] Eventually, Che made good profit for IFC Films.[49][50]
Cannes reaction[edit]
Early reviews were mixed, although there were several critics who spoke glowingly of the project.[51] Cinematical's James Rocchi described the biopic as "expressive, innovative, striking, and exciting" as well as "bold, beautiful, bleak and brilliant". Rocchi went on to brand it "a work of art" that's "not just the story of a revolutionary" but "a revolution in and of itself".[52] Columnist and critic Jeffrey Wells proclaimed the film "brilliant", "utterly believable", and "the most exciting and far-reaching film of the Cannes Film Festival". In further praise, Wells referred to the film as "politically vibrant and searing" while labeling it a "perfect dream movie".[53]
Todd McCarthy was more mixed in his reaction to the film in its present form, describing it as "too big a roll of the dice to pass off as an experiment, as it's got to meet high standards both commercially and artistically. The demanding running time forces comparison to such rare works as Lawrence of Arabia, Reds and other biohistorical epics. Unfortunately, Che doesn't feel epic—just long".[54] Anne Thompson wrote that Benicio del Toro "gives a great performance", but predicted that "it will not be released as it was seen here".[51] Glenn Kenny wrote, "Che benefits greatly from certain Soderberghian qualities that don't always serve his other films well, e.g., detachment, formalism, and intellectual curiosity".[55]
Peter Bradshaw, in his review for The Guardian, wrote, "Perhaps it will even come to be seen as this director's flawed masterpiece: enthralling but structurally fractured—the second half is much clearer and more sure-footed than the first—and at times frustratingly reticent, unwilling to attempt any insight into Che's interior world".[56] In his less favorable review for Esquire, Stephen Garrett criticized the film for failing to show Guevara's negative aspects, "the absence of darker, more contradictory revelations of his nature leaves Che bereft of complexity. All that remains is a South American superman: uncomplex, pure of heart, defiantly pious and boring".[57] Richard Corliss had problems with Del Toro's portrayal of Guevara: "Del Toro—whose acting style often starts over the top and soars from there, like a hang-glider leaping from a skyscraper roof—is muted, yielding few emotional revelations, seemingly sedated here ... Che is defined less by his rigorous fighting skills and seductive intellect than by his asthma".[58] In his review for Salon.com, Andrew O'Hehir praised Soderbergh for making "something that people will be eager to see and eager to talk about all over the world, something that feels strangely urgent, something messy and unfinished and amazing. I'd be surprised if Che doesn't win the Palme d'Or ... but be that as it may, nobody who saw it here will ever forget it".[59]
Soderbergh replied to the criticism that he made an unconventional film: "I find it hilarious that most of the stuff being written about movies is how conventional they are, and then you have people ... upset that something's not conventional. The bottom line is we're just trying to give you a sense of what it was like to hang out around this person. That's really it. And the scenes were chosen strictly on the basis of, 'Yeah, what does that tell us about his character?'".[18]
After Cannes, Soderbergh made a few minor adjustments to the film. This included adding a moment of Guevara and Fidel Castro shaking hands, tweaking a few transitions, and tacking on an overture and entr'acte to the "road show" version that will play in major cities. Moreover, he removed the trial of guerrilla Lalo Sardiñas, which Chicago film critic Ben Kenigsberg found "regrettable", stating that it was "not only one of the film's most haunting scenes but a key hint at the darker side of Che's ideology".[22]
NYFF reaction[edit]
In her review for The New York Times, based on a screening at the New York Film Festival, Manohla Dargis observes that "throughout the movie Mr. Soderbergh mixes the wild beauty of his landscapes with images of Che heroically engaged in battle, thoughtfully scribbling and reading, and tending to ailing peasants and soldiers".[60] According to Dargis, "Che wins, Che loses, but Che remains the same in what plays like a procedural about a charismatic leader, impossible missions and the pleasures of work and camaraderie", referring to the "historical epic" as "Ocean's Eleven with better cigars".[60] However, Dargis notes that "Mr. Soderbergh cagily evades Che's ugly side, notably his increasing commitment to violence and seemingly endless war, but the movie is without question political—even if it emphasizes romantic adventure over realpolitik—because, like all films, it is predicated on getting, spending and making money".[60]
Film critic Glenn Kenny wrote, "Che seems to me almost the polar opposite of agitprop. It flat out does not ask for the kind of emotional engagement that more conventional epic biopics do, and that's a good thing".[61] In his review for UGO, Keith Uhlich wrote, "The best to say about Del Toro's Cannes-honored performance is that it's exhausting—all exterior, no soul, like watching an android run a gauntlet (one that includes grueling physical exertions, tendentious political speechifying, and risible Matt Damon cameos)".[62] Slant magazine gave Che two-and-a-half stars out of four and wrote, "The problem is that, despite his desire to sidestep Hollywood bio-hooey, the director is unable to turn his chilly stance into an ideological perspective, like Roberto Rossellini did in his demythologized portraits of Louis XIV, Garibaldi and Pascal".[63]
In his review for Salon magazine, Andrew O'Hehir wrote, "What Soderbergh has sought to capture here is a grand process of birth and extinguishment, one that produced a complicated legacy in which John McCain, Barack Obama, and Raúl Castro are still enmeshed. There will be plenty of time to argue about the film's (or films') political relevance or lack thereof, to call Soderbergh names for this or that historical omission, for this or that ideological error. He's made something that people will be eager to see and eager to talk about all over the world, something that feels strangely urgent, something messy and unfinished and amazing".[64]
Miami screening and protest[edit]
On 4 December 2008, Che premiered at Miami Beach's Byron Carlyle Theatre, as part of the Art Basel Festival. Taking place only a few miles from Little Havana, which is home to the United States' largest Cuban American community, the invitation-only screening was met with angry demonstrators.[65] The organization Vigilia Mambisa, led by Miguel Saavedra, amassed an estimated 100 demonstrators to decry what they believed would be a favorable depiction of Guevara. Saavedra told reporters from the El Nuevo Herald that "you cannot offend the sensitivities of the people", while describing the film as "a disgrace".[66] A supporter of the demonstration, Miami Beach's mayor Matti Herrera Bower, lamented that the film was shown, while declaring "we must not allow dissemination of this movie".[66] When asked days later about the incident, Del Toro remarked that the ability to speak out was "part of what makes America great" while adding "I find it a little weird that they were protesting without having seen the film, but that's another matter".[67] For his part, Soderbergh later stated that "you have to separate the Cuban nationalist lobby that is centered in Miami from the rest of the country".[68]
Cuban homecoming[edit]
On 7 December 2008, Che premiered at Havana's 5,000+ person Karl Marx Theater as part of the Latin American Film Festival.[69] Benicio Del Toro, who was in attendance, referred to the film as "Cuban history", while remarking that "there's an audience in there ... that could be the most knowledgeable critics of the historical accuracy of the film".[69] The official state paper Granma gave Del Toro a glowing review, professing that he "personifies Che" in both his physical appearance and his "masterly interpretation".[70] After unveiling Che in Havana's Yara Cinema, Del Toro was treated to a 10-minute standing ovation from the 2,000+ strong audience, many of whom were involved in the revolution.[71]
New York City debut[edit]
On 12 December 2008, Che was screened at New York City's sold out 1,100 person Ziegfeld Theater. Upon seeing the first image on the screen (a silhouette of Cuba), the crowd erupted into a raucous cry of "¡Viva, Cuba!"[72] Following the film, and the standing ovation it received, Soderbergh appeared for a post program Q&A.[73] During the sometimes contentious conversation with the audience, in which Soderbergh alternated between defensiveness and modesty, the director categorized Guevara as "a hard ass", to which one audience member yelled out, "Bullshit, he was a murderer!"[72] The filmmaker settled down the crowd and explained, "It doesn't matter whether I agree with him or not—I was interested in Che as a warrior, Che as a guy who had an ideology, who picked up a gun and this was the result. He died the way you would have him die. He was executed the way you would say he executed other people".[73] Soderbergh ended the 1 am Q&A session by noting that he was "agnostic" on Che's standing, but "loyal to the facts", which he insisted were all rigorously sourced.[72]
