Yowza, the trailer for the “The Argentine,” the first half of Steven Soderbergh’s four-hour plus, two-part epic “Che” has leaked online. We’re pretty sure the song near the end is from Hans Zimmer’s amazing score to “The Thin Red Line,” which would be appropriate considering they probably have some similar war themes and thoughtful tones, but our Zimmer is at work at the moment. Questions that come up. Will Wild Bunch issue an English-language trailer soon? (We can understand some of it, but the sound is so bad) And, will there be a “The Guerrilla” trailer soon? Hmmm, this definitely whets our appetite for the film all the more.
At one point in the trailer a somber looking Del Toro says: “Un pueblo que no sabe leer y escribir, es un pueblo facil a enganar,” which means “A village that cannot read or write is a village that can be easily deceived.”
“Che” was obviously the talk of Cannes 2008 in May and won lead Benicio Del Toro the Best Actor award, but no one has stepped up to the plate to distribute it in the U.S. … yet. Four indie distribs are reportedly eyeing the film for a December theatrical release. We would probably give our left nut to see this way in advance of that date, admittedly. Spoutblog says “The Argentine” is set to be released in Spain on September 5 and notes that on IMDB, ‘Che’ has been split up into two parts, “The Argentine” and “The Guerilla.” Hmm, what does that mean exactly? It obviously runs in complete contradiction to Soderbergh’s insistence that “Che” will remain one long four-hour epic (though note: After a limited December run as one film, the director would then like to release the first part in January and the second in February).
Perhaps in international markets, Wild Bunch and Soderbergh believe audiences will come back for more and pay twice for a protracted story over the course of several months? Might not be a terrible bet. Europeans have patience with their cinema. This movie is certainly for them.
In Spanish when you say ‘un pueblo’ in those terms doesn’t mean a village, it’s a group of people that share the same culture or region. The closest translation would be ‘the people’.