The Circuit

"We choose how engaged or disengaged we want to be," said Steven Soderbergh after today's screening of "Che" at the Ziegfeld Theater.  "Once Che made his decision to engage, he engaged fully."

He also seemed to link that commitment to an aud's decision in watching the film -- clocking in at over 4 hours.  "It's a lot to ask people to throw away an entire day.  It requires a certain kind of personality to watch this."

"Great thing about his job is I get paid to educate myself. And what I learned is what a hard-ass he was. He was a strict disciplinarian; cold and distant at times. He was only warm when he was in doctor-mode."

Soderbergh filmed each part in 39 days -- "Fewer days than the first Oceans movie."

He was particularly excited about shooting a war movie. "The Cuban revolution was the last analog revolution.  I loved that we shot a period film about a type of war that can't be fought anymore." If it happened today, he said, technology would destroy a revolution like Che's in a matter of minutes.

Asked for his thoughts on the film's political nature, Soderbergh said, "Any movie that actively portrays an unpolished life is to me a political film. I'm not a communist. There's no place for me in Che's perfect society. Che would have hated me. He didn't have much use for artists."

That said, Soderbergh is very much against the embargo. "It's shocking to me. We haven't been very smart in how we played this. If we really want to change Cuba we should flood the island with tourists. That would bring a flood of ideas."

He was unapologetic about casting names in side roles (Matt Damon pops up as minister). "I was trying to stack the film with a lot of well known names. I made a lot of calls. I had to." Financing was a years-long struggle but "I'm glad we're not looking for money now," he said. "Thankfully there were a few people that believed in the commercial marketability of this communist figure. Kinda surreal."

Talking afterward about the award campaign, IFC Films Jonathan Sehring and Ryan Werner said they are working on a screener campaign that will include SAG, DGA and WGA. Soderbergh, Benicio Del Toro, and other cast are planning a road-show like tour of the film to New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Dallas, among other cities.