Venezuela and President Chávez[edit]
On 3 March 2009, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, himself an avowed Marxist and admirer of Che Guevara, greeted Del Toro and co star Bichir at the Presidential Palace in Caracas. The day prior Del Toro attended a screening of the film at a bull-fighting ring-turned cultural center, where he was "mobbed by adoring fans".[74] Del Toro then visited the state-run Cinema Town, a film production facility President Chávez launched to help Venezuela produce its own movies as an alternative to what Chávez calls Hollywood's cultural imperialism. Del Toro described Che as "a totally Latin American movie" and stated that he had "a good meeting with the President".[75]
General reviews[edit]
Part One has a 67% rating at Rotten Tomatoes,[76] while Part Two has an 80% rating.[77] Scott Foundas of the LA Weekly proclaimed Che "nothing if not the movie of the year".[78] In his review for the Village Voice, J. Hoberman wrote, "At its best, Che is both action film and ongoing argument. Each new camera setup seeks to introduce a specific idea—about Che or his situation—and every choreographed battle sequence is a sort of algorithm where the camera attempts to inscribe the event that is being enacted".[79] Hoberman compared Soderbergh's directing style and "non-personalized" historical approach on the film to Otto Preminger's observational use of the moving camera, or one of Roberto Rossellini's "serene" documentaries.[79] Armond White, in his review for the New York Press, wrote, "Out-perversing Gus Van Sant's Milk, Soderbergh makes a four-hour-plus biopic about a historical figure without providing a glimmer of charm or narrative coherence".[80] In his review for The New York Times, A.O. Scott writes, "Mr. Soderbergh once again offers a master class in filmmaking. As history, though, Che is finally not epic but romance. It takes great care to be true to the factual record, but it is, nonetheless, a fairy tale".[81] Sheri Linden, in her review for the Los Angeles Times, wrote, "in this flawed work of austere beauty, the logistics of war and the language of revolution give way to something greater, a struggle that may be defined by politics but can't be contained by it".[82] In her review for the Washington Post, Ann Hornaday wrote, "The best way to encounter Che, is to let go of words like 'film' and 'movie', words that somehow seem inadequate to the task of describing such a mesmerizing, fully immersive cinematic experience. By the end of Che, viewers will likely emerge as if from a trance, with indelibly vivid, if not more ambivalent feelings about Guevara, than the bumper-sticker image they walked in with".[83]
Entertainment Weekly gave a "B+" rating to the first half of the film and a "C-" rating to the second half, and Owen Gleiberman wrote, "As political theater, Che moves from faith to impotence, which is certainly a valid reading of Communism in the 20th century. Yet as drama, that makes the second half of the film borderline deadly ... Che is twice as long as it needs to be, but it is also only half the movie it should have been".[84] James Verniere of The Boston Herald gave the film a B-, describing the work as a new genre of "arthouse guerrilla nostalgia", while lamenting Che as the film version of Alberto Korda's iconic 1960 photograph Guerrillero Heroico. In Verniere's view, so much information was missing, that he recommended one first see The Motorcycle Diaries to fill in the background.[85] In her review for USA Today, Claudia Puig wrote, "With its lyrical beauty and strong performances, the film can be riveting. Its excessive length and rambling scenes also make it maddening. It is worth seeing for its attention to visual detail and ambitious filmmaking, but as a psychological portrait of a compelling historical figure, it is oddly bland and unrevealing".[86] Anthony Lane, in his review for The New Yorker, wrote, "for all the movie's narrative momentum, Che retains the air of a study exercise—of an interest brilliantly explored. How else to explain one's total flatness of feeling at the climax of each movie?"[87] Taking a more positive stance, film critic Chris Barsanti compared Che to a "guerrilla take on Patton", calling it "an exceptionally good" war film, which rivaled The Battle of Algiers in its "you-are-there sensibility".[88] Roger Ebert awarded the film 3.5 our of 4 stars and addressed the film's length: "You may wonder if the film is too long. I think there's a good reason for its length. Guevara's experience in Cuba and especially Bolivia was not a series of events and anecdotes, but a trial of endurance that might almost be called mad".[89]
Film Comment ranked Che as the 22nd best film of 2008 in their "Best Films of 2008" poll.[90] Film critics Roger Ebert,[91] and James Rocchi[92] went further, naming Che one of the best films of 2008. The film appeared on several critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2008.[93]
Looking back at the experience of making Che, Soderbergh has said that he now wishes that he had not made the film and remarked, "Literally I'd wake up and think, 'At least I'm not doing that today.'"[94] The director blamed piracy for the film's financial failure and felt that "It's a film that, to some extent, needs the support of people who write about films. If you'd had all these guys running around talking in accented English you'd [have got] your head taken off".[94]
Del Toro was awarded the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival for his performance in Che and in his acceptance speech dedicated his award "to the man himself, Che Guevara and I want to share this with Steven Soderbergh. He was there pushing it even when there [were lulls] and pushing all of us".[95] Guevara's widow Aleida March, who is president of the Che Guevara Studies Center, sent a congratulatory note to Del Toro upon hearing the news of his award.[96] Del Toro was awarded a 2009 Goya Award as the best Spanish Lead Actor for his depiction of Che.[97] Actor Sean Penn, who won an Oscar for his role in Milk, remarked that he was surprised and disappointed that Che and Del Toro were not also up for any Academy Award nominations. During his acceptance speech for the Best Actor's trophy at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, Penn expressed his dismay stating, "The fact that there aren't crowns on Soderbergh's and Del Toro's heads right now, I don't understand ... that is such a sensational movie, Che."[98] In reference to what Penn deemed a snub, he added "Maybe because it's in Spanish, maybe the length, maybe the politics".[98]
On July 31, 2009, Del Toro was awarded the inaugural Tomas Gutierrez Alea prize at a Havana ceremony attended by U.S. actors Robert Duvall, James Caan and Bill Murray. Named after a prolific Cuban filmmaker, the new award was voted for by the National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba. Del Toro remarked that it was "an honor" to receive the award and thanked Che director Steven Soderbergh.[99]
Che was also awarded "The White Camel", the top award handed out at the sixth annual Sahara International Film Festival, whose ceremony took place during the spring of 2009 in the Wilaya of Dakhla at the Sahrawi refugee camps of 30,000 residents. Executive producer Alvaro Longoria, attended to accept the award when Del Toro couldn't because of filming for The Wolf Man. After dismounting the prize (which was a literal camel) Longoria remarked that "this is real, this is what Benicio and Steven tried to tell in the movie. It's right here, a people fighting a war for their dignity and their land. The principles of Che Guevara are very important to them." However, Longoria returned the live animal before departing, opting for a camel statuette in its place.[100]
Home media[edit]
The film was released on Region 1 DVD in January 2009 exclusively from Blockbuster for 60 days as per an agreement with IFC.[101] The Criterion Collection was originally scheduled to release the film on Region 1 Blu-ray Disc in December 2009.[102] However, the release date was re-scheduled to January 19, 2010. The two-disc Blu-ray Disc release features 1080p video and a Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack (with English subtitles).
Additional supplements include audio commentaries on both films featuring Jon Lee Anderson—author of Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life, and a 20-page booklet featuring an essay by film critic Amy Taubin.[103] There are also three short documentaries on Guevara: Making Che—a documentary about the film's production,[104] Che and the Digital Revolution—a documentary about the Red One Camera technology that was used in the film's production,[104] and End of a Revolution—a 1968 documentary by Brian Moser who was in Bolivia looking for Che when Che was executed.[104][105]
See also[edit]
- ^ "CHE (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 2008-11-24. Retrieved 2013-05-10.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Taubin, Amy (September/October 2008). "Guerrilla Filmmaking on an Epic Scale". Film Comment. Retrieved 2008-09-05.
