IFC Picks Up Steven Soderbergh's Epic 'Che'

Calling it "the film event of the year," IFC President Jonathan Sehring announced the acquisition of Steven Soderbergh's four-hour-long two-part bio-pic, Che, which stars Beinicio Del Toro as Che Guevara. The director has edited his films, which debuted at Cannes separately as The Argentine and Guerilla, and now it appears that Che will arrive in theaters in New York and Los Angeles for the requisite one week before the Academy Awards deadline. I have to admit, the reporting of this story by Variety is a bit confusing if you don't know a little bit going in. For example, they mention "companion films" and then talk about Che as one title. It ran at Toronto at its full length, and I have to believe that Che, the name for the whole project, and not Guerilla and The Argentine, are what we'll see in theaters. There's more proof of that plan in Sehring's comments: "By giving us the rise and fall of one of the great icons of history, Steven Soderbergh and Benicio Del Toro...have humanized him and given audiences around the world something that will be discussed for years to come." I think Lawrence of Arabia is the closest I've ever come to watching a four-hour film. Even then, it's only 3:40. And, well, it's Lawrence of Arabia. So this will probably require a good deal of audience concentration. Apparently, though, the four-hour version is much better than the two feature length cuts, or at least that's what the Toronto buzz is saying. Here's one other neat little item: If you're not in New York or Los Angeles and you want to see Che, IFC will release the film in theaters in January and, following a trend of recent Soderbergh indie flicks, it will be released on a day-and-date distribution platform, meaning you can watch it on in-demand video at home while it's still in theaters.