Why make “Che”? What relevance does it have to 2008?

We’re certainly seeing the result of what happens when you make profit the point of everything, where money that’s being earned doesn’t represent any particular product or labor on anybody’s part. That can’t sustain, because it’s magical thinking. It can’t go on indefinitely, because eventually it crashes. Che’s dream of a classless society, a society that isn’t built on the profit motive, is still relevant. The arguments still going on are about his methodology…

I can’t sit here and say “Che” is a feel-good movie … or a feel-bad movie. It is what it is — an attempt to re-create a piece of history. It’s not a recruitment film. What I hope happens when people come out of the theater is they’ll ask themselves, “Wow, is there anything in my life I feel that passionate about?”