- ^ a b Box Office Mojo links: The Argentine Worldwide Gross = US$33,195,887 + Guerrilla Worldwide Gross = US$ 7,583,354
- ^ Rodriguez, Rene (January 21, 2009). "Two-Part Movie Che doesn't make Apologies for its Hero". Miami Herald. Retrieved 2009-01-28.[dead link]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Che" (PDF). Festival de Cannes program. 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-06.
- ^ a b c Thomas, William (August 2008). "The Big Preview". Empire. p. 104.
- ^ a b c Johnston, Sheila (December 8, 2008). "Viva Benicio!". Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved 2008-12-19.
- ^ a b Carpenter, Cassie (November 19, 2008). "Che Lives". Backstage.
- ^ Amodio, Joseph V (January 11, 2009). "Fast Chat: Benicio Del Toro in Che". Newsday. Retrieved 2009-07-15.
- ^ "Soderbergh plans Guevara double bill". The Guardian (London). October 31, 2006. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
- ^ Johnston, Sheila (December 29, 2008). "Benicio Del Toro interview". Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved 2009-02-20.
- ^ a b c Alter, Ethan (October 2, 2008). "New York Film Festival Dispatch #2: Che Day". Giant. Retrieved 2008-08-02.
- ^ CNN Video Report by Phil Black: "Che Guevara, Superstar" Aired on May 29, 2008
- ^ a b Axmaker, Sean (January 15, 2009). "Interview: Steven Soderbergh and Che". Parallax View.
- ^ "Che – Interview of Steven Soderbergh". ScreenRush. February 13, 2007. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
- ^ a b "Che: The Diaries of Ernesto Che Guevara". Powell's Books. December 2008. Retrieved 2009-02-19.
- ^ a b c Olsen, Mark (October 31, 2008). "Soderbergh takes a revolutionary approach to Che". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-11-02.
- ^ a b "Got 4 hours to kill? Steven Soderbergh can help". CNN. 2008-05-23. Archived from the original on May 26, 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-22.
- ^ a b c d Taubin, Amy (March 2007). "Degraded Dupes Steven Soderbergh". Sight and Sound. Retrieved 2008-05-06.
- ^ a b Thompson, Anne (May 19, 2008). "Buyers waiting for Che". Variety. Retrieved 2008-05-21.
- ^ a b c d e Guillen, Michael (January 17, 2009). "CHE – The Evening Class Interview with Steven Soderbergh". The Evening Class. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
- ^ a b c d e Kenigsberg, Ben (November 13–19, 2008). "Guerrillas in the Mist". Time Out Chicago. Retrieved 2008-11-12.
- ^ Kaufman, Anthony (December 5, 2008). "Viva La Revolution: Steven Soderbergh Rebels Again with Che". indieWIRE. Retrieved 2008-12-07.[dead link]
- ^ Phillips, Michael (January 22, 2009). "Behind the scenes of Che with Steven Soderbergh". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
- ^ "Edgar Ramirez talks about working on The Argentine and Guerrilla for Steven Soderbergh". Collider.com. February 10, 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-11.
- ^ Olsen, Mark (December 11, 2008). "Benicio Del Toro leads the charge for Che". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ a b c Jeffries, Stuart (16 December 2008). "Rebel Without a Pause". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2008-12-16.
- ^ Jones, Michael (September 29, 2008). "NYFF: Soderbergh on Che". Variety. Retrieved 2008-09-30.
- ^ War is swell?
- ^ Thompson, Anne (September 10, 2008). "Toronto Watch: Che Goes to IFC". Variety. Retrieved 2008-09-10.
- ^ Longworth, Karina (September 30, 2008). "Che Release Strategy". SpoutBlog. Retrieved 2008-10-01.
- ^ McClintock, Pamela (January 8, 2009). "Che' motors to extended run at IFC". Variety. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
- ^ Knegt, Peter (January 18, 2009). "Weekend Estimates: Fox Searchlight Having Great MLK Weekend". indieWire. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
- ^ "IFC Films announces release plan for Che". IndependentFilm.com. November 14, 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-03.
- ^ Wells, Jeffrey (April 28, 2008). "Lawrence of Latin America". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 2008-05-05.
- ^ Goldstein, Gregg (July 31, 2008). "A Cannes of worms for indie films". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2008-07-31.[dead link]
- ^ "New York Film Festival Announces Lineup". The New York Sun. August 13, 2008. Retrieved 2008-08-13.
- ^ Thompson, Anne (August 13, 2008). "Toronto fest adds 20 films to lineup". Variety. Retrieved 2008-08-14.
- ^ Howell, Peter (August 30, 2008). "TIFF's must-see films". Toronto Star. Retrieved 2008-08-30.
- ^ a b Olsen, Mark (November 14, 2008). "Argentina Screens Che Film". Prensa Latina. Retrieved 2008-11-29.
- ^ a b "Del Toro Brings Che to France". ITN. November 19, 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-29.
- ^ "Cinema of the World Brings Kaleidoscope of Drama". Zawya. November 20, 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-29.
- ^ DiOrio, Carl (December 14, 2008). "Torino and Che solid in limited release". Reuters. Retrieved 2008-12-16.
- ^ DiOrio, Carl (December 19, 2008). "Full-length Che extending theatrical run". Reuters. Retrieved 2008-12-19.
- ^ Knegt, Peter (January 8, 2009). "IFC Takes Che Back On The Road". indieWIRE. Retrieved 2009-01-09.[dead link]
- ^ Adams, Sam (January 14, 2009). "Guerrilla Filmmaking". Philadelphia City Paper. Retrieved 2009-01-16.
- ^ McNary, Dave (January 30, 2009). "Rough road for Soderbergh's Che". Variety. Retrieved 2009-02-02.
- ^ "Che". The Numbers. Retrieved 2009-06-24.
- ^ What Is Really The Story On Moneyball? « Movie City News
- ^ Thompson, Anne. Variety http://weblogs.variety.com/thompsononhollywood/2009/07/moneyball-redux.html
missing title (help).[dead link] - ^ a b Thompson, Anne (May 21, 2008). "Cannes: Che Meets Mixed Response". Variety. Retrieved 2008-05-22.
- ^ Rocchi, James (May 21, 2008). "Cannes Review: Che". Cinematical. Retrieved 2008-05-22.
- ^ Billington, Alex (May 26, 2008). "Why You Should Take an Interest in Steven Soderbergh's Che". FirstShowing.net. Retrieved 2008-05-22.
- ^ McCarthy, Todd (May 21, 2008). "Che". Variety. Archived from the original on 2008-07-27. Retrieved 2008-05-22.
- ^ Kenny, Glenn (May 22, 2008). "The Revolution By Night: Steven Soderbergh's Che". indieWIRE. Retrieved 2008-05-22.[dead link]
- ^ Bradshaw, Peter (May 22, 2008). "Che". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2008-05-22.
- ^ Garrett, Stephen (May 22, 2008). "First Look from Cannes: A Review of Steven Soderbergh's Che". Esquire. Retrieved 2008-05-22.
- ^ Corliss, Richard (May 22, 2008). "Soderbergh and Tarantino: Warrior Auteurs". Time. Retrieved 2008-05-22.
- ^ O'Hehir, Andrew (May 22, 2008). "Soderbergh's spectacular Che-volution". Salon.com. Retrieved 2008-05-22.
- ^ a b c Dargis, Manohla (October 2, 2008). "Revolutionary Hero, Relentless Heroine". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-10-03.
- ^ Kenny, Glenn (October 2, 2008). "Caring versus Not Caring". Some Came Running. Retrieved 2008-10-06.
- ^ Uhlich, Keith (October 2, 2008). "Che Review". UGO. Retrieved 2008-10-06.
- ^ Croce, Fernando F (September 26, 2008). "Che". Slant. Retrieved 2008-10-06.
- ^ O'Hehir, Andrew (October 6, 2008). "Doc Hudson vs. Che Guevara". Salon Magazine. Retrieved 2009-02-20.
- ^ "Angry protests at Che premiere". Reuters. December 6, 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-14.
- ^ a b Chavez, Juan Carlos (December 4, 2008). "Cuban exiles protesting the showing of Che". El Nuevo Herald.
- ^ DiOrio, Carl (December 7, 2008). "Benicio Del Toro brings Che home". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2008-12-10.[dead link]
- ^ Taylor, Kate (February 15, 2009). "The Revolutionary, The Filmmaker". Globe and Mail (Toronto). Retrieved 2009-03-25.
- ^ a b Neill, Morgan (December 9, 2008). "Che Film gets Thumbs Up in Cuba". CNN. Retrieved 2008-12-16.
- ^ Castañeda, Mireya (December 11, 2008). "Benicio del Toro presents Soderbergh's Che". Digital Granma Internacional.
- ^ Sullivan, Chris (December 12, 2008). "Benicio Del Toro: Viva la revolution!". The Independent (London). Retrieved 2008-12-16.
- ^ a b c Abelson, Max; Matt Haber (December 15, 2008). "The Importance of Being Ernesto: Soderbergh Unspools Four-Hour-Plus Che to Cheers, Cries of 'Murderer'". New York Observer. Retrieved 2008-12-19.
- ^ a b Knegt, Peter; Eugene Hernandez (December 15, 2008). "Torino, Doubt Lead Parade of Oscar Hopefuls, Che's "Roadshow" Plays To Sold Out Crowds". indieWIRE. Retrieved 2008-12-16. [dead link]
- ^ "Benicio del Toro meets Hugo Chávez". Associated Press (New York). March 5, 2008. Retrieved 2009-03-06.
- ^ Brooks, Xan (March 5, 2008). "Benicio del Toro meets Hugo Chávez". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2009-03-06.
- ^ "Che Part One". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2009-09-16.
- ^ "Che Part Two". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2009-09-16.
- ^ Foundas, Scott (October 29, 2008). "AFI Fest: A to W". Los Angeles Weekly. Retrieved 2008-12-19.
- ^ a b Hoberman, J (December 9, 2008). "Steven Soderbergh's Che". Village Voice. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
- ^ White, Armond (December 10, 2008). "On a Revolutionary Road". New York Press. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
- ^ Scott, A.O (December 12, 2008). "Saluting the Rebel Underneath the T-Shirt". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
- ^ Linden, Sheri (December 12, 2008). "Che". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-12-13.
- ^ Hornaday, Ann (January 16, 2009). "Che: A Vivid Portrait Of a Charismatic Man". Washington Post. Retrieved 2009-02-08.
- ^ Gleiberman, Owen (January 7, 2009). "Che". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2009-01-08.
- ^ Verniere, James (January 16, 2009). "Che: Guerrilla Monkey Business". Boston Herald. Retrieved 2009-01-08.
- ^ Puig, Claudia (January 9, 2009). "Che loses battle to get to the root of a revolutionary". USA Today. Retrieved 2009-01-09.
- ^ Lane, Anthony (January 9, 2009). "Che's Way". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2009-01-12.
- ^ Barsanti, Chris (January 9, 2009). "Guerrilla Patton". Pop Matters. Retrieved 2009-01-09.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (January 14, 2008). "Che". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2009-01-26.
- ^ "Best Films of 2008". Film Comment. January/February 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-09.
- ^ Ebert, Roger (December 5, 2008). "The Best Films of 2008". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
- ^ Rocchi, James (December 17, 2008). "James Rocchi's Picks for 2008". AMC. Retrieved 2008-12-19.
- ^ "Metacritic: 2008 Film Critic Top Ten Lists". Metacritic. Retrieved January 11, 2009.[dead link]
- ^ a b Barnes, Henry (July 14, 2009). "Steven Soderbergh: 'I can see the end of my career'". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2009-07-15.
- ^ Hernandez, Eugene; Brian Brooks (May 25, 2008). "Laurent Cantent's The Class Wins the Palme d'Or". indieWIRE. Retrieved 2008-05-25. [dead link]
- ^ "Che's Widow Congratulates P. Rican Actor". Prensa Latina. May 29, 2008.
- ^ Rolfe, Pamela (February 1, 2009). "Camino Leads Goya Awards with Six Nods". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2009-02-01.[dead link]
- ^ a b "Penn Surprised over Toro's Absence from Nominations List". The Hindu (Chennai, India). February 8, 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-14.
- ^ Havana Ceremony Honours Del Toro by BBC News, July 31, 2009
- ^ A Desert Film Festival Complete With Camels by Andy Isaacson, The New York Times, July 28, 2009
- ^ Ault, Susanne (December 19, 2008). "IFC's Che gets close theater, VOD, DVD release". Video Business. Retrieved 2009-02-02.
- ^ DeBruge, Peter (September 1, 2009). "IFC, Criterion pact for homevideo". Variety. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
- ^ "Criterion Announces Che for Blu-ray". High Def Digest. October 16, 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-21.
- ^ a b c Che: The Criterion Collection (Blu-ray) by Christopher Long, DVD Town, January 16, 2010
- ^ DVD Review: Che Shines by Amanda Mae Meyncke, Film.com, January 15, 2010
- Movie Can Clarify Vision of Rebel Che Guevara by Gary Olson, Baltimore Chronicle, February 15, 2008
- Dammit, This Guy is Cool by Simon Hattenstone, The Guardian, November 29, 2008
- Soderbergh Brings his Guevara Epic to Miami by Tim Elfrink, Miami New Times, December 9, 2008
- Revolution in Shades of Gray by Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com, December 12, 2008
- Che: The Inspiring Life of a Vibrant Revolutionary by The Socialist Worker, December 15, 2008
- Che, Cannes and Hi-Def Video by Scott Foundas, Los Angeles Weekly, January 14, 2009
- Becoming Che by Marc Savlov, The Austin Chronicle, January 23, 2009
- Benicio del Toro Talks About Che: The Man And The Movie by Peter Kornbluh, The Huffington Post, February 2, 2009
- Behold the Man: Steven Soderbergh's Epic Film Biography of Che by J. Hoberman, Virginian Quarterly Review, Winter 2009 Issue
- The Young Castro Comes Alive Through Actor Demian Bichir's Performance by Brad Balfour, The Huffington Post, May 8, 2009
- Che's Revolutionary Example by Stuart Munckton, Green Left, October 25, 2009
External links[edit]
- Official website
- Che: Part One at the Internet Movie Database
- Che: Part Two at the Internet Movie Database
- Che at Box Office Mojo
- Che: Part One at Rotten Tomatoes
- Che: Part Two at Rotten Tomatoes
- Che at Metacritic
- Photo Gallery: Del Toro as Che from the New York Post
- CNN Video Interview: "Soderbergh on Che" ----> Part 1 / Part 2
- MSNBC's Morning Joe: Video Interview with Benicio Del Toro
- NPR Audio Report: Benicio Del Toro Takes On Che
- Time Magazine Photo Essay: Behind the Scenes on the Set of Che
- Guardian Video Interview: Benicio del Toro on Che Guevara: "He was not Tarzan"
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Deep Vein Thrombosis (cont.)IN THIS ARTICLE
SurgerySurgery to remove a blood clot is rare. It's only considered if the blood clot is very large and is blocking a major blood vessel. Surgery increases the risk of forming new blood clots. Other TreatmentVena cava filters are used for some people who have deep vein thrombosis. This is not a common treatment. A vena cava filter is inserted into the vena cava, the large vein that returns blood to the heart from the abdomen and legs. This filter can prevent blood clots from traveling to the lungs (pulmonary embolism). But the filter doesn't stop a clot from forming. Vena cava filters might be used if you:
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Jonathan M. Belden, 23, 802 Franklin St., Apt. 3, was charged Watertown police early Thursday morning with fourth-degree criminal mischief and second-degree governmental administration.
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Conqueror Paper celebrated ten years of production in India with "Colours of India", a print advertising campaign featuring faces composed of rolls of paper seen end on: Spiritual Guru, Royal Rajput and Kathakali Dancer. The campaign, developed for Transasia Fine Papers, won gold for Print at the 2010 Clio Awards. "Celebrating a decade in the land of a million hues".
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Evangelical Free "Union" Church and Alden House on Hamilton Street Southbridge Massachusetts
Dublin Core
Evangelical Free "Union" Church and Alden House on Hamilton Street Southbridge Massachusetts
Church buildings--Massachusetts--Southbridge; Church architecture--Massachusetts--Southbridge; Parsonages--United States--Massachusetts--Southbridge; Southbridge(Mass.)--History; Historic buildings--Massachusetts--Southbridge; Historic buildings--New England; Architecture--United States--19th century; Southbridge (Mass.)--Pictorial works
The Evangelical Free "Union" Church was organized in 1854. The agent, executives of the Hamilton Woolen Company and other Globe Village businessmen initiated the construction project. As a consequence, it was often referred to as the Mill Church. The present structure was built in 1869. A large brick church with an impressive tower is shown. Built during a time when the designs of Protestant churches were changing from the severe and symmetrical Romanesque Revival, to the more imposing and complicated Victorian Gothic. The Romanesque Revival elements in this church are its regular fenestration, the tight, brisk articulation of the brick corbel tables, and the round arches. It's Victorian Gothic look is suggested by the imposing steeple with it's polychromatic roof slates. Romanesque motifs were preferred by the low churches. The Church is located on Hamilton Street in the Globe Village section of Southbridge. The rose window dominates the front of the building with its intricate stain glass. Steps lead to the stoop where the main entrance is located. There is an entrance to the east side of the church as well. In 1905, the Episcopal congregation named their mission Holy Trinity Church. Adjacent to the church is a three story, Stick Style clapboard building, known as the Alden House. This building is the best example of the Stick Style in Southbridge, although there are others in Southbridge, they tend to be more restrained in their composition. Wide flush boards articulate the structural skeleton of the house. It later became a parsonage. A small porch is located on the right side of the house. A triangular window is built out from the roof, over the main entrance. A metal fence around the perimeter of the roof top is viewable. Two chimneys appear through the roof. A woman in full-length clothing is standing in front of the dwelling. A water hydrant is situated on the pavement, just in front of the entrance to the house. Trees are dotted on each side of the road. A sidewalk is visible on the north side of the road, permitting access to the church and the dwelling. Electricity poles are running parallel to the dirt road. The Alden family also had a commercial enterprise on West Main Street and the building was known as the Alden Building.
Pease, Aaron H.
Image from page 25 of the A.H. Pease album #2
C/WMARS http://www.cwmars.org/
Is part of the photographic collection of the Jacob Edwards Library, Southbridge, Massachusetts. http://www.jacobedwardslibrary.org
42 degrees 04' N72 degrees 02' W
Pease, Aaron H., "Evangelical Free "Union" Church and Alden House on Hamilton Street Southbridge Massachusetts," Digital Commonwealth , accessed March 12, 2014, http://digitalcommonwealth.org/items/show/1278.


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U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Jacob Lew discusses the impact of efforts to get the U.S. economy back into shape, including efforts to shape a budget and the unintended consequences of the sequester.
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Love American Homes picked a winning design in their print & packaging design contest
For just $195, they received 22 designs from 3 designers.
From logos and business cards to websites and stationery, you can get anything designed by running your own design contest on 99designs.
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TELESALES OPPORTUNITY * ARE LOOKING FOR SOMEONE WHO ENJOYS THE SALES ENVIRONMENT * TARGET DRIVEN * GOOD TELEPHONE MANNER * HAPPY TO COLD CALL * WORKS ON OWN INITIATIVE If this is you call us on 01284 755100 We are Bury St Edmunds based, working from Monday-Friday 9am-5pm and offer a generous basic with OTE OF £22,000 - £30,000 Email CV via the apply online button
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The Mountaineers (8-9, 1-3 Big 12) now have three losses to teams No. 120 or worse in the RPI (Davidson, Duquesne and Purdue) and just one win against a top 100 team - and No. 72 Eastern Kentucky was well above 100 when the Mountaineers won their Dec. 30 game. Purdue was No. 121 entering Saturday's game.
WVU has nine games left against the RPI top 100 and not much time remaining. This is the latest in a season the Mountaineers have been under .500 since the conclusion of the 2002-03 season - and that team was 11-6 after 17 games before finishing 14-15.
A loss in Wednesday's 7:30 p.m. home game on ESPN2 against TCU (9-9, 0-5) would create a four-game losing streak, the Mountaineers' longest under Huggins.
"I continue to tell them, 'Just give me seven or eight guys,' " Huggins said. "I really don't care which seven or eight, as long as they digest the scouting report and do what they're asked to do and pass the ball."
The Mountaineers have five road games left against top 100 teams. They're 1-4 on the road, with 34- and 27-point losses, a loss when ahead by 15 points, a loss in the final seconds when down 18 in the second half and a win after trailing by 13 in the second half.
The Mountaineers shot 29.4 percent and missed 15 of 18 3-point shots before 14,677 fervent fans Saturday.
They started 2-for-11 in the first half and 0-for-8 in the second half and needed to play more than 30 minutes before two players had more than one basket.
Yet they were also outrebounded by 10 and committed 17 turnovers that gave Purdue 22 points. In addition to bad and sometimes awful passes, WVU was guilty of travels, offensive fouls, a three-seconds violation and three double dribbles. WVU was averaging 12 turnovers per game, or one fewer than it had in the first half.
"We don't have the same type of fight that we should have playing for a coach that, I would say, has a lot of fight and who has had great teams that were not always the most talented teams, but teams that always competed," Staten said. "Coach used to have teams that competed and when you have a team that you don't feel competes, it drives you crazy. We all understand where he's coming from."
Purdue - a team that had lost to Bucknell in November and Eastern Michigan in December in non-conference play and had a 23-point loss to Michigan State in Big Ten play this month - shot 53.8 percent in the second half. The Boilermakers made 8 of 11 3-point shots in the game and had 36 points in the paint and 23 second-chance points.
"We used to give guys quizzes after the scouting report to see what they actually learned," Huggins said. "I'm not sure if we don't do it now for them or for me. We've got a whole bunch of guys who wouldn't get any right.
"We don't take anything away. This is not what I've built a career on. We let them do what they want to do. We let them throw it where they want to throw it. We let them drive it where they wanted to drive it. We just do the most inexplicable things I've ever seen."
Contact sportswriter Mike Casazza at mi...@dailymail.com or 304-319-1142. His blog is at blogs.dailymail.com/wvu.


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Federal Drive Interviews -- March 13, 2013
David Krieg, a human capital officer at the IRS, talks about an OPM guide that encourages agencies to invest in developing SES members' skills. Molly Hooper, the Capitol Hill reporter for The Hill newspaper, discusses the various budget plans being floated by Congress.
Tags: Federal Drive , Molly Hooper
Agencies making inroads with workforce, succession planning
IRS, DoD and Interior all are pursuing an assortment of initiatives to prepare for personnel reductions. DoD will release an updated workforce strategic plan by 2015. The IRS is using an online assessment tool to measure how ready employees are to move into leadership positions. Interior is getting managers to understand their important role in workforce planning.
Tags: workforce , DoD , Paige Hinkle Bowles , IRS , Interior Department , Pam Malam , succession planning , HCMF conference , Chief Human Capital Officer , Jason Miller


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Meghan McDougall, left, and Boy Scout Dillon Hutson serve pie and whipped topping Sunday at a Thanksgiving dinner at the Moose Lodge in Williamsport. (By Ric Dugan, Staff Photographer / November 18, 2012) |
Just like many peoples' family Thanksgiving gatherings, there was good food, laughter and some good-natured ribbing during the Williamsport Moose Lodge's fourth annual community Thanksgiving meal on Sunday.
Graham Blair, 16, ate a piece of chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting, known as "wacky cake" by his family.
Asked by a family member if it was as good as the wacky cake made by his mom, Terri Blair, he said, "Yes, it is."
"How rude," responded his mother, good-naturedly, from across the table.
Graham said it had been awhile since his mom fixed the cake at home. Terri Blair said she got the hint and would make one later that day.
"The guilt trip has worked," said Terri Blair, of Keedysville.
Fourteen family members, including the family of Blair and her sister, Gail Bennett, gathered at Williamsport Moose Lodge 2462 off North Conococheague Street to enjoy the lodge's community meal.
The wacky cake has been a tradition for at least three generations, Bennett said. Bennett said her late mother, Juanita Michael of Halfway, and Michael's mother, Bessie Ausherman of Williamsport, also made it.
"I have no idea why they call it wacky cake," said Bennett, 57, of Halfway.
"My brother is a (Moose) member and he said the donation would help feed the needy, and we wanted to help," Bennett said of the family gathering Sunday at the lodge.
Any monetary donations given during Sunday's community meal will help provide food for needy families during the 2013 Christmas season, said Frank Weaver, lodge governor.
The lodge already has raised the money to provide several area families with food for the week before Christmas, including a ham and a turkey for each family, Weaver said.
The lodge will provide the food to five families each from Williamsport Elementary, Hickory Elementary, Springfield Middle and Williamsport High schools, and provide food to Holly Place residents, Weaver said.
This is the fourth year the lodge has provided food for families around Christmas, he said.
The lodge fed 183 people Sunday, including 15 people at Holly Place, said Melissa Weaver, the lodge's recorder. Holly Place is a nonprofit assisted-living facility for low-income seniors.
In addition to the Sunday meals for Holly Place residents, the lodge was going to give Holly Place the leftovers from Sunday's meal, Frank Weaver said.
Weaver said local groups helped provide Sunday's meal, and the lodge had so many people volunteer to help Sunday that some volunteers had to be turned away.
Dot Foods donated a dozen 19-pound turkeys, said Clint Rawlings, past governor for the lodge.
Holsum donated the bread, Homewood Retirement Center donated desserts and paper products, and the Young Professionals donated pies, cooked two turkeys and helped carve turkeys Sunday, Frank Weaver said.
Among those enjoying a holiday meal together were Pat and Jack Downin, who live west of Williamsport, and their granddaughter, Nevaeh Silvers, who is almost 3 years old and whose name is "heaven" spelled backward.
Nevaeh and Pat appeared to be taking food from each other's plates and bowls and putting it on the other's.
"She likes the mashed potatoes, but no gravy," Pat said of her granddaughter. And while Nevaeh likes salad, on Sunday she started out sharing some of hers with Pat, or "Mimi," before testing the three-second rule on some salad that hit the floor.
This was the second year the family was enjoying the holiday meal at the Moose lodge.
Jack Downin is a member of the Mercersburg (Pa.) Moose, but the family came to the local lodge to be with family and other people. They said they were grateful for the local lodge's hard work and the community meal.
Pat Downin said she still plans to prepare a Thanksgiving meal on Thursday that will include a turkey, as well as pork and sauerkraut, a tradition passed on from her late mother, Louise Stevens.
Stevens used to prepare the turkey, pork and sauerkraut, and a dish called scalloped oysters for her family, which included 10 children, said Pat Downin, who grew up in Clear Spring. Scalloped oysters are baked layers of crackers and oysters with butter and milk, said Downin, the youngest of the 10 children.


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Archbishop pressured O'Malley over his Catholic faith on same-sex marriage
- Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - Letters released by Gov. Martin O'Malley's office show that he and the archbishop of Baltimore were at odds over a same-sex marriage bill.
The letters released Monday reveal that two days before O'Malley announced plans to sponsor a same-sex marriage bill, Archbishop Edwin O'Brien of Baltimore urged that he reconsider the move.
O'Brien said in a July 20 letter that sponsoring the bill would "deeply conflict" with O'Malley's Catholic faith.
The Washington Post reports O'Malley responded, saying "when shortcomings in our laws bring about a result that is unjust, I have a public obligation to try to change that injustice."
A same-sex marriage bill cleared the state Senate this year but was pulled from the House floor after vote-counters determined they were a few votes short of a majority.
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This article appears to be written like an advertisement. (February 2014) |
Location | Mill Run, Pennsylvania |
Nearest city | Uniontown |
Coordinates | 39°54′22″N 79°28′5″W / 39.90611°N 79.46806°WCoordinates: 39°54′22″N 79°28′5″W / 39.90611°N 79.46806°W |
Built | 1936–1939 |
Architect | Frank Lloyd Wright |
Architectural style | Modern Architecture |
Visitation | about 135,000 |
Governing body | Western Pennsylvania Conservancy |
NRHP Reference # | 74001781[1] |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | July 23, 1974[1] |
Designated NHL | May 23, 1966[3] |
Designated PHMC | May 15, 1994[2] |
Fallingwater or Kaufmann Residence is a house designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1935 in rural southwestern Pennsylvania, 43 miles (69 km) southeast of Pittsburgh.[4] The home was built partly over a waterfall on Bear Run in the Mill Run section of Stewart Township, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, in the Laurel Highlands of the Allegheny Mountains.
Hailed by Time shortly after its completion as Wright's "most beautiful job",[5] it is listed among Smithsonian's Life List of 28 places "to visit before you die."[6] It was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1966.[3] In 1991, members of the American Institute of Architects named the house the "best all-time work of American architecture" and in 2007, it was ranked twenty-ninth on the list of America's Favorite Architecture according to the AIA.
At age 67, Frank Lloyd Wright was given the opportunity to re-emerge on the architectural scene with his design and construction of three buildings. His three great works of the late 1930s—Fallingwater, the Johnson Wax Building in Racine, Wisconsin, and the Herbert Jacobs house in Madison, Wisconsin—brought him back into prominence in the architectural community.[7]
Edgar Kaufmann Sr. was a successful Pittsburgh businessman and president of Kaufmann's Department Store. His son, Edgar Kaufmann, Jr., studied architecture briefly under Wright.
Edgar Sr. had been prevailed upon by his son and Wright to subsidize the cost of a 12 foot square model of Wright's Broadacre City. The model was initially displayed at an Industrial Arts Exposition in the Forum at the Rockefeller Center starting on April 15, 1935. After the New York exposition, Kaufmann Sr. arranged to have the model displayed in Pittsburgh at an exposition titled "New Homes for Old", sponsored by the Federal Housing Administration. The exposition opened on June 18 on the 11th floor of Kaufmann's store.[8]
The Kaufmanns lived in "La Tourelle", a French Norman estate designed by celebrated Pittsburgh architect Benno Janssen (1874–1964) in the stylish Fox Chapel suburb in 1923 for Edgar J. Kaufmann. Wright visited Bear Run on Tuesday, December 18.[9] The Kaufmanns and Wright were enjoying refreshments at La Tourelle when Wright, who never missed an opportunity to charm a potential client, said to Edgar Jr. in tones that the elder Kaufmanns were intended to overhear, "Edgar, this house is not worthy of your parents..."[citation needed] The remark spurred the Kaufmanns' interest in something worthier. Fallingwater would become the end result.
The Kaufmanns owned property outside Pittsburgh with a waterfall and cabins they used as a rural retreat. When the cabins deteriorated, Mr. Kaufmann contacted Wright.
On December 18, 1934, Wright visited Bear Run and asked for a survey of the area around the waterfall. One was prepared by Fayette Engineering Company of Uniontown, Pennsylvania including all the site's boulders, trees and topography, and forwarded to Wright in March 1935.[8]
As reported by Wright's apprentices at Taliesin, Kaufmann Sr. was in Milwaukee on September 22, nine months after their initial meeting, and called Wright at home early Sunday morning to surprise him with the news that he would be visiting Wright that day before lunch. He could not wait to see Wright's plans. Wright had told Kaufmann in earlier communication that he had been working on the plans, but had not actually drawn anything. After breakfast that morning, amid a group of very nervous apprentices, Wright calmly drew the plans in the two hours in which it took Kaufmann to drive to the Taliesin.[10]
It was at this time that Kaufmann first became aware that Wright intended to build the home above the falls,[11] rather than below them to afford a view of the cascades as he had expected.[12] It is said that Kaufmann was initially very upset that Wright had designed the house to sit atop the falls. He had wanted the house located on the southern bank of Bear Run, directly facing the falls. He had told Wright that was his favorite aspect of the Bear Run property.[9]
Design and construction[edit]
Once Wright had decided the location of the house, he had the obvious problem of building it there. The location of the north bank of Bear Run was not large enough to provide a foundation for a typically built Wright house.[9]
Beyond this issue, there were also the clients' needs that had to be met. The Kaufmanns planned to entertain large groups of people, so the house would need to be larger than the plot allowed. Also, Mr. and Mrs. Kaufmann requested separate bedrooms as well as a bedroom for their adult son and an additional guest room.[9]
Wright's solution to the problem of space came when he decided on a cantilevered structure.[9] The structural design for Fallingwater was undertaken by Wright in association with staff engineers Mendel Glickman and William Wesley Peters, who had been responsible for the columns featured in Wright's revolutionary design for the Johnson Wax Headquarters.
Preliminary plans were issued to Kaufmann for approval on October 15, 1935,[13] after which Wright made a further visit to the site and provided a cost estimate for the job. In December 1935 an old rock quarry was reopened to the west of the site to provide the stones needed for the house's walls. Wright only made periodic visits during construction, instead assigning his apprentice Robert Mosher as his permanent on-site representative.[13] The final working drawings were issued by Wright in March 1936 with work beginning on the bridge and main house in April 1936.
The construction was plagued by conflicts between Wright, Kaufmann, and the construction contractor. Uncomfortable with what he saw as Wright's insufficient experience using reinforced concrete, Kaufmann had the architect's daring cantilever design reviewed by a firm of consulting engineers. Upon receiving their report, Wright took offense and immediately requested Kaufmann to return his drawings and indicated he was withdrawing from the project. Kaufmann relented to Wright's gambit and the engineer's report was subsequently buried within a stone wall of the house.[13]
After a visit to the site in June 1936, Wright rejected the stonemasonry of the bridge, which had to be rebuilt.[citation needed]
For the cantilevered floors, Wright and his team used upside down T-shaped beams integrated into a monolithic concrete slab which both formed the ceiling of the space below and provided resistance against compression. The contractor, Walter Hall, also an engineer, produced independent computations and argued for increasing the reinforcing steel in the first floor's slab. Wright refused the suggestion. While some sources state that it was the contractor who quietly doubled the amount of reinforcement,[14] according to others,[13] it was at Kaufmann's request that his consulting engineers redrew Wright's reinforcing drawings and doubled the amount of steel specified by Wright.
In addition, the contractor did not build in a slight upward incline in the formwork for the cantilever to compensate for the settling and deflection of the cantilever. Once the concrete formwork was removed, the cantilever developed a noticeable sag. Upon learning of the steel addition without his approval, Wright recalled Mosher.[15]
With Kaufmann's approval, the consulting engineers arranged for the contractor to install a supporting wall under the main supporting beam for the west terrace. When Wright discovered it on a site visit he had Mosher discreetly remove the top course of stones. When Kaufmann later confessed to what had been done, Wright showed him what Mosher had done and pointed out that the cantilever had held up for the past month under test loads without the wall's support.[16]
In October 1937, the main house was completed.
The home and guest house cost US$155,000,[17][18] broken down as follows: house $75,000; finishing and furnishing $22,000; guest house, garage and servants' quarters $50,000; architect's fee $8,000. From 1938 through 1941 more than $22,000 would be spent on additional details and for changes in the hardware and lighting.[19]
The total project price of $155,000, adjusted for inflation, is the equivalent of approximately $2.6 million in 2013. A reflection of the relative cost of the project in its time is that the cost of restoration alone in 2009 was reported at $11.4 million.[citation needed]
Use of the house[edit]
Fallingwater was the family's weekend home from 1937 to 1963. In 1963, Kaufmann, Jr. donated the property to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. In 1964, it was opened to the public as a museum. Nearly five million people have visited the house as of March 2013. Despite its location in a remote corner of Pennsylvania, the house (according to the informational pamphlet distributed on the grounds) hosts more than 150,000 visitors each year.[18]
Kaufmann, Jr. years later said, "He [Wright] understood that people were creatures of nature, hence an architecture which conformed to nature would conform to what was basic in people. For example, although all of Falling Water [sic] is opened by broad bands of windows, people inside are sheltered as in a deep cave, secure in the sense of the hill behind them." [20]
Fallingwater stands as one of Wright's greatest masterpieces both for its dynamism and for its integration with the striking natural surroundings. Fallingwater has been described as an architectural tour de force of Wright's organic philosophy.[21] Wright's passion for Japanese architecture was strongly reflected in the design of Fallingwater, particularly in the importance of interpenetrating exterior and interior spaces and the strong emphasis placed on harmony between man and nature. Contemporary Japanese architect Tadao Ando has stated: "I think Wright learned the most important aspect of architecture, the treatment of space, from Japanese architecture. When I visited Fallingwater in Pennsylvania, I found that same sensibility of space. But there was the additional sounds of nature that appealed to me."[22]
The extent of Wright's genius in integrating every detail of his design can only be hinted at in photographs. This organically designed private residence was intended to be a nature retreat for its owners. The house is well known for its connection to the site; it is built on top of an active waterfall which flows beneath the house.
The fireplace hearth in the living room integrates boulders found on the site and upon which the house was built — ledge rock which protrudes up to a foot through the living room floor was left in place to demonstrably link the outside with the inside. Wright had initially intended that the ledge be cut flush with the floor, but this had been one of the Kaufmann family's favorite sunning spots, so Mr. Kaufmann suggested that it be left as it was.[citation needed] The stone floors are waxed, while the hearth is left plain, giving the impression of dry rocks protruding from a stream.
Integration with the setting extends even to small details. For example, where glass meets stone walls there is no metal frame; rather, the glass and its horizontal dividers were run into a caulked recess in the stonework so that the stone walls appear uninterrupted by glazing. From the cantilevered living room, a stairway leads directly down to the stream below, and in a connecting space which connects the main house with the guest and servant level, a natural spring drips water inside, which is then channeled back out. Bedrooms are small, some with low ceilings to encourage people outward toward the open social areas, decks, and outdoors.
Bear Run and the sound of its water permeate the house, especially during the spring when the snow is melting, and locally quarried stone walls and cantilevered terraces resembling the nearby rock formations are meant to be in harmony. The design incorporates broad expanses of windows and balconies which reach out into their surroundings. The staircase leading down from the living room to the stream (mentioned above) is accessed via movable horizontal glass panes. In conformance with Wright's views, the main entry door is away from the falls.
On the hillside above the main house stands a four-bay carport, servants' quarters, and a guest house. These attached outbuildings were built two years later using the same quality of materials and attention to detail as the main house. The guest quarters feature a spring-fed swimming pool which overflows and drains to the river below.
After Fallingwater was deeded to the public, three carport bays were enclosed at the direction of Kaufmann, Jr., to be used by museum visitors to view a presentation at the end of their guided tours on the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy (to which the home was entrusted). Kaufmann, Jr. designed its interior himself, to specifications found in other Fallingwater interiors by Wright.
Fallingwater inspired the fictional Vandamm residence at Mount Rushmore in the 1959 Alfred Hitchcock film North by Northwest.[23]
Wright had planned in the beginning to have the house blend in to its natural settings in rural Pennsylvania.[24] In doing this he limited his color choices to two colors. The colors he chose were light ochre for the concrete and his signature Cherokee red for the steel.[25]
Repair work[edit]
The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy conducted an intensive program to preserve and restore Fallingwater. From 1988, a New York City-based architecture and engineering firm was responsible for the materials conservation of Fallingwater. During this time the firm reviewed original construction documents and subsequent repair reports, evaluated conditions and problems, analyzed select materials, designed the re-roofing and re-waterproofing of roofs and terraces, specified the restoration for original steel casement windows and doors, reconstructed failed concrete reconstructions, restored the masonry, analyzed interior paint finishes, specified interior paint removal methods and re-painting, designed repair methods for concrete and stucco, and developed a new coating system for the concrete.
Given the humid environment directly over running water, mold had proven to be a problem. The elder Kaufmann called Fallingwater "a seven-bucket building" for its leaks, and nicknamed it "Rising Mildew".[26] Condensation under roofing membranes was also an issue, due to the lack of damp proofing or thermal breaks.[27]
Fallingwater's structural system includes a series of very bold reinforced concrete cantilevered balconies which had problems from the beginning. Pronounced deflection of the concrete cantilevers was noticed as soon as formwork was removed at the construction stage. This deflection continued to increase over time, and eventually reached 7 inches (over a 15-foot span).
In 1995, the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy commissioned a study of Fallingwater's structural integrity. Structural engineers analyzed the movement of the cantilevers over time and conducted radar studies of the cantilevers to locate and quantify the reinforcement. These showed that the contractor had indeed added reinforcement over Wright's plan; nevertheless, the cantilevers were still insufficiently reinforced. In fact, both the concrete and its steel reinforcement were close to their failure limits. As a result, in 1997, temporary girders were installed beneath the cantilevers to carry their weight.[28]
In 2002, the structure was repaired permanently using post-tensioning. Blocks were joined to the concrete cantilever beams and floor joists, high-strength steel cables were fed through the blocks and exterior concrete walls, and then the cables were tightened using jacks. The floors and walls were then restored, leaving Fallingwater's interior and exterior appearance unchanged. The cantilevers now had sufficient support, and the deflection stopped.[29]
See also[edit]
- Kaufmann Desert House, another Kaufmann residence
- Kentuck Knob, another Wright-designed residence in the same area
- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2010-07-09.
- ^ "PHMC Historical Markers". Historical Marker Database. Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission. Retrieved December 20, 2013.
- ^ a b "Fallingwater". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved 2008-07-02.
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Usonian Architech". TIME magazine Jan. 17, 1938. 1938-01-17. Retrieved 2008-01-27.
- ^ "Smithsonian Magazine — Travel — The Smithsonian Life List". Smithsonian magazine January 2008. Retrieved 2010-08-19.
- ^ McCarter, Robert (2001). "Wright, Frank Lloyd". In Boyer, Paul S. The Oxford Companion to United States History. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- ^ a b Hoffmann, Donald (1993). Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater: The House and Its History (2 ed.). New York: Dover Publications Inc. pp. 11–25.
- ^ a b c d e Toker, F. (2003). Fallingwater Rising: Frank Lloyd Wright, E. J. Kaufmann, and America's most extraordinary house. New York: Knopf. ISBN 1400040264.
- ^ Tafel, Edgar (1979). Apprentice to genius: Years with Frank Lloyd Wright. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0070628151.
- ^ "[W]hy did the client say that he expected to look from his house toward the waterfall rather than dwell above it?" Edgar Kaufmann, jr., Fallingwater: A Frank Lloyd Wright Country House, New York: Abbeville Press, p. 31. (ISBN 0-89659-662-1)
- ^ McCarter, page 7.
- ^ a b c d McCarter, page 12.
- ^ Feldman, Gerard C. (2005). "Fallingwater Is No Longer Falling". STRUCTURE magazine (September): pp. 46–50.
- ^ McCarter, pages 12 and 13.
- ^ McCarter, pages 13.
- ^ McCarter, page 59.
- ^ a b Plushnick-Masti, Ramit (2007-09-27). "New Wright house in western Pa. completes trinity of work". Associated Press. Retrieved 2007-10-09.
- ^ Hoffman, page 61
- ^ Curtis, William J. R. (1983). Modern Architecture Since 1900. Englewood Cliffs, N.J: Prentice-Hall.
- ^ "Fallingwater". The Columbia Encyclopedia. Columbia University Press.
- ^ "Tadao Ando, 1995 Laureate: Biography". The Hyatt Foundation. 1995. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
- ^ "The top houses from the movies". Daily Telegraph.
- ^ Mims, SK (1993). Experiencing Architecture: Teacher Residency at Fallingwater. 45-46: 19–24.
- ^ "Fallingwater". Retrieved September 22, 2013.
- ^ (Brand 1995)
- ^ "Fallingwater Part 2: Materials-Conservation Efforts at Frank Lloyd Wright's Masterpiece", by Pamela Jerome, Norman Weiss and Hazel Ephron ©2006 Association for Preservation Technology International (APT).http://www.jstor.org/pss/40004684
- ^ Silman, Robert and John Matteo (2001-07-01). "Repair and Retrofit: Is Falling Water Falling Down?" (PDF). Structure Magazine. Retrieved 2007-09-20.
- ^ Meek, Tyler. "Fallingwater: Restoration and Structural Reinforcement". Retrieved 18 October 2011.
- Trapp, Frank (1987). Peter Blume. Rizzoli, New York.
- Hoffmann, Donald (1993). Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater: The House and Its History (2nd ed.). Dover Publications. ISBN 0-486-27430-6.
- Brand, Stewart (1995). How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They're Built. Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-013996-6.
- McCarter, Robert (2002). Fallingwater Aid (Architecture in Detail). Phaidon Press. ISBN 0-7148-4213-3.
Further reading[edit]
- Edgar Kaufmann, jr., Fallingwater: A Frank Lloyd Wright Country House (Abbeville Press 1986)
- Robert McCarter, Fallingwater Aid (Architecture in Detail) (Phaidon Press 2002)
- Franklin Toker, Fallingwater Rising: Frank Lloyd Wright, E. J. Kaufmann, and America's Most Extraordinary House (Knopf, 2005)
- Lynda S. Waggoner and the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy, Fallingwater: Frank Lloyd Wright's Romance With Nature (Universe Publishing 1996)
- Donald Hoffman, "Fallingwater: The House and Its History" (Dover Publications, 1993)
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fallingwater. |
- Official Fallingwater website — visitor and design information.
- official Western Pennsylvania Conservancy website
- Architectural Record: article
- Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: article
- wright-house.com: Fallingwater in Autumn — photographs.
- Frank Lloyd Wright buildings
- Houses in Fayette County, Pennsylvania
- Historic house museums in Pennsylvania
- Museums in Fayette County, Pennsylvania
- Houses completed in 1939
- Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania
- National Historic Landmarks in Pennsylvania
- Pennsylvania state historical marker significations
- Laurel Highlands
- Modernist architecture in Pennsylvania