IL Postcard

Soderbergh Film on Che Guevara Set in Campeche

Date: 11/06/2007

November 7, 2007
Campeche, Mexico

“It looks like a war zone,” says our colleague Glynna Prentice of her new home town, Campeche. One of the prettiest cities in the Yucatán Peninsula and one of Mexico’s 27 World Heritage sites, Campeche has deliberately turned itself ugly—all for the sake of Hollywood. Starting this week, Campeche will stand in for 1950s Cuba in the filming of Steven Soderbergh’s The Argentine, which narrates Che Guevara’s days fighting alongside the young Fidel Castro.

In Campeche’s once picture-perfect main square, wrought-iron benches and lamp posts have been removed, and the wrought-iron railings surrounding the square have been ripped out. The facades of buildings around the square have been gouged, defaced, and sprayed with dirty water to make them look dingy and unkempt. Campeche’s library, whose graceful neoclassical lines mark off one side of the square, has seen a modern, sterile apartment building constructed beside it as a movie set. A large sign on the library announces in six languages that the historic center is being converted for a film set—lest any tourists think it always looks this way.

Across town, in the historic Santa Ana neighborhood, the area around Santa Ana church has been similarly transformed. The street and square will be used for filming later this week. And a climactic battle, complete with tanks, will take place near a baseball field on the edge of town.

Local laborers worked all weekend to turn pristine, prosperous Campeche into Soderbergh’s version of a down-at-heels Cuba. On Monday, they began hanging props—vintage 1950s-era store signs that will temporarily hang above local shops.

Campechanos have not been indifferent to the Tinseltown visit. On Sunday—when the city center is usually deserted—traffic circled the square endlessly as locals rubbernecked. Cameras and cell phones flashed, capturing shots of the sets. On Monday, with film crews roaming the streets, excitement crackled in the air.

The Argentine is one of two films about Guevara that Soderbergh is shooting simultaneously. The Argentine narrates Guevara’s early days and his friendship with Castro. The Guerrilla covers his final trip to Bolivia and his death there. Both star Oscar-winning actor Benicio del Toro as Guevara. The cast has been working for months on location in Spain and Puerto Rico. It will wrap up shooting of The Argentine in Campeche, but will continue on to Bolivia to finish The Guerrilla.

The film crew will be in Campeche for two weeks, though filming in the city center will be completed this week. According to Campeche’s state government, the film shoot will bring in about $2 million in revenue and provide temporary work to many local laborers. Some have gotten jobs putting up sets. Others have gotten jobs as extras, mostly as army-fatigue-clad soldiers.

After Hollywood leaves town in mid-November, the city will be hard-pressed to clean up the historic center before the next big event. Campeche traditionally stages free concerts in the main square starting Dec. 1 each year, with performances by major national and international artists. The program attracts international tourists and Mexicans from all over the country—so civic pride is at stake.

But that’s next month. In the meantime, with the cameras rolling, Campeche prepares for her close-up.

Best regards,

Suzan Haskins
Latin America Editorial Director