Chevolution

Films and books and articles about Che Guevara feel as ubiquitous as T-shirts and posters emblazoned with his face. Is there room for more? This new doc, which includes contributions from artists, as well as Antonio Banderas, Gael Garcia Bernal and Gerry Adams, is zippy enough, if a little meandering, and spends equal time on the man and the myth.

First, the directors retell the basics of the Argentinian’s life story (presumably for the benefit of those who, like one of the interviewees, think that Che is ‘the guy who invented those mojitos’) and then discuss the provenance, significance and ownership of Alberto Korda’s famous photo of Che. The film is uninterested in re-examining Che’s legacy (it assumes he’s a hero, bar a couple of dissenting voices) but offers a more rounded history of the image with the help of Korda’s daughter, who is still trying to exert some control over her father’s most reproduced work.