Dave McDougall: History Lessons (Pt. 2) -- Notes on Steven Soderbergh's "Che"

History Lessons (Pt. 2): Notes on Steven Soderbergh's "Che"
by Dave McDougall
MUBI

CHE: PART TWO (GUERRILLA)

Part Two of Che begins with images of Bolivian miners. These are not portraits of revolutionaries, but of the need for revolution.

Domino theory, or, the threat of a good example: Again we return to maps. This time they are of South America as a whole, each country labelled as if in a future trajectory of revolution. Then, all countries together, turning shades of red. Again the maps historicize the situation, and walk us through strategies for takeover. Now the Cuba map from the overture of Part One clicks: these maps represent not just a geography, but a plan of attack. Now we know what we’re in for in Bolivia – and perhaps, elsewhere. The battle for Bolivia is thus a bigger wager than that of an exported national revolution – it is a test of the historical inevitability of communism in Latin America.

History, again: we watch a television showing Fidel reading Che's letter of resignation. Our view is slanted, our images doubly framed. History is viewed from afar, obscured, sideways. History makes icons out of people, symbols out of leaders, decorations out of actions. History is framed.

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Dave McDougall: History Lessons (Pt. 1) -- Notes on Steven Soderbergh's Che

History Lessons (Pt. 1): Notes on Steven Soderbergh's "Che"
by Dave McDougall
MUBI



CHE: PART ONE (THE ARGENTINE)

What is a political image? How does it work, and what are the elements that make it work? This is a difficult enough question for the still image; but how is it that political moving images work? Relatedly, how can we unarchive the politicality of images as separate from their political sheen—or, put differently, how can we authenticate the politicality of the moving image?

MAPS

Spend a few minutes watching the BBC series Maps: Power, Plunder and Possession or take a quick trip to the British Library this fall, and confirm what you might already know: maps, in their chief purpose, are tools of conquest and control. Maps are weapons that structure military campaigns and show geographic realities, and geography can determine history.

A film that entrenches itself in the logistics of the struggle for control, then, ought to situate itself in a context in which this control can be codified, visualized: mapped.